Boldre is a civil parish and village in the south of the New Forest. It is 2 miles (3km) north of Lymington, just above the Lymington River. In the 2021 Census, the population was 1,975, including Pilley, South Baddesley and Walhampton. The parish is as old as the Domesday Book, where it was recorded as “Bouvre”, which is assumed to be a Norman corruption of “Bol Re” (a plank over a river). Boldre covers an area of 7,718 acres, or 31.23km², and includes many hamlets, such as Pilley, Battramsley and Sandy Down, to name a few. The village of Boldre has a few attractions, such as The Red Lion, a country pub with a modern menu, and St. John the Baptist Church, where William Gilpin is buried beside an old maple tree. The villages also has William Gilpin primary school and a busy village hall, which is shared with the village of Pilley.