VILLAGE OF SWAY
Sway is on the very edge of the New
Forest, about 4 miles from the coast at Lymington. Sway was not a proper village,
it was part of the parish of Boldre 3 miles
away, until 1832 when St.Luke's Church was built. It did not have a village green
neither has there been a resident squire. There were many farms so the villagers
were mainly agricultural labourers
until the railway gave it a focus. The
original railway bypassed Sway curving north to run from Brockenhurst to
Ringwood [what became known as the Castleman corkscrew]. The railway line at
Sway arrived in 1888, when the station became the centre of the village.
Captain Marryat used the surrounding
countryside as the setting to his "Children of the New Forest".
In World War II, one mile
south of the village, there was a Emergency Landing Ground, used exclusively by Special Duty
Flight for overnight stays to protect them from German attack at
Christchurch. However this was of little value when the enemy attacked Sway
Landing Ground.
Today Sway is a prosperous village, with
shops, Hotels and general business.
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