The image to the left shows a finger post in West Parley pointing the way to Riddles Ford.
Riddles Ford, which has historically been spelt Redeylesford (1463), Rydels Ford (1548) and Ridles fforde (1712), was an ancient crossing place on the River Stour between West Parley and Redhill to the south.
It has previously been suggested that a local name for the river may have been Riddle and hence Riddles Ford. I would like to put forward the alternative suggestion that the name Redhill comes from the Old English word rædels, meaning counsel or debate, indicating a local moot or meeting place and from that we get Redeylesford, the ford at rædels.
The suggestion that Redhill could have been the site of a local moot is not so far fetched as it may seem. There is a record of there being a ‘folk moot’ in Wood Town, West Parley a mile to the north of the river, and Redhill was in an ideal position for a meeting place. It was a hill near a ford on the boundary between the parishes of Kinson and Holdenhurst and the Counties of Dorset and Hampshire. It was also at the junction of four hundreds namely Cogdean, Badbury, Christchurch and Ringwood.
By the way Stour is a Celtic word meaning powerful. The Stour is a powerful river. Riddles Ford was only suitable for crossing the river on horse back or by cart and could be treacherous even then.