IRatiue IRotes: 
Z[)c Selborne Society’s ^lP)aoa3inc. 
No. 42. 
JUNE, 1893. 
VoL. IV. 
A VISIT TO SELBORNE. 
T had long been my desire to visit Selborne and see the 
home of Gilbert VVhite, the church, the village, and all 
the surroundings of his interesting life. It was there- 
fore with a keen sense of pleasure that I was able, this 
spring, to carry out that desire. 
Starting from the Royal Anchor Hotel at Liphook, a charm- 
ingly quaint old hostelry, where a truly Selbornian spirit reigns, 
we were soon winding our way through the shades of Woolmer 
Forest. The pine trees and the yellow gorse filling the air with 
their rich spicy fragrance, drawn out by a brilliant sun, while 
a slight blue haze gave a fuller beauty to the lovely scenery 
around. Woolmer Forest is said to extend seven miles in length, 
and takes its name from Wolf’s-Mere, pointing back to a time 
when no doubt wolves existed here; the local names of Cranmer 
and Hogmer have a similar origin, although cranes and wild 
boars have long ceased to exist in our island. 
The prolonged drought did not seem to have affected Wool- 
mer pond, which has an area of sixty-six acres, and is a favourite 
winter resort of many kinds of v,^ild fowl. To the left we see 
a tree-crowned height, called Hollywater Clump ; well-grown 
ancient hollies seem, indeed, to abound in this region, and doubt- 
less give their name to the little hamlet we are passing through. 
We duly visited Blackmoor church, erected by Lord Selborne, 
to whose liberality also the vicarage, schools, and neat red- 
brick cottages for the villagers are due. 
Through pleasant lanes, decked with flowering hawthorn, 
and banks of primroses, violets, and speedwell, we made our way 
for eight miles, till w'e drove into Selborne village. The great 
yew tree in the churchyard is indeed a marvellous patriarch, 
