New Forest Art, Wildlife and Folklore This Autumn

A New Forest exhibition for an autumn day trip from Southampton

If you fancy a cultural day out that still leaves room for a walk among heathland and woodland, the New Forest Heritage Centre in Lyndhurst has a new exhibition worth adding to your plans. Running from 22 August to 27 September 2026, it brings together the work of 18 artists exploring the Forest’s landscapes, wildlife and folklore. The exhibition is free to visit and the Centre is open daily from 10am to 5pm during April to October, making it a straightforward option for a day trip from Southampton.

The show covers several different ways of looking at the New Forest. Paintings sit alongside ceramics, photography, textiles and jewellery, so it is not limited to one style or medium. Photographer Alex Wright contributes panoramic views, while Tracy Dovey brings a more folkloric perspective to subjects including women, myth and witchcraft. Her work includes Granddaughter of a Poacher. Evelyn Bartlett is also featured, with bright gouache paintings of landscapes and seascapes. The first two weeks overlap with Hampshire Open Studios, giving visitors another reason to look out for artists and makers working across the area during September.

The exhibition is housed at the New Forest Heritage Centre, in the Main Car Park in Lyndhurst, SO43 7NY. The Centre is run by the New Forest Heritage Trust and combines a museum, exhibition gallery, reference library, gift shop and café. That mix makes it easy to spend a little longer there rather than treating the exhibition as a quick stop. The displays also provide some context for the place itself: the New Forest is a protected landscape of ancient and ornamental woodland, open heath, rivers, valley mires and coastal marshes. Its history includes royal forest traditions dating back to William the Conqueror, as well as the commoners whose grazing rights remain part of life in the Forest today.

For families, the exhibition can sit alongside a wider visit to Lyndhurst and the surrounding Forest, with walking and cycling routes available for different abilities and wildlife to look out for on the way. New Forest ponies, cattle and donkeys graze across the common, while the area is also known for species such as Dartford warblers, woodlarks, adders and southern damselflies. The New Forest Reptile Centre, near Lyndhurst, offers another wildlife-focused stop. Visitors heading out into the countryside should follow the New Forest Code and keep a safe distance from grazing animals.

The exhibition also connects with artists beyond the Heritage Centre. Some New Forest Marque Inspired members are opening studios and showing work at independent venues around the Forest, including CODA Music and Arts in Walkford, Hordle Art Club at Hordle Community Centre and Watermark at Lepe Country Park. These venues are separate from the main exhibition, but they offer a way to see how the Forest continues to shape local creative work. For a Southampton day trip, the Lyndhurst exhibition provides a clear starting point, with the option of adding a short walk or another local cultural stop before heading home.