The earliest signs of habitation in Brockenhurst date back 4,000 years to the Bronze Age: the area is dotted with burial mounds – called tumuli.

The manor house of Brochelie was situated on the plot formerly occupied by the Watersplash Hotel and now the Holmwood apartments built by Pegasus Homes and opened in 2019.

Royden to the south of Brockenhurst was a medieval grange belonging to Netley Abbey and was set up by a grant made by Henry III in 1253.

In 1745, Henry Thurston, a local man who left to make his fortune in London, died, leaving a bequest to set up a school in the village.

[4] In 1770, Edward Morant, using some of the vast wealth that flowed from the family estates in Jamaica, purchased Brockenhurst House[5] – a late Stuart farmhouse – for £6,400.

He rebuilt it as a large Georgian mansion, while he and his heirs laid out avenues in the grounds and acquired adjacent land, eventually peaking at some 3,000 acres (12 km2).

[4] In the Second World War, what is now The Balmer Lawn Hotel was often used as a Divisional HQ and was the location of many of Generals Montgomery and Eisenhower's meetings, away from their headquarters in Southsea, as they planned the D-Day Landings in Normandy.

The 50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division, the core of Assault Force "G", tasked with storming Gold Beach on D-Day, had its HQ at the Carey's Manor Hotel.

The western part of the village greatly expanded in the 1970s and, in the early 1990s, Berkeley Homes built Ober Park, which is now known as The Coppice, this despite having been known as Clerks (or variations thereof) from the 13th to 19th centuries.

[8] During a Hampshire Senior Cup match Brockenhurst (and Andover Town) set a new record when they scored 29 consecutive penalties in a shoot-out after the tie had finished 0–0.

After 29 successful attempts (a total confirmed by the Football Association as an English record) Andover missed and 'The Badgers' won the tie.

Bus transport is provided mainly by Bluestar service 6 to Lymington and Southampton (Previously the Wilts & Dorset 56 and 56A, the 6 now runs the route of the 56A).