Southwick, Hampshire

Lyeheath Farm with the Southwick Estate Solar Farm behind. It covers 80 hectares. Below is one of the fields.

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Southwick village is almost wholly owned by the Southwick Estate. All the front doors are the same shade of red.

The manor house was requisitioned during World War 2 and became the headquarters for SHAEF where detailed planning for the Allied invasion of Normandy took place.

Incidental story: One day a removal van arrived and two men from Chad Valley, the toy and jigsaw makers, unloaded plywood sections which when assembled would make a vast map of Europe from the top of Norway down to the tip of Spain.

All but the section showing the casts of southern Britain and northern France were discarded, the vast map had been ordered so that no-one could determine the actual invasion site until the relevant sections were placed on the map room wall. The two Chad Valley employess and their van were confined to thee hall until six weeks after the D-Day landings

Like so many requisitioned vehicles, buildings, and even entire villages the MoD held on yo Southwick Hall after the war. It became HMS Dryad and was the home of the Royal Navy’s Maritime Warfare School from the Second World War until it moved to HMS Collingwood at Fareham in 2004 The site was handed over to the Ministry of Defence in 2005 and is now occupied by the Defence School of Policing and Guarding. The original hall is surrounded by modern offices, stores, classrooms and accomodation blocks.

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Fabulous photos, but what really make them come alive for me is the story of the history and events.

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Great photos and fantastic history knowledge to go with them :+1:t2: