Fordingbridge
The Avon Valley Path passes through the town.
The Fordingbridge Museum, which houses local history exhibits, and the Visitor Information Centre are located in King's Yard. There is also a Roman villa in the nearby village of Rockbourne, which is open to visitors during the summer.
Since 1982 Fordingbridge has been twinned with Vimoutiers in Normandy.
Not far from the High Street is the parish church of St. Mary the Virgin which has some typical Norman characteristics.
Once an industrial and commercial centre, Fordingbridge boasted many trades and was noted for its smuggling.[citation needed] The infamous Captain Diamond, the "Smuggler King", spent much of his time in a local hostelry.[citation needed] A bronze statue of the controversial painter, Augustus John, stands on the banks of the Avon near the Great Bridge.
The local comprehensive school is The Burgate School And Sixth Form Centre, which is situated in the northern outskirts of the town.
Fordingbridge railway station was closed in 1964. It was originally just outside the town, on the road leading to Sandleheath village, and connected the town with Salisbury in the North and Poole to the South.
Fordingbridge is also home to Fordingbridge Turks FC, one of the 50 oldest football clubs in England.
In 1986 local man George Stephenson murdered a local family who had recently sacked him from his handyman job. Five people, a married couple, their two children and a live-in nurse, were murdered at Burgate House. Stephenson, and an accomplice were later found guilty of the murders and sentenced to life imprisonment. Another man was cleared of murder but sentenced to 22 years for rape, robbery and manslaughter.
A further multiple murder was uncovered in 2010 when 4 people were found dead in their home.[4] [5]
These deaths have caused Fordingbridge to have a homicide rate about eight times higher than the national average
