Fawley, Hampshire

Last updated

Fawley
Calshot Road, Fawley. - geograph.org.uk - 1541901.jpg
Calshot Road, Fawley
Hampshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Fawley
Location within Hampshire
OS grid reference SU457034
Civil parish
  • Fawley
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SOUTHAMPTON
Postcode district SO45
Dialling code 023
Police Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Fire Hampshire and Isle of Wight
Ambulance South Central
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire
50°49′41″N1°21′07″W / 50.828°N 1.352°W / 50.828; -1.352
All Saints, Fawley Church of All Saints fawley 2013.JPG
All Saints, Fawley

Fawley is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is situated in the New Forest on the western shore of the Solent, approximately 7 miles (11 kilometres) south of Southampton. Fawley is also the site of Fawley Refinery, operated by ExxonMobil, which is the largest facility of its kind in the United Kingdom. The decommissioned Fawley Power Station is also located less than a mile to the south east of the village.

Contents

The village of Fawley

A settlement has existed at Fawley for many centuries, and the village itself was recorded in the Domesday Book. Other areas in the parish can boast remains from the Stone Age and Roman occupation. A church at Fawley apparently existed in 971. The present church (All Saints) was built between 1170 and 1340. [1] This church still exists and is the parish church of much of the surrounding area. [2]

The arrival of the Esso oil refinery in 1921 transformed a sparsely populated agricultural area into an industrial centre with a population of around 14,500. Modern Fawley is smaller and less populous than its more recently founded neighbours, Holbury and Blackfield, but remains the administrative centre of the parish. Other villages within the parish of Fawley include Hardley (a suburb of Holbury), Langley (a suburb of Blackfield), Ashlett, and Calshot. Calshot possesses shingle beaches and attracts significant numbers of tourists and local visitors during the summer months. Near Calshot is Luttrell's Tower, an 18th-century Gothic folly. [3]

History

The origin of the name "Fawley" is uncertain. It might mean "fallow(-coloured) wood/clearing" or "clearing with land broken in for arable". [4]

In Domesday Book of 1086 Fawley is listed among those lands which were held by the Bishop of Winchester for the support of the monks of Winchester. [5] In 1284 the monks gave up all their rights in Fawley to the bishop. [6] There seems to have been a close connexion between Fawley Manor and the manor of Bitterne, which also belonged to the bishops of Winchester. [6] In 1546 John Skullard was tenant at Fawley Manor, which remained in the hands of that family until 1681. [6] In 1705 the manor was conveyed to Edward Peachey, and a family settlement concerning Fawley Manor was made by William and Erlysman Peachy in 1765. In 1801 the manor was conveyed to Robert Drummond of Cadlands. Fawley thus became annexed to the neighbouring manor of Cadlands. [6]

The manor of Cadlands was in the 13th century attached to the lordship of the Isle of Wight until the end of the century when the overlordship was sold to the Crown. [6] The manor was held from 1241 onwards by Titchfield Abbey until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. [6] Sometime after 1560 the manor was combined with the estates of Holbury and Langley, and it subsequently fell into two moieties. One moiety was in the possession of the Stanley family from 1693 onwards, the other moiety passed to Lady Mary Talbot, and thence after 1772 into Drummond family. [6] The Cadland estate, which stretched down the coast of Southampton Water for nearly eight miles, was the residence of the Drummond family, who owned most of the land in the parish. [6] Cadland house was built in 1773, but was greatly enlarged in 1836; it burnt down in 1916 but was rebuilt in 1935. [7] It was subsequently demolished with the growth of Fawley oil refinery which is built over much of the old Cadlands estate. [7]

Three other estates in the parish are those of Ower, Stanswood, and Stone, all of which are recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, and still exist as farms in the south of the parish. [6] With a size of 37 households, Stanswood was in fact the largest settlement in the area in 1086. [8]

Notable people

Arthur Sumner Gibson (1844–1927), England rugby union international, born in Fawley
Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson (1848–1924), Bishop of Gloucester, born in Fawley
John Sumner Gibson (1833–1892), English clergyman and cricketer

Sport and leisure

Fawley has a Non-League football club Fawley A.F.C., which plays at the Waterside Sports & Social Club. The formerly known Waterside Sports and Social Club (casually known as the Esso club) suffered financial difficulties, however ExxonMobil and Holbury Community Sports Association (HCSA) plan to refurbish the site and keep the changing rooms, tennis courts, and other facilities still running.

Fawley also has a Rugby union team, Fawley RFC, who play out of Newlands Park close to Fawley, having left their former home ground at the Esso club as of 2016. They currently play in Hampshire Division 1 having gained promotion at the end of 2018 - 2019 season.

