Boarhunt is a small Hampshire parish 3 miles north-east from Fareham and 8 miles north from Gosport. The River Wallington flows westward through the parish, dividing it into two parts, of which the northern is larger than the southern.
South Boarhunt is a tiny secluded hamlet lying in the midst of fertile country on the lower slopes of Portsdown,
The village does not get its name from boars or hunting, but it is a corruption of burh funta, which meant the funta, (stream) by the fort (burh).
At the time of the Domesday Book Boarhunt was a little village although it did have 2 watermills on the River Wallington and a church. Boarhunt also had 2 salt pans where salt was made from sea water. The Church of St Nicholas in Boarhunt dates from late Saxon times. It was probably built in the 11th century.
Middle Age Boarhunt stood in the woodlands north of Portsdown Hill. It is believed that the population of Boarhunt was rather widely dispersed rather than being a group of huts clustered around a village center. In the Middle Ages Boarhunt was divided into 3 manors. Through the centuries Boarhunt was just a small agricultural settlement where life changed from one generation to the next. The villagers lived in simple huts and their lives were hard and comfortless.
In the Church of St Nicholas a monument was carved in 1577 (probably by Theodore Bernardi). It contains the initials R. H. (Ralph Hensleigh), C. P. (Catherine Pound) and K. P. (Katherine Poole). All of who were members of prominent families. Under the initials are family coats of arms. The monument was restored in 1976. Furthermore Thomas Henslowe, who helped Charles II to escape from England is buried in Boarhunt church.
In the 1660s a tax was charged on hearths. The Boarhunt region was divided into two areas, East Burrant (Boarhunt) and West Burrant (Boarhunt). In West Boarhunt six people were exempted from paying the tax because they were poor. Many people in Boarhunt had only one hearth and they must have lived in primitive little huts. On the other hand the Lord of the Manor, Thomas Henslowe had 23 hearths in his home. Life must have been very comfortable for him.
In 1801 Boarhunt had a population of 133. Even by the standards of the time when settlements were much smaller than they are today it was a little village. Nevertheless by 1901 the population of Boarhunt had more than doubled to just over 300. The largest part of the parish is North Boarhunt which stands about 2 kilometers north of the church. In the early 19th century a monument to Nelson, which stands 150 feet high was erected near Boarhunt. A small school in North Boarhunt opened in 1873.
Boarhunt flower mill stopped grinding grain to flour in 1928 but in the 1980s it was converted to a business selling flowers.
Weald & Downland Museum
Boarhunt donated a hall house to the Weald & Downland museum The hall house dates from the late 14th century (1355–1390). It is a small but well-built example of a medieval open hall, with a cruck frame in the centre. The bay to the right of the entrance was probably a service room. The inner room beyond the hall is a conjectural reconstruction of the medieval solar.
An upper floor had been inserted over the hall and a large brick chimney serving two ground floor hearths and a bake oven had been built in the lower end of the hall. The service room was still open to the roof, and the rafters and thatch battens were heavily sooted from the original open fire.


If you click on the link to Weald & Downland museum and scroll down the page you will find a fascinating history of Boarhunt through the ages - Hall House From Boarhunt At The Weald & Downland Museum (wealddown.co.uk)
Modern History
A link to the story of The Boars Head pub and the music venue Pondarosa, a once very popular public house and music venue in Boarhunt - Portsmouth Music Scene (michaelcooper.org.uk) contains a full list of bands that appeared at the Pondarosa from 1985 - 1995.
The Pondarosa hosted the Boarhunt Blues club which now resides at the Boarhunt Social Club, where bands play every third Friday of each month.