91-613: RAF Sopley was a World War II station, codenamed Starlight , near the village of Sopley in Hampshire . The Radar Station was opened in December 1940. In 1959 it became an air traffic control radar station, and finally closed on 27 September 1974. Nearby Sopley Camp was built in the early 1950s as a domestic site for the radar station and is probably best known as the initial home of the Vietnamese boat people , in 1979. The camp
182-611: A carnelian bead identified with the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Senusret I , whose reign is dated to 1971–1926 BC. A stela and a statuette of the Egyptian pharaohs Senusret III and Amenemhet III have also been found. However, it is unclear when they first arrived at Ugarit. In the Amarna letters , messages from Ugarit c. 1350 BC written by Ammittamru I , Niqmaddu II , and his queen have been discovered. From
273-636: A "dark period" in ancient Egyptian history, spanned about 100 years after the end of the Old Kingdom from about 2181 to 2055 BC. Very little monumental evidence survives from this period, especially from the early part of it. The First Intermediate Period was a dynamic time when the rule of Egypt was roughly divided between two areas: Heracleopolis in Lower Egypt and Thebes in Upper Egypt. These two kingdoms eventually came into conflict, and
364-578: A 3rd-millennium BC culture postulated based on a collection of artefacts confiscated in 2001. In modern scholarship, the chronology of the Bronze Age Levant is divided into: The term Neo-Syria is used to designate the early Iron Age . The old Syrian period was dominated by the Eblaite first kingdom , Nagar and the Mariote second kingdom . The Akkadians conquered large areas of
455-543: A Royal Signals unit from Signals Research and Development Establishment at Christchurch. The entire site transferred to the army soon after and for the duration of the Cold War was used by 2 Signals Brigade from the UK Land Forces at Wilton. The only surviving surface features of the site are the guardhouse, which has been refurbished, the generator building and a small blockhouse that doubles as an emergency exit for
546-512: A banker, and Stanlake Batson. The heir of Stanlake Batson was his sister Anne Batson, wife of Henry Fane (1739–1802), MP, of Fulbeck Hall , Lincolnshire, the second son of Thomas Fane, 8th Earl of Westmorland (1701–1771). Avon Tyrrell was inherited by her second son Rev. Edward Fane, and passed to his eldest son Lt Col. Henry Hamlyn-Fane (1817–1868), whose mural monument is in Clovelly Church, who married Susan Hester Hamlyn-Williams,
637-475: A bath or shower and toilet. 6 dwellings are vacant and 4 are second homes or holiday accommodation. Of the 586 residents in the 16–74 years age bracket; 353 are employed, 10 are unemployed and 205 are economically inactive. Of the 353 who are employed, 208 are male and 145 are female. The males work a mean average of 43.68 hours a week and females 29.38. 31% of 16- to 74-year-olds have a grade 3 qualification or above. 43.5% however, have no formal qualifications or
728-619: A grade 1 qualification or below. Avon Tyrrell is a historic manor within the parish of Sopley. Immediately after the Norman Conquest of 1066 the manor of Avon, in the New Forest, a royal hunting forest, was held by the Tyrell family. Whilst hunting in the New Forest in 1100 King William II (1087–1100) was accidentally killed by an arrow shot by Walter III Tyrrell, who fled fearing being accused of murder and regicide, and crossed
819-456: A high mound overlooking the mill and the river Avon. It has been variously proposed that this high mound may have been the site of an earlier Pagan temple or the base camp of Jute invaders who travelled up the Avon from nearby Christchurch. Parts of the church date from the 11th century but much of it was constructed in the 13th century from rubble ironstone dressed with Binstead stone. In 1834
910-484: A master GCI station and reserve Sector Operations Centre. As part of the UK's programme to update its air defences, Sopley underwent much modernisation during the 1950s including a new guardhouse providing access to a two-storey underground operations centre. Sopley was also the location of RAF Winkton , an Advanced Landing Ground , which operated during 1944, and which returned to agricultural use in 1945. A one-way system
1001-402: A permanence not enjoyed by manuscripts. These inscriptions can commonly be subdivided into four parts: a reference to the date and place, the naming of the event commemorated, the list of gifts given to the artisan in exchange for the bronze, and a dedication. The relative points of reference these vessels provide have enabled historians to place most of the vessels within a certain time frame of
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#17328012406601092-579: A power vacuum in Mesopotamia. At its beginning, Mitanni's major rival was Egypt under the Thutmosids . However, with the ascent of the Hittite empire, Mitanni and Egypt allied to protect their mutual interests from the threat of Hittite domination. At the height of its power during the 14th century BC, Mitanni had outposts centred on its capital, Washukanni , which archaeologists have located on
