Compton and Shawford | |
---|---|
Compton Street; primary school on right | |
Location within Hampshire | |
Population | 1,420 [1] 1,729 (2011 Census) [2] |
OS grid reference | SU470251 |
Civil parish |
|
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Winchester |
Postcode district | SO21 |
Dialling code | 01962 |
Police | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
Fire | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Website | comptonshawford-pc |
Compton and Shawford is a civil parish in the City of Winchester district, immediately southwest of the city, in Hampshire, England. Its main settlements are the villages of Compton and Shawford.
The word compton means village in a combe and aptly describes the settlement as it primarily consists of a long street on the side of a chalk valley.
Shawford is notable for having the longest railway viaduct in Hampshire (now known as Hockley Railway Viaduct). This is over 2,000 feet (610 m) in length and 40 feet (12 m) high. Disused since 1966, the viaduct was initially threatened with demolition when the M3 motorway was proposed but after much protest it was incorporated into the scheme.
The two halves of the parish are linked by Shawford Down which runs alongside the River Itchen. However they are now symbolically separated by the motorway with Compton on its west side and Shawford on its east.
Yew Hill is a prominence of elevation 121m above sea level situated approximately 1Km. North West of Compton [3] A covered reservoir fed by water pumped from Otterbourne water works is located here. [4] [5] [6] Silkstead Lane runs alongside Yew Hill. [7] A Butterfly Conservation area has been established at Yew Hill, 5.85 hectares (14.4 acres) in total size with open access to an area of 1.5 ha. [8]
The parish lies on the Upper Cretaceous chalk at the northern edge of the Hampshire Basin, dipping south from the Winchester anticline, with successively younger beds being exposed from north to south. In the north the Seaford Chalk formation of Santonian age makes up Compton Down. South of this the Newhaven Chalk outcrops in the dry valley running down from Oliver's Battery to Shawford. In the south of the parish the Culver Chalk of Campanian age is largely overlain by a layer of 'clay-with-flints' weathered out of the chalk. In the east the chalk is cut through by the Itchen valley and overlain by calcareous tufa. [9]
A feature of the geology is the hill immediately southwest of the village of Shawford known as Shawford Down. This area is noted for its rich variety of habitats and the grazed pasture supports a wealth of flora and fauna, including notable insects and wildflowers.[ citation needed ]
In the 1086 Domesday Book, Compton came under the manor of Chilcomb, but by 1250, was a separate manor, held by the Wasseling family. It was later held by the Philpot, Tichborne, and Heathcote families. The village had a mill on the river Itchen, which forms the parish boundary with Twyford. [10]
John Philpot of Compton was an early English martyr, executed in the reign of Queen Mary. [11]
All Saints' church in Compton dates in part from the 12th century. It is unusual in that it has two naves and two chancels, the original Norman constructions being supplemented by a new nave and chancel in 1905. [12] A bell-turret was added to the church in 1880. [13] The church's font appears to date from the Norman period. [13]
National Cycle Route 23 passes through the parish, [14] as do bus services provided by Bluestar. The M3 motorway also goes through the parish, with junction 11 to the north and junction 12 to the south. Shawford railway station is served by stopping services on the South West Main Line.
The parish is crossed from east to west by the Monarch's Way long-distance footpath, and from north to south by the Itchen Way.
Compton is represented in the Hampshire Cricket League as one half of Compton & Chandlers Ford CC following the merging of Compton & Shawford CC and Chandlers Ford CC in 1995. The club plays its home games at the Memorial playing fields, just off of Shepards Lane. [15]
Shawford was the location for Victor Meldrew's death the One Foot in the Grave episode "Things Aren't Simple Any More". [16] [17] It is referred to in Robyn Hitchcock's song "Winchester". [18]
Shawford railway station was featured in a 1974 film starring Sophia Loren, a remake of Brief Encounter , as was Winchester station (though most filming took place at Brockenhurst). It caused great excitement in the village; a large crowd watched the actress being filmed getting out of a car on the forecourt.[ citation needed ]
Jon Tufnell, the leader of the band Plastic Toys, is a former resident of Compton and it was in his home studio in the village that he recorded the album For Tonight Only, which included the single "Let Me Feel The Love". It charted at Number 30 in the UK Indie Chart in 2007.[ citation needed ]
The M3 is a motorway in England, from Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, to Eastleigh, Hampshire; a distance of approximately 59 miles (95 km). The route includes the Aldershot Urban Area, Basingstoke, Winchester, and Southampton.
