A small hamlet clustered around a hilltop overlooking Swan Green and Lyndhurst, Emery Down in 1379 was known as Emerichdon, and in 1490 as Emeresdowne – the name probably referred to land belonging to the Emery family.
Construction costs were met by Admiral Frederick Moore Boultbee, a significant Emery Down benefactor, who in 1856 settled in the village with his niece Charlotte. Charlotte kept house for him in a thatched cottage known simply as The Cottage, which had been purchased from a Colonel Hogg for 1,500 pounds. The Admiral died in 1876, and after Charlotte’s death 20 years later, their house was bequeathed to the church. The thatched roof was replaced with tiles, and the pretty, old cottage was transformed into a red-brick Vicarage. This, however, was in sharp contrast to its earlier history for until the late 18th century it had been the village inn, The Running Horse.
The village school, too, owed its existence to the Admiral. Opened in 1865, it replaced what was described as ‘a primitive dame school kept by old Mrs. Davis’. Extension or rebuilding in 1885 is commemorated by an ornate plaque on a side wall. The school continued to provide education for local children until 1950, when the pupils transferred to Lyndhurst. The school bell, though, is displayed in the church – it is on the wall directly opposite the entrance door. After a period of use by the New Forest Verderers, the building is now a private residence.