1183-481: A small administrative town) appears on a tablet from the reign of Sargon of Akkad in the 23rd century BC. The Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century BC. Over a century later, it briefly took over the other city-states and formed the short-lived First Babylonian Empire during what is also called the Old Babylonian Period . Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia used
1274-491: A variety of lash-up systems were installed during 1940 and 1941. These were eventually put into production as the AMES Type 7 , which took over most aircraft direction and interception duties from about 1942 on. Sopley received its own Type 7 in 1943. It was a permanent fixture with rotating arial array, transmitter equipment stored in an underground bunker, operations block, emergency back up power supply and guard hut. During
1365-461: A year and was officially closed in January 1945. In 1946 RAF Sopley was reclassified as a master GCI station and reserve Sector Operations Centre. As part of the UK's programme to update its air defences, Sopley underwent much modernisation during the 1950s including a new guardhouse providing access to a two-storey underground operations centre. It was also in the early 1950s that the domestic camp
1456-639: Is an argument to be made that the Bronze Age never properly ended in China, as there is no recognisable transition to an Iron Age. Together with the jade art that precedes it, bronze was seen as a fine material for ritual art when compared with iron or stone. Bronze metallurgy in China originated in what is referred to as the Erlitou period, which some historians argue places it within the Shang. Others believe
1547-576: Is called the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex . The Kulli culture , similar to that of the Indus Valley Civilisation , was located in southern Balochistan (Gedrosia) c. 2500–2000 BC . The economy was agricultural. Dams were found in several places, providing evidence for a highly developed water management system. Konar Sandal is associated with the hypothesized Jiroft culture ,
1638-662: Is conjectured to have been associated with the sudden arrival of the Sea Peoples , the kingdom disintegrated into several independent "Neo-Hittite" city-states, some of which survived into the 8th century BC. Arzawa , in Western Anatolia, during the second half of the 2nd millennium BC, likely extended along southern Anatolia in a belt from near the Turkish Lakes region to the Aegean coast. Arzawa
1729-526: Is further conjectured that the same migrations spread the Uralic group of languages across Europe and Asia, with extant members of the family including Hungarian , Finnish and Estonian . In China, the earliest bronze artefacts have been found in the Majiayao culture site (3100–2700 BC). The term "Bronze Age" has been transferred to the archaeology of China from that of Western Eurasia, and there
1820-599: Is named after the Korean name for undecorated or plain cooking and storage vessels that form a large part of the pottery assemblage over the entire length of the period, but especially between 850 and 550 BC. The Mumun period is known for the origins of intensive agriculture and complex societies in both the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese Archipelago. The Middle Mumun pottery period culture of
1911-523: Is no consensus or universally used convention delimiting the "Bronze Age" in the context of Chinese prehistory . The "Early Bronze Age" in China is sometimes taken to be coterminous with the reign of the Shang dynasty (16th–11th centuries BC), and the Later Bronze Age with the subsequent Zhou dynasty (11th–3rd centuries BC), from the 5th century, called Iron Age China although there
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#17328012406602002-476: Is recorded in the Domesday book when an annual levy of 10 shillings and 875 eels was imposed. It is disputed whether this is the current mill however, certainly parts of it are much younger; a third floor for flour storage was constructed in 1878 and the original undershot wheel was later superseded by a turbine. The mill remained in service until 1946. The Parish Church of St Michaels and All Angels stands on
2093-754: The Iranian plateau , centred in Anshan . From the mid-2nd millennium BC, Elam was centred in Susa in the Khuzestan lowlands. Its culture played a crucial role in both the Gutian Empire and the Iranian Achaemenid dynasty that succeeded it. The Oxus civilisation was a Bronze Age Central Asian culture dated c. 2300–1700 BC and centred on the upper Amu Darya ( a.k.a. ). In
2184-529: The Kassite period c. 1500 – c. 1155 BC ). The usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used in the context of Mesopotamia. Instead, a division primarily based on art and historical characteristics is more common. The cities of the Ancient Near East housed several tens of thousands of people. Ur , Kish , Isin , Larsa , and Nippur in
