Sopley

Sopley is a village and civil parish in the New Forest National Park in Hampshire, England. The village 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 includes the hamlets of Shirley, Avon and Ripley. The area is mainly rural with fewer than 300 dwellings. The population of the parish at the 2021 census was 1,028.

The village is on the fringes of the New Forest, just outside the national park but within the perambulation boundary of the forest. Most of the buildings date from the 19th century but there are more modern houses to the north. It is also home to Moorlands College, one of the largest evangelical theological seminaries in the country, built on the site of the old manor house which was demolished in 1988.