Hi
With some computer problems lately, I've only just picked up on the messages about the New Forest. Blatant plug coming up ....
I'm the author of the Landmark Visitor Guide to the New Forest - highly recommended ! :)
If you like nice layout and good coloured pics, go for the 2nd edition, which may still be around, price 6.50. I hated what the publishers did to the third edition, half the pages no longer colour, but if you want opening times of attractions, etc, it's more up to date ... 7.50
No, not much ancient stuff, though some interesting medieval earthworks if you can track them down. If you like big fat blockbuster family saga novels (and even if you don't) you must read Edward Rutherfurd's 'The Forest' before you go - it covers from the death of William Rufus in 1100 up to the present day with a great deal of historical fact and legend woven into the fiction.
One site just outside the Forest which you should find - Breamore Miz-Maze - it's one of only eight surviving (probably medieval) turf labyrinths left in England. And if you want to find it and more about it, you need my 8-page booklet 'A Walk to Breamore Miz-Maze'. Get in touch direct, Pixxx, and I'll send a gratis copy.