2275-586: The Majiayao site in Gansu rather than at Xinjiang . The production of Erlitou represents the earliest large-scale metallurgy industry in the Central Plains of China. The influence of the Saima-Turbino metalworking tradition from the north is supported by a series of recent discoveries in China of many unique perforated spearheads with downward hooks and small loops on the same or opposite side of
2366-645: The Mediterranean basin are often characterised as a period of widespread societal collapse known as the Late Bronze Age collapse ( c. 1200 – c. 1150 BC ), although its severity and scope is debated among scholars. An ancient civilisation is deemed to be part of the Bronze Age if it either produced bronze by smelting its own copper and alloying it with tin , arsenic , or other metals, or traded other items for bronze from producing areas elsewhere. Bronze Age cultures were
2457-584: The New Forest as far as Thorny Hill. To the south it borders the parish of Bransgore. It includes the settlements of Sopley, Shirley, Avon, and Ripley. It is mainly rural with fewer than 300 dwellings and narrow lanes. The main Christchurch to Ringwood road passes through the centre of Sopley village where a one-way system helps these narrow byways cope with an often noticeable amount of traffic. A small stream, known locally as Sopley Brook, cuts through
2548-577: The southern Levant in cities such as Hazor , Jericho , and Beit She'an . The Hittite Empire was established during the 18th century BC in Hattusa , northern Anatolia . At its height in the 14th century BC, the Hittite Kingdom encompassed central Anatolia, southwestern Syria as far as Ugarit , and upper Mesopotamia . After 1180 BC, amid general turmoil in the Levant , which
2639-422: The 16th to the 13th century BC, Ugarit remained in constant contact with Egypt and Cyprus ( Alashiya ). Mitanni was a loosely organised state in northern Syria and south-east Anatolia, emerging c. 1500–1300 BC . Founded by an Indo-Aryan ruling class that governed a predominantly Hurrian population, Mitanni came to be a regional power after the Hittite destruction of Kassite Babylon created
2730-430: The 3rd millennium BC. The Bronze Age is characterised by the widespread use of bronze , though the introduction and development of bronze technology were not universally synchronous. Tin bronze technology requires systematic techniques: tin must be mined (mainly as the tin ore cassiterite ) and smelted separately, then added to hot copper to make bronze alloy. The Bronze Age was a time of extensive use of metals and
2821-504: The 645 residents over 16 years of age; 201 said they were single, 359 married and 85 either divorced or widowed. The mean age of the population was 40.78, the median 41.00. The majority of those living in the parish are of working age. 65.37% are aged between 16 and 65. There are 284 dwellings in the parish of which 274 are lived in. Of these, 162 are occupied by the owner, 15 are social housing and 97 are rented privately. A vast majority of households (226) have central heating and sole use of
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2912-776: The 6th century BC attests to knowledge of iron smelting, yet bronze continues to occupy the seat of significance in the archaeological and historical record for some time after this. W. C. White argues that iron did not supplant bronze "at any period before the end of the Zhou dynasty (256 BC)" and that bronze vessels make up the majority of metal vessels through the Eastern Han period , or to 221 BC. The Chinese bronze artefacts generally are either utilitarian, like spear points or adze heads, or "ritual bronzes" , which are more elaborate versions in precious materials of everyday vessels, as well as tools and weapons. Examples are
3003-463: The Avon on the site of an old Saxon Church. It is constructed from ironstone rubble dressed with Binstead stone from the Isle of Wight, has stepped buttresses and lancet doors and windows. It was endowed by Earl Godwin in 1050. Bronze Age The Bronze Age ( c. 3300 – c. 1200 BC ) was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and
3094-510: The BMAC had close international relations with the Indus Valley , the Iranian plateau , and possibly even indirectly with Mesopotamia. All civilisations were familiar with lost wax casting . According to a 2019 study, the BMAC was not a primary contributor to later South-Asian genetics. The Altai Mountains , in what is now southern Russia and central Mongolia , have been identified as
3185-579: The Berkeley family, and the two manors became one again. In 1575 Sir John Berkeley conveyed the manor to William Waller, and it eventually descended to the Tichborne Baronets , being owned by the 2nd and 3rd Baronet , until the 4th Baronet sold the manor to James Willis around 1725. John Willis of Ringwood inherited the manor in 1753, and upon his death in 1779, it passed to his nephew John Compton, and it descended, like Minstead , with
