Celebrating Hampshire Historians

Hewitt, Albert Tennyson Morley

1893 – 18 June 1974

Morley Hewitt was a chartered surveyor (FRICS) and enthusiastic amateur archaeologist and local historian from Fordingbridge, who dedicated much of his life to unearthing Rockbourne Roman villa.

The site was discovered during World War II and Hewitt decided to buy the land and wait for more peaceful times before beginning large scale explorations. Effective publicity led to the formation of a dedicated team of diggers, who returned year on year to uncover more than 70 rooms, many ancillary structures and thousands of artefacts.

In 1972 a new museum, built at Hewitt’s expense, was opened to house the finds and tell the story of the site and this is now managed by the Hampshire Cultural Trust.

Morley Hewitt was keen on all periods of the past and collected a wide selection of antiquities, mostly focused on Fordingbridge, where he lived in the Old Manor House.  As well as many Roman villa Annual Reports he also produced Fordingbridge in Fact and Fancy which delved into the story of this west Hampshire town.

Morley Hewitt was a keen supporter of the Hampshire Field Club and was instrumental, in 1959, in the formation of the New Forest Section of the Society, chairing it for much of the 1960s.

Sources

HFC Newsletter, HCT archive.

Portrait

Contribution to county’s history

A focus for archaeological and historical interests in the west of the county. His Rockbourne excavation introduced many people to the subject.

Relevant published works

• Hewitt A T M,The Story of Fordingbridge in Fact and Fancy (1966)

Critical Comments

Morley Hewitt was an enthusiastic amateur archaeologist and an inspiration to many of those who joined the team digging at Rockbourne.  His methods were not always exact enough to extract important details, however, and a number of key observations were missed.  But the significance of the collection, and its availability in a dedicated museum created at his own expense, cannot be overstated.

Other Comments

Contributor

Dave Allen, Oct 2021

Key Words

Rockbourne, Fordingbridge, New Forest Section

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