| Country: | England |
| Coordinates: | 50.8768°N -1.5974°W |
| Official Name: | Emery Down |
| Static Image Name: | Emery Down, the post office - geograph.org.uk - 625928.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | Emery Down |
| Civil Parish: | Lyndhurst |
| Shire County: | Hampshire |
| Region: | South East England |
| Constituency Westminster: | New Forest West |
| Post Town: | LYNDHURST |
| Postcode District: | SO43 |
| Postcode Area: | SO |
| Dial Code: | 023 |
| Os Grid Reference: | SU284087 |
Emery Down is a small village in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. Its nearest other village is Lyndhurst, which lies approximately south-east from the village.
Emery Down is a small village clustered around a hilltop overlooking Swan Green and Lyndhurst.[1] The village has one inn called The New Forest Inn.[2] The red telephone box in the village no longer has a phone, but is used as an Information Centre for local and New Forest information, history, advice, as well as a book exchange and as a place to purchase fruit and vegetables. The telephone box has its own website.[3]
Emery Down is recorded as Emerichdon in 1376, and Emeryesdowne in 1490.[4] The "Emmory" family is recorded here in 1389.[4] The surname is of French origin.[4]
The homes of charcoal burners and agricultural labourers were in Silver Street in Emery Down.[5] Here was born, in 1840, the New Forest "snake catcher" Brusher Mills, who lived here until at least 1861.[6]
A major benefactor of Emery Down was Admiral Frederick Moore Boultbee, who lived here between 1856 and his death in 1876.[7] Boultbee paid for the village church, Christ Church, which was designed by William Butterfield, and built in 1864.[7] Boultbee lived with his niece Charlotte in a thatched cottage known as The Cottage, which before the 19th century had been an inn, The Running Horse.[7] After Charlotte's death in 1896, The Cottage became the vicarage, and is now a private home.[7]
Boultbee was also the benefactor for the village school, opened in 1865 and extended in 1885.[7] The school operated until 1950.[7] Boultbee also paid for the five alms houses, known as Boultbee Cottages,[8] opposite the school.[7] Designed by William Butterfield, they were built in 1871 and occupied by elderly people of the parish.[8]
The New Forest Inn, formerly the New Inn, dates back to at least the first half of the 19th century.[7] The captain of the Titanic, Edward Smith, spent his final night on British shores at the pub before he set sail on the ship the next day.[9]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle stayed in Emery Down for a year from Easter 1889, while researching his novel The White Company and was frequently seen walking around the village.[9]
Northerwood House is a Grade II listed Regency mansion, attributed to John Nash.[10] The house was turned into flats in the 1970s.
Emery Down’s village hall was constructed in the 1920s by Burnett & Sons.[11]