Our Dream

We’ve had a great 35 years as the only organisation where local people and visitors to the New Forest can discover more about its history, its customs, its people, its wildlife and its future. Click here for a bit more about us and what we do.

To be as successful for the next 35 years, we need to achieve several things.

Vintage photo of a horse-drawn wagon loaded with hay, carrying several people, with two standing in front, in a rural setting.
  • We need to develop a dynamic, achievable business plan.

  • We need to make vital updates to our building.

  • We need to improve accessibility to our extraordinary archive.

  • We need to become an even better hub for local people and visitors.

As an independent charity, we cannot achieve these things without public and private support.

That support can come in a variety of forms such as:

  • Helping us with the costs of specific projects

  • Helping us with an element of our core costs for a certain period (such as sponsoring a key member of staff, or the fees of a professional we may need) whilst we develop our masterplan for the future

  • Helping us with your expertise or by suggesting to us the help of someone you might know

Vintage photo of a young girl in a dress and hat standing next to a donkey in an orchard.

If you can help us in any of these ways, please get in touch with our Chair, Mary Montagu-Scott or our Director, Angus Harley for a conversation.

Older woman with gray hair wearing a floral shirt seated indoors against a dark blurred background.

A message from our Chair

“My family and I have lived in the New Forest for generations and I’m passionate about conserving its diverse history. New Forest Heritage Centre is vital to this work, with a plentiful library and archive that gives context to this very special part of the world.

As a practicing Commoner with a background in heritage and museums, I see in the Heritage Centre a little organisation with a big future. It needs your help at this vital stage as it continues its journey to sustain itself for the future.”

Mary Montagu-Scott

Man in blue shirt with blurred background, possibly a map.

A message from our Director

“The New Forest was recently voted the nation’s most popular National Park and is in the top 10 in the world.

Our role here is to do all we can to explain why it is such a unique landscape and how  its past can help inform us to protect its future.    

Our team of wonderful staff and volunteers have a dream for the Heritage Centre, but we know we cannot reach it on our own. With your help, we can, and we will.”

Angus Harley