Cadnam is a village in the New Forest in Hampshire within the boundaries of the New Forest National Park. The village has existed since the medieval period. It was and still is an important crossroads between Southampton and the towns of Dorset.

Understand

Cadnam is first recorded in the 1270s as Cadenham. The name apparently means the farmstead ("ham") of a man named Cadda.

Surrounding villages are Copythorne to the northeast, and Bartley to the southeast.

Get in

The village sits at the crossroads between the Romsey to Ringwood road (the A31 road) and the Southampton to Fordingbridge B3079.

The A337 road links Cadnam with the small port at Lymington. The western end (Junction 1) of the M27 motorway is at Cadnam.

See

• The Cadnam Oak, at the south-east corner of a crossroads in Cadnam, is thought to be a "boundary tree" of the New Forest. Legend has it that the Cadnam Oak puts forth green leaves on Christmas Day, being leafless immediately before and after the day. The current tree is actually a descendant of the first Cadnam Oak, but its fame continues. Popular tradition even has it that the tree only buds on Old Christmas Day on 6 January, refusing to acknowledge the Gregorian calendar change of 1752.

The Rufus Stone

• 1 Rufus Stone (updated Dec 2020)

Do

• 1 Paulton's Park (updated Apr 2017)
• 2 Furzey Gardens. A beautiful country garden with adventure playgrounds, tree houses and mini fairy houses for kids to discover. There's also a museum and tea rooms. Furzey Gardens won a gold medal at the 2011 Chelsea Flower Show. (updated Dec 2020)
• The Cadnam Cricket Club (established in 1880) play on the Lambs Corner ground (adjacent to the road to Lyndhurst).

Drink

There are a number of pubs in Cadnam, including the White Hart, the Sir John Barleycorn and the Coach and Horses located halfway through Cadnam on Southampton Road.

• 1 The White Hart, Old Romsey Road, ☏ +44 2380 812 277. A traditional New Forest pub featuring a Sunday Roast. (updated Apr 2024)

Sleep

• The Bartley Lodge Hotel.
• 1 Twin Oaks Guest House, Southampton Road, ☏ +44 23 8081-2305, [email protected]. Bed and breakfast accommodation. Offers driving service to the cruise ship terminal in Southampton (20 min). From £60 single, £100 double. (updated Apr 2024)

Camping

These Forestry Commission Sites are run to a very high standard. They all offer wash huts with hot showers and flushing toilets, drinking water, and some have campsite shops offering gas and food.

• 2 Longbeach, Fritham, SO43 7HH. (updated Dec 2020)
• 3 Ocknell, Fritham, SO43 7HH, ☏ +44 8451 308224. (updated Dec 2020)