3276-666: The Bronze Age began in the Protodynastic Period c. 3150 BC . The archaic Early Bronze Age of Egypt , known as the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt , immediately followed the unification of Lower and Upper Egypt, c. 3100 BC . It is generally taken to include the First and Second dynasties, lasting from the Protodynastic Period until c. 2686 BC , or
3367-583: The Comptons. The manor house was rebuilt in 1790 by the then owner James Compton. Compton was a sheep farmer who, along with the local vicar, the Reverend Willis; introduced a particular breed of Spanish sheep to the area. The Merino sheep is renowned for its soft, fine, fleece which is still much sought after. Sopley became for a while, an important specialist wool producing area. A mill in Sopley
3458-599: The Early Bronze Age, the culture of the Kopet Dag oases and Altyndepe developed a proto-urban society. This corresponds to level IV at Namazga-Tepe . Altyndepe was a major centre even then. Pottery was wheel-turned. Grapes were grown. The height of this urban development was reached in the Middle Bronze Age c. 2300 BC , corresponding to level V at Namazga-Depe. This Bronze Age culture
3549-533: The Erlitou sites belong to the preceding Xia dynasty . The United States National Gallery of Art defines the Chinese Bronze Age as c. 2000 – c. 771 BC , a period that begins with the Erlitou culture and ends abruptly with the disintegration of Western Zhou rule. There is reason to believe that bronze work developed inside of China apart from outside influence. However,
3640-641: The Levant and were followed by the Amorite kingdoms , c. 2000–1600 BC , which arose in Mari , Yamhad , Qatna , and Assyria . From the 15th century BC onward, the term Amurru is usually applied to the region extending north of Canaan as far as Kadesh on the Orontes River . The earliest-known contact of Ugarit with Egypt (and the first exact dating of Ugaritic civilisation) comes from
3731-730: The Middle Bronze Age and Babylon , Calah , and Assur in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The Akkadian Empire (2335–2154 BC) became the dominant power in the region. After its fall, the Sumerians enjoyed a renaissance with the Neo-Sumerian Empire . Assyria , along with the Old Assyrian Empire ( c. 1800–1600 BC ), became a regional power under the Amorite king Shamshi-Adad I . The earliest mention of Babylon (then
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3822-846: The Middle Kingdom. During the Second Intermediate Period , Ancient Egypt fell into disarray a second time between the end of the Middle Kingdom and the start of the New Kingdom, best known for the Hyksos , whose reign comprised the Fifteenth and Sixteenth dynasties. The Hyksos first appeared in Egypt during the Eleventh Dynasty, began their climb to power in the Thirteenth Dynasty, and emerged from
3913-564: The Osiris funerary cult rose to dominate popular Ancient Egyptian religion . The period comprises two phases: the Eleventh Dynasty, which ruled from Thebes, and the Twelfth and Thirteenth dynasties, centred on el-Lisht . The unified kingdom was previously considered to comprise the Eleventh and Twelfth Dynasties, but historians now consider part of the Thirteenth Dynasty to have belonged to
4004-631: The River Avon at a ford still known as Tyrrell's Ford. members of this family included: In 1602 the manor of Avon Tyrrell was sold by his descendant John Tyrrell to Bennett Wynchecombe and Giles Tooker, who sold it to Sir John Webb, 1st Baronet (d.1680), of Odstock, Wiltshire (created a baronet in 1644), son of Sir John Webb, knight, of Odstock and of Great Canford, Dorset, by his second wife Catharine Tresham, daughter of Sir Thomas Tresham, of Rushton, Northamptonshire. His descendant Sir John Webb, 5th Baronet (d.1797) sold it to Edward Buckley Batson,
4095-417: The Second Intermediate Period in control of Avaris and the Nile Delta . By the Fifteenth Dynasty, they ruled lower Egypt. They were expelled at the end of the Seventeenth Dynasty . The New Kingdom of Egypt , also referred to as the Egyptian Empire, existed during the 16th–11th centuries BC. The New Kingdom followed the Second Intermediate Period and was succeeded by the Third Intermediate Period . It
4186-402: The Second World War, the Sopley radar station worked with the Middle Wallop sector and RAF squadrons such as 125 , 604 , and 406 (Canadian) squadrons. The station was responsible for over one hundred enemy aircraft shot down between 1941 and 1945. In 1943 an Advanced Landing Ground called RAF Winkton was constructed to the southeast of the radar station. RAF Winkton operated for less than
4277-481: The Theban kings conquered the north, reunifying Egypt under a single ruler during the second part of the Eleventh Dynasty . The Bronze Age in Nubia started as early as 2300 BC. Egyptians introduced copper smelting to the Nubian city of Meroë in present-day Sudan c. 2600 BC . A furnace for bronze casting found in Kerma has been dated to 2300–1900 BC. The Middle Kingdom of Egypt spanned between 2055 and 1650 BC. During this period,
