Ringwood is a market town in south-west Hampshire, England, on the River Avon close to the New Forest, northeast of Bournemouth and southwest of Southampton.

Ringwood is recorded in a charter of 961, in which King Edgar gave 22 hides of land in Rimecuda to Abingdon Abbey.

[4] William Camden in 1607 gave a much more fanciful derivation, claiming that the original name was Regne-wood, the Regni being an ancient people of Britain.

[8] During the 12th and early 13th centuries Ringwood, like other manors of which John and Henry III had the immediate overlordship, frequently changed hands.

[9] In 1108, it was recorded that the tenants of the "manor of Ringwood and Harbridge" had common rights in the New Forest, among the knights and esquires, for their farm beasts and plough beasts between "Teg att Brokelisford" and "Ostaven" and in the vill of Beaulieu for all their livestock except goats and geese: for this they paid the King an annual agistment.

[9] A valuation of the manor made at the end of the 13th century records the tenants services included mowing the lord's meadow, haymaking on eight acres in "Muchelmershe," carting the hay and making a rick; they were to repair the mills and the houses within the court.

[9] In March 1226 Henry III granted a weekly market in Ringwood on Wednesdays to Richard Marshal, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Gervaise his wife to hold until the King should come of age.

[9] In 1337 the Earl of Salisbury, as lord of Ringwood Manor, was granted a yearly fair on the feast-day of Saint Andrew (30 November).

[9] After the Battle of Sedgemoor on 6 July 1685, James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth was arrested near Horton, Dorset.

Monmouth is believed to have hidden in a ditch under an ash tree disguised as a shepherd, but was betrayed by a local woman who, according to legend, later killed herself in remorse.

Her tomb can be found to the right of the church entrance; it is easily spotted as the lid has been left unfinished with rough edges.

The Town Hall was erected by John Morant in 1868[9] to designs by the distinguished architect, future president of the Royal Institute of British Architects and future winner of the Royal Gold Medal; Thomas Henry Wyatt.

[10][11] The town was famous in the 19th century for its "Ringwood" woollen gloves, and there was also a large linen collar and cuff factory here.

[9] The site of Royal Air Force Station Ibsley, in use during World War II, is located on the outskirts of the Ringwood hamlet of Poulner.

A cattle market ran until 1989 in the Furlong, which is now home to a Waitrose supermarket, coffee shops and fashion outlets.

Ringwood was noted as the second most expensive market town in England in July 2008 with average property prices of over £380,000.

It was closed in December 2023, but remains a brand name of Carlsberg Marston's Brewing Company (CMBC).

The current Member of Parliament (MP) is Sir Desmond Swayne who represents the Conservative Party.

A report (Connecting Communities: Expanding Access to the Rail Network) from the Association of Train Operating Companies in 2009 recommended rebuilding part of the line from Brockenhurst to Ringwood.

Various other buildings in the town featured including 1 High Street which appeared as Le Jollie Chocolatier, Church Hatch in the Market Place appeared as ‘Archdeacon’s Residence, Romsey’ in Series 9, and the flash forward in Series 5 when Gavin is campaigning for election was filmed in the cul de sac area outside 28-38 Kingsfield.