Stanford Hill). History Prehistoric (500,000 BC – AD42) In 2009 the New Forest National Park Authority with the support of the Heritage Lottery Fund, English Heritage, the Crown Estate, Hampshire County Council and Exxon Mobil based at Fawley set up the Coastal Heritage Project. The project recorded the variety of archaeology found along the New Forest coast. Phase I (desk based investigation) and Phase II (fieldwork) projects identified over 2,900 archaeological sites within the Study Area ranging from pieces of pottery to abandoned villages and castles. In Appendix B to the report, the coastline between Milford-on-Sea to Elmers Court is evaluated, and there are several references specific to Pennington. Archaeological records indicate that 12 early prehistoric hand axes have been found in the Pennington and Lymington area. An excavation at Lower Farm in Pennington uncovered late prehistoric human activity (a burnt mound). Early Neolithic human activity is evidenced in Lower Pennington by a ditch enclosure. A Bronze Age ring ditch is also recorded as having been documented, but the 2009 study did not spot it. Early Historic (AD 43 – AD 409) The report indicates that two stone carved heads from this period were once found at Lower Farm in Pennington. However, no settlements are known except those at nearby Buckland and Ampress. Medieval (AD 410 – 1539) Excavations at Manor Farm in Lower Pennington found evidence of medieval settlement including hearths, ditches gullies and post holes. Widespread food production in the Lower Pennington area is evidenced by enclosures and droveways uncovered in Lower Farm. The report states that Oxey Marsh in Lower Pennington was the primary salt production site during the local industry's peak. More discussion of the Pennington and Oxey salt works is set out below. Yaldhurst The village of Yaldhurst is mentioned in the Domesday Book but it goes back even earlier than that. With Highcliff, Beckley and Hinton, it formed the New Forest ‘Hundred’, the division of the County in Saxon times supposed to contain a hundred families. In the reign of Edward the Confessor (1003-1066), the land was held by Brixi and was assessed at five hides. In old English law a hide was a variable unit of land that was enough for a household. However the Estate of Yaldhurst (“Cildeest” 11th century) was held in 1086 by Alvric the Little or ‘Younger’. Because of the creation of the New Forest by William the Conqueror