4368-503: The Western Zhou period, allowing them to trace the evolution of the vessels and the events they record. The Japanese archipelago saw the introduction of bronze during the early Yayoi period ( c. 300 BC ), which saw the introduction of metalworking and agricultural practices brought by settlers arriving from the continent. Bronze and iron smelting spread to the Japanese archipelago through contact with other ancient East Asian civilisations, particularly immigration and trade from
4459-409: The age of 17. She thus left it instead to Mary's younger sister Betty Constance Manners, wife of Arthur Asquith , 3rd son of the Prime Minister H. H. Asquith (1852–1928). The 3rd Baron Manners won the 1882 Grand National as owner, trainer and rider of his horse Seaman, for which triple feat he won a large sum from a wager, and in 1891 used the proceeds to rebuild Avon Tyrrell House, to the design of
4550-445: The ancient Korean peninsula, and ancient mainland China. Iron was mainly used for agricultural and other tools, whereas ritual and ceremonial artefacts were mainly made of bronze. On the Korean Peninsula, the Bronze Age began c. 1000–800 BC . Initially centred around Liaoning and southern Manchuria, Korean Bronze Age culture exhibits unique typology and styles, especially in ritual objects. The Mumun pottery period
4641-458: The architect W. R. Lethaby . The house is now a grade I listed building considered to be one of the archetypal Arts & Crafts buildings . His eldest son Francis Manners, 4th Baron Manners (1897–1972) inherited Avon Tyrrell. It was requisitioned by the government during World War II and the family decided not to return to it after the war (in 1968 the residence of the 4th Baron was nearby Tyrrell's Ford, Christchurch, Hampshire ). In 1949 it
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#17328012406604732-422: The beginning of the Old Kingdom . With the First Dynasty, the capital moved from Abydos to Memphis with a unified Egypt ruled by an Egyptian god-king. Abydos remained the major holy land in the south. The hallmarks of ancient Egyptian civilisation, such as art, architecture and religion, took shape in the Early Dynastic Period. Memphis , in the Early Bronze Age, was the largest city of the time. The Old Kingdom of
4823-424: The bunker. The bunker too remains intact and is used by a private company for data storage. Sopley Sopley is a village and civil parish situated in the New Forest National Park of Hampshire , England. It lies on the old main road from Christchurch to Ringwood , on the east bank of the River Avon . The parish extends east as far as Thorny Hill and borders the parishes of Bransgore and Burton to
4914-472: The centre of the village and enters the river Avon south of the Parish church of St. Michael and All Angels. The surrounding area includes farmland, flood plain, and open forest. In 1855 a description of the land was given thus: "The arable land is a rich and productive loam and is chiefly what is known as good sheep and barley land. It is in a very high state of cultivation and we have seldom seen over land more even in quality or in better condition". Much of
5005-401: The development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of the three-age system , following the Stone Age and preceding the Iron Age . Conceived as a global era, the Bronze Age follows the Neolithic , with a transition period between the two known as the Chalcolithic . The final decades of the Bronze Age in
5096-425: The development of trade networks. A 2013 report suggests that the earliest tin-alloy bronze was a foil dated to the mid-5th millennium BC from a Vinča culture site in Pločnik , Serbia , although this culture is not conventionally considered part of the Bronze Age; however, the dating of the foil has been disputed. West Asia and the Near East were the first regions to enter the Bronze Age, beginning with
5187-444: The discovery of the Europoid Tarim mummies in Xinjiang has caused some archaeologists such as Johan Gunnar Andersson , Jan Romgard, and An Zhimin to suggest a possible route of transmission from the West eastwards. According to An Zhimin, "It can be imagined that initially, bronze and iron technology took its rise in West Asia, first influenced the Xinjiang region, and then reached the Yellow River valley, providing external impetus for
5278-471: The fall of the monarchy. The name "Israel" first appears c. 1209 BC , at the end of the Late Bronze Age and the very beginning of the Iron Age, on the Merneptah Stele raised by the Egyptian pharaoh Merneptah . The Arameans were a Northwest Semitic semi-nomadic pastoral people who originated in what is now modern Syria (Biblical Aram ) during the Late Bronze and early Iron Age. Large groups migrated to Mesopotamia, where they intermingled with
