Hamble Timeline
Key events from 700 to present
Discover the key moments that shaped Hamble. Explore the events that define our community.
700
Saxon Settlement on the Hamble Peninsula
The origins of Hamble-le-Rice lie in the Saxon period, when a settlement was established on the peninsula between the River Hamble and Southampton Wat...
1086
Hamble Recorded in the Domesday Book
Hamble appears in the Domesday Book of 1086 as 'Hamele', recorded as part of the Bishop of Winchester's extensive Hampshire landholdings. The entry de...
1120
St Andrew's Priory Founded
A priory was established at Hamble around 1120 as a cell of the Benedictine abbey of Tiron in Normandy (later in the Perche region of France). The pri...
1300
Medieval Shipbuilding on the Hamble
By the fourteenth century, the River Hamble had established itself as a significant centre for shipbuilding. The river's sheltered, deep-water estuary...
1415
Henry V's Warships Built on the Hamble
The River Hamble's shipbuilding reputation reached its medieval peak during the reign of Henry V, when the river's yards constructed warships for the ...
1600
Hamble as a Fishing and Piloting Village
By the seventeenth century, Hamble had settled into its role as a fishing and piloting village. The community drew its livelihood from the waters of S...
1700
Hamble River Pilots and the Southampton Trade
For centuries, Hamble men served as river and harbour pilots, guiding ships through the channels of Southampton Water and into the port of Southampton...
1856
Royal Victoria Hospital and the Hamble Shore
The Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley, opened in 1856 on the western shore of Southampton Water just north of Hamble, was one of the largest ...
1892
TS Mercury Training Ship Established
In 1892, Charles Hoare, a member of the banking family, established a shore-based nautical training school at Hamble called TS Mercury. The school was...
1920
Hamble Becomes a Centre for Yacht Racing
The River Hamble's development as one of Britain's premier yacht racing centres accelerated in the years between the two World Wars. The sheltered riv...
1936
Spitfire Production at Hamble
The connection between Hamble and the Spitfire is one of the most significant chapters in the village's history. In the 1930s, the aircraft industry e...
1940
Fairey Aviation at Hamble
Fairey Aviation was one of several aircraft companies that operated at Hamble during and after the Second World War. The Hamble airfield, situated on ...
1941
Air Transport Auxiliary Women Pilots at Hamble
During the Second World War, the all-women Number 15 Ferry Pool of the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATA) was based at Hamble airfield. The ATA was a civil...
1944
D-Day Embarkation from the Hamble
In June 1944, the River Hamble and Southampton Water played a crucial role in Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy. The Hamble was one ...
1968
Hamble Lifeboat Station Established
The RNLI lifeboat station at Hamble was established to provide inshore rescue cover for Southampton Water and the eastern Solent. The busy shipping la...
1970
Modern Marina Development on the Hamble
The development of large-scale marinas at Hamble from the 1960s and 1970s onwards transformed the river from a traditional boatbuilding and sailing ce...