Twyford Down is an area of chalk downland lying directly to the southeast of Winchester, Hampshire, England next to St. Catherine's Hill and close to the South Downs National Park. It has been settled since pre-Roman times, and has housed a fort and a chapel, as well as being a 17th and 18th century coaching route.
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The River Itchen in Hampshire, England, rises to the south of New Alresford and flows 26 miles (42 km) to meet Southampton Water below the Itchen Bridge. The Itchen Navigation was constructed in the late 17th and early 18th centuries to enable barges to reach Winchester from Southampton Docks, but ceased to operate in the mid-19th century and is largely abandoned today.
Otterbourne is a village in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately four miles (6.4 km) south of Winchester and eight miles (13 km) north of Southampton. At the 2011 census, its population was 1,539, and there were 626 dwellings.
The Itchen Way is a 31.80-mile (51.18 km) long-distance footpath following the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, from its source near Hinton Ampner House to its mouth at Woolston. The walk finishes at Sholing railway station. The route has been promoted by the Eastleigh Group of the Ramblers with grant aid from Hampshire County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council. The route was altered and improved in 2008.
Winchester is a constituency in Hampshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Danny Chambers, a Liberal Democrat.
The Hockley Railway Viaduct is a disused railway viaduct to the south of Winchester in Hampshire, England.
Chandler's Ford is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It had a population of 21,436 according to the 2011 Census.
Twyford is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, approximately three miles south of Winchester and near the M3 motorway and Twyford Down. In 2001, the population of the parish was 1,456. The village and parish are on the left bank of the Itchen, which passes through nearby watermeadows, and has been important economically for its residents.
Colden Common is a civil parish in the Winchester District of Hampshire, England, approximately 5 miles south of the city of Winchester, covering an area of 690.74 hectares (2.6670 sq mi) with a resident population of approximately 4,000 people. It includes the village of Colden Common and the hamlets of Hensting, Fisher's Pond, Nob's Crook, Highbridge and Brambridge. Part of the parish lies within the South Downs National Park.
The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway (DN&SR) was a cross-country railway running north–south between Didcot, Newbury and Winchester. Its promoters intended an independent route to Southampton and envisaged heavy traffic from the Midlands and North of England to the port, but they ran out of funds to complete the line to Southampton. The intended heavy through traffic never materialised, and the line was dependent on larger railways—the Great Western Railway and the London and South Western Railway—for support, which was not freely given. The line opened in two stages, in 1882 and 1885.
Shawford railway station serves the villages of Twyford, Compton and Shawford in Hampshire, England. It is 69 miles 50 chains (112.1 km) down the line from London Waterloo.
The Itchen Navigation is a 10.4-mile (16.7 km) disused canal system in Hampshire, England, that provided an important trading route from Winchester to the sea at Southampton for about 150 years. Improvements to the River Itchen were authorised by act of parliament in 1665, but progress was slow, and the navigation was not declared complete until 1710. It was known as a navigation because it was essentially an improved river, with the main river channel being used for some sections, and cuts with locks used to bypass the difficult sections. Its waters are fed from the River Itchen. It provided an important method of moving goods, particularly agricultural produce and coal, between the two cities and the intervening villages.
Chilcomb is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire 3 miles (4.8 km) east of Winchester and includes the South Downs Way long-distance footpath.
St. Catherine's Hill is a chalk downland hill and 43-hectare (110-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the outskirts of Winchester in Hampshire, England. It is owned by Winchester College but open to the public. It is managed by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, and topped by an Iron Age hillfort, a scheduled monument. In the Black Death, plague pits were dug in the dry valley on the south side of the hill. In the Early modern period, a mizmaze was cut on the hilltop. Winchester College football used to be played on the hill; in an old custom, members of the college assemble on the hill every year, early in the morning.
National Cycle Route 23 is a route of the United Kingdom National Cycle Network, running from Reading to Sandown. The partially signed route passes through Basingstoke, Eastleigh and Southampton; once across the Solent, it continues through Cowes and Newport and ends in Sandown on the Isle of Wight.
The Hampshire Downs form a large area of downland in central southern England, mainly in the county of Hampshire but with parts in Berkshire and Wiltshire. They are part of a belt of chalk downland that extends from the South Downs in the southeast, north to the Berkshire and Marlborough Downs, and west to the Dorset Downs.
The Winchester-East Meon Anticline is one of a series of parallel east–west trending folds in the Cretaceous chalk of Hampshire. It lies at the western end of the South Downs, immediately to the north of the Hampshire Basin and south-east of Salisbury Plain.
Media related to Compton and Shawford at Wikimedia Commons