5369-415: The first to develop writing . According to archaeological evidence, cultures in Mesopotamia , which used cuneiform script, and Egypt , which used hieroglyphs , developed the earliest practical writing systems. Bronze Age civilisations gained a technological advantage due to bronze's harder and more durable properties than other metals available at the time. While terrestrial iron is naturally abundant,
5460-428: The headwaters of the Khabur River . Eventually, Mitanni succumbed to the Hittites and later Assyrian attacks, eventually being reduced to a province of the Middle Assyrian Empire . The Israelites were an ancient Semitic-speaking people of the Ancient Near East who inhabited part of Canaan during the tribal and monarchic periods (15th–6th centuries BC), and lived in the region in smaller numbers after
5551-692: The heiress of Clovelly in Devon, and who adopted the additional surname "Hamlyn". In 1850 Lt Col Henry Hamlyn-Fane drew a picture of the then Avon Tyrrell Manor which is now Tyrrells Ford Country Inn and Hotel in Avon. The name "Avon Tyrrell" can be seen in the bottom right hand corner of the picture. In 1912 Avon Tyrrell was the property of one of his daughters Miss Eveline Harriet Hamlyn-Fane, and passed to Eveline's sister Constance Hamlyn-Fane, wife of John Manners-Sutton, 3rd Baron Manners (1852–1927). Lady Manner's childless sister Christine Hamlyn had inherited Clovelly, and had intended to bequeath it to her eldest niece Mary Christine Manners, who unexpectedly died at
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#17328012406605642-636: The higher temperature required for smelting, 1,250 °C (2,280 °F), in addition to the greater difficulty of working with it, placed it out of reach of common use until the end of the 2nd millennium BC. Tin's lower melting point of 232 °C (450 °F) and copper's moderate melting point of 1,085 °C (1,985 °F) placed both these metals within the capabilities of Neolithic pottery kilns , which date to 6000 BC and were able to produce temperatures of at least 900 °C (1,650 °F). Copper and tin ores are rare since there were no tin bronzes in West Asia before trading in bronze began in
5733-422: The manor and all the woodland had been absorbed into the New Forest . At the end of the 13th century, records are found of two distinct manors of Sopley. One of the manors was for two hundred years part of the lands of the Earls of Ormond . The other manor was owned, first by the Le Moyne family, and then, like nearby Ibsley , by the Stourton Barons . In the middle of the 16th century, both manors were sold to
5824-400: The manor house, then known as Sopley Park, was sold to wealthy London merchant and owner of the Schweppes company; John Kemp-Welch. He in turn sold it in 1885. The house was used as nursing home and two independent schools at various times during its post war history and was demolished in 1988 to make way for a bible college. The house was notable for its three stained glass windows depicting
5915-432: The native Akkadian (Assyrian and Babylonian) population. The Aramaeans never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. After the Bronze Age collapse, their political influence was confined to Syro-Hittite states, which were entirely absorbed into the Neo-Assyrian Empire by the 8th century BC. The Mesopotamian Bronze Age began c. 3500 BC and ended with
6006-507: The north. It is also home to Moorlands College , one of the largest evangelical theological seminaries in the country. The college was built on the site of the old manor house which was demolished in 1988. There has been settlement in the area since the Bronze Age and it has existed as a manor since before the Norman conquest . Sopley is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. Before 1066 it had been held by one Edric, but by 1086 it belonged to William son of Stur. By that time 4 hides of
6097-408: The numerous large sacrificial tripods known as dings ; there are many other distinct shapes. Surviving identified Chinese ritual bronzes tend to be highly decorated, often with the taotie motif, which involves stylised animal faces. These appear in three main motif types: those of demons, symbolic animals, and abstract symbols. Many large bronzes also bear cast inscriptions that are the bulk of
6188-586: The origins of agriculture. Foothill regions and glacial melt streams supported Bronze Age agro-pastoralists who developed complex east–west trade routes between Central Asia and China that introduced wheat and barley to China and millet to Central Asia. The Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC), also known as the Oxus civilisation, was a Bronze Age civilisation in Central Asia, dated c. 2400 – c. 1600 BC , located in present-day northern Afghanistan , eastern Turkmenistan , southern Uzbekistan and western Tajikistan , centred on
6279-458: The parish is within a large conservation area. The meadows to the west of the village are part of the River Avon flood plain and designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The 2001 census, recorded the population of the parish as 774 of which 415 were male and 359 female. There were 274 households giving an average of just under 2.82 people per household. All but 2 households identified themselves as being of white ethnicity (99.3%). Of
6370-512: The point of origin of a cultural enigma termed the Seima-Turbino Phenomenon . It is conjectured that changes in climate in this region c. 2000 BC }}, and the ensuing ecological, economic, and political changes, triggered a rapid and massive migration westward into northeast Europe, eastward into China, and southward into Vietnam and Thailand across a frontier of some 4,000 mi (6,000 km). This migration took place in just five to six generations and led to peoples from Finland in
6461-455: The region laid the foundations for astronomy , mathematics, and astrology . The following dates are approximate. The Bronze Age in the Near East can be divided into Early, Middle and Late periods. The dates and phases below apply solely to the Near East, not universally. However, some archaeologists propose a "high chronology", which extends periods such as the Intermediate Bronze Age by 300 to 500–600 years, based on material analysis of
6552-473: The regional Bronze Age is the name given to the period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egyptian civilisation attained its first continuous peak of complexity and achievement—the first of three "Kingdom" periods which marked the high points of civilisation in the lower Nile Valley (the others being the Middle Kingdom and New Kingdom ). The First Intermediate Period of Egypt , often described as
6643-654: The rise of the Mesopotamian civilisation of Sumer in the mid-4th millennium BC. Cultures in the ancient Near East practised intensive year-round agriculture; developed writing systems ; invented the potter's wheel , created centralised governments (usually in the form of hereditary monarchies ), formulated written law codes, developed city-states , nation-states and empires; embarked on advanced architectural projects; and introduced social stratification , economic and civil administration, slavery , and practised organised warfare, medicine, and religion. Societies in
6734-539: The rise of the Shang and Zhou civilizations." According to Jan Romgard, "bronze and iron tools seem to have traveled from west to east as well as the use of wheeled wagons and the domestication of the horse." There are also possible links to Seima-Turbino culture , "a transcultural complex across northern Eurasia", the Eurasian steppe, and the Urals. However, the oldest bronze objects found in China so far were discovered at
6825-706: The socket, which could be associated with the Seima-Turbino visual vocabulary of southern Siberia. The metallurgical centres of northwestern China, especially the Qijia culture in Gansu and Longshan culture in Shaanxi , played an intermediary role in this process. Iron use in China dates as early as the Zhou dynasty ( c. 1046 – 256 BC), but remained minimal. Chinese literature authored during
6916-522: The south and west respectively. It lies down the road from a small hamlet called Ripley. It includes the hamlets of Shirley, Avon and Ripley. The area is mainly rural with less than 300 dwellings. The village is situated on the fringes of the New Forest , just outside the New Forest National Park but within the perambulation boundary of the forest. Most of the buildings date back to the 19th century but there are more modern houses to
7007-517: The southern Korean Peninsula gradually adopted bronze production ( c. 700–600 BC ) after a period when Liaoning-style bronze daggers and other bronze artefacts were exchanged as far as the interior part of the Southern Peninsula ( c. 900–700 BC ). The bronze daggers lent prestige and authority to the personages who wielded and were buried with them in high-status megalithic burials at south-coastal centres such as
7098-473: The story of Walter Tirel ; spelled locally as Tyrrell. The lodges at either end of the park wall still exist however. RAF Sopley was a Royal Air Force base near the village built in the early fifties as a domestic camp and used by the MOD until 1974. In the late 70s and early 80s it was used to accommodate refugees from Vietnam . The site is now known as Merryfield Park. Near to the village, bordering Ripley
7189-474: The surviving body of early Chinese writing and have helped historians and archaeologists piece together the history of China, especially during the Zhou dynasty. The bronzes of the Western Zhou document large portions of history not found in the extant texts that were often composed by persons of varying rank and possibly even social class. Further, the medium of cast bronze lends the record they preserve
7280-570: The upper Amu Darya (Oxus River). Its sites were discovered and named by the Soviet archaeologist Viktor Sarianidi (1976). Bactria was the Greek name for the area of Bactra (modern Balkh ), in what is now northern Afghanistan, and Margiana was the Greek name for the Persian satrapy of Marguš , the capital of which was Merv in present-day Turkmenistan. A wealth of information indicates that
7371-418: The village. The Woolpack Inn sits in the centre of the one-way system in the middle of the village. It was initially built as a cottage with a wool store in 1725 but has served as a public house since 1783. Built in brick with a thatched roof; it became a grade II listed building in 1986. The Parish Church of St Michaels and All Angels, a grade II* listed building, occupies a prominent position overlooking
7462-403: The west to Thailand in the east employing the same metalworking technology and, in some areas, horse breeding and riding. However, recent genetic testings of sites in south Siberia and Kazakhstan ( Andronovo horizon) would rather support spreading of the bronze technology via Indo-European migrations eastwards, as this technology had been well known for quite a while in western regions. It
7553-535: The written East Semitic Akkadian language for official use and as a spoken language. By that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use in Assyria and Babylonia, and would remain so until the 1st century AD. The Akkadian and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Assyrian and Babylonian culture. Despite this, Babylonia, unlike the more militarily powerful Assyria,
7644-513: Was Egypt's most prosperous time and marked the peak of Egypt's power. The later New Kingdom, comprising the Nineteenth and Twentieth dynasties (1292–1069 BC), is also known as the Ramesside period , after the eleven pharaohs who took the name of Ramesses. Elam was a pre-Iranian ancient civilisation located east of Mesopotamia. In the Middle Bronze Age, Elam consisted of kingdoms on
7735-517: Was built near Bransgore. In 1958 the School of Fighter Control moved in and from 1959 an Air Traffic Control Research Unit was established. The Fighter Control School disbanded in 1960 and the station was taken over by Air Traffic Control. RAF Sopley fulfilled a number of other roles before closing in September 1974. The two-level operations bunker was modernised in the 1970s when it was occupied by
7826-674: Was donated by the 4th Baron to a charitable trust, the "National Association of Girls' Clubs and Mixed Clubs". In 2014 it is still in use as the headquarters of UK Youth , a national youth work charity and activity centre. Much of the parish is within a conservation area and most of the buildings date back to the 19th century, although there are more modern houses to the north of the village. There are many thatched cottages and some timber-framed buildings. There are two grade I, one grade II* and 35 grade II listed structures including Sopley mill, both Sopley Park lodges, The Woolpack Inn and The Old Blacksmith's Shop; all five of which are sited close to in
7917-466: Was founded by non-native Amorites and often ruled by other non-indigenous peoples such as the Kassites , Aramaeans and Chaldeans , as well as by its Assyrian neighbours. For many decades, scholars made superficial reference to Central Asia as the "pastoral realm" or alternatively, the "nomadic world", in what researchers call the "Central Asian void": a 5,000-year span that was neglected in studies of
8008-570: Was introduced in 1938 to aid the flow of traffic along the narrow lanes in the village. A 1937 traffic census recorded that within a week, a mere 9,271 vehicles used the main Ringwood to Christchurch road. The Parish of Sopley is in the far southwest corner of Hampshire on the border of Dorset some three miles north-northeast of the town of Christchurch . The River Avon and the Parish of Burton run along its western edge and it extends eastwards into
8099-496: Was sold in 1993 to a local partnership under the name Merryfield Park. Most of the old barracks site had been redeveloped as housing, but the 2-storey building at the Sopley end has been converted into a museum/education centre by Friends Of New Forest Airfields (FONFA). The museum opened in May 2016. The site started out as an experimental Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar station. Using systems developed in nearby Christchurch,
8190-495: Was the Ground Controlled Interception (GCI) radar station. Its purpose to detect, locate and track enemy aircraft and provide inland radar coverage for Britain. Initially a mobile station, by 1943 it was a permanent fixture with rotating ariel array, transmitter equipment stored in an underground bunker, operations block, emergency back up power supply and guard hut. In 1946 RAF Sopley was re-classified as
8281-583: Was the western neighbour of the Middle and New Hittite Kingdoms , at times a rival and, at other times, a vassal. The Assuwa league was a confederation of states in western Anatolia defeated by the Hittites under the earlier Tudhaliya I c. 1400 BC . Arzawa has been associated with the more obscure Assuwa generally located to its north. It probably bordered it, and may have been an alternative term for it during some periods. In Ancient Egypt ,
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