Fawley oil refinery and chemical works

A refinery at Fawley was first established in 1921 by the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Company. It was acquired by Esso in 1925, and it was rebuilt and extended in 1951. It is the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom with a capacity of 330,000 barrels a day. [9]

Related Research Articles

Fawley may refer to:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hythe, Hampshire</span> Town in Hampshire, England

Hythe is a town in Hampshire, England. It is located by the shore of Southampton Water, and has a ferry service connecting it to Southampton. Hythe has a shopping area, a pier, and a marina for yachts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marchwood</span> Human settlement in England

Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, England. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and directly east of the New Forest. The population of the village in the 2011 census was 6,141.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holbury</span> Village in Hampshire, England

Holbury is a village in Hampshire, England. It is part of the parish of Fawley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crondall</span> Village and parish in Hampshire, England

Crondall is a village and large civil parish in the Hart district, in the north east of Hampshire in England, in the Crondall Hundred surveyed in the Domesday Book of 1086. The village is on the gentle slopes of the low western end of the North Downs range, and has the remains of a Roman villa. Despite the English Reformation, Winchester Cathedral held the chief manors representing much of its land from 975 until 1861. A large collection of Anglo-Saxon and Merovingian coins found in the parish has become known as the Crondall Hoard. In 2021 the parish had a population of 1724.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibden Purlieu</span> Village in Hampshire, England

Dibden Purlieu is a village situated on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, England. The village merges with the nearby town of Hythe. It is in the civil parish of Hythe and Dibden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dibden</span> Village and parish in Hampshire, England

Dibden is a small village in Hampshire, England, which dates from the Middle Ages. It is dominated by the nearby settlements of Hythe and Dibden Purlieu. It is in the civil parish of Hythe and Dibden. It lies on the eastern edge of the New Forest in a valley, which runs into Southampton Water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawley A.F.C.</span> Association football club in England

Fawley Association Football Club is a football club based in Fawley, near Southampton, in Hampshire, England. They are currently members of Wessex League Division One and play at the Waterside Sports & Social Club in Holbury.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawley Power Station</span> Former oil-fired power station in Hampshire, England

Fawley Power Station was an oil-fired power station located on the western side of Southampton Water, between the villages of Fawley and Calshot in Hampshire, England. Its 198-metre (650 ft) chimney was a prominent landmark, but it was not, as is sometimes claimed, the highest point in Hampshire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fawley Refinery</span> Oil refinery in Hampshire, England

Fawley Refinery is an oil refinery located at Fawley, Hampshire, England. The refinery is owned by Esso Petroleum Company Limited, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, which acquired the site in 1925. Situated on Southampton Water, it was rebuilt and extended in 1951 and is now the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom, and one of the most complex refineries in Europe. With a capacity of 270,000 barrels (43,000 m3) per day, Fawley provides 20 per cent of the UK's refinery capacity. Over 2,500 people are employed at the site.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langley, Hampshire</span> Village in Hampshire, England

Langley is a small village in the civil parish of Fawley in Hampshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edgar Gibson</span> British bishop (1848–1924)

Edgar Charles Sumner Gibson was the 31st Bishop of Gloucester. He was born into a clerical family. His father was a clergyman and his son Theodore Sumner Gibson was a long serving Bishop in two South African Dioceses. He was educated at Charterhouse and Trinity College, Oxford. Ordained in 1872, his first post was as Chaplain at Wells Theological College, rising to Vice Principal in 1875. His next post was as principal of Leeds Clergy School and he later became Rural Dean of the area and Vicar of Leeds Parish Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medstead</span> Human settlement in England

Medstead is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Alton, which lies 4.3 miles (6.9 km) northeast of the village. According to the 2011 census, the village had a population of 2,036 people. The parish covers an area of 1,536 acres (622 ha) and has an average elevation of approximately 600 feet (180 m) above sea level. One of the county's high points at 716 feet (218 m), King's Hill, runs through Medstead and Bentworth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ExxonMobil</span> American multinational oil and gas company

ExxonMobil Corporation is an American multinational oil and gas corporation and the largest direct descendant of John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil. The company, which took its present name in 1999 per the merger of Exxon and Mobil, is vertically integrated across the entire oil and gas industry, and within it is also a chemicals division which produces plastic, synthetic rubber, and other chemical products. ExxonMobil is headquartered near the Houston suburb of Spring, Texas, though officially incorporated in the U.S. state of New Jersey. The company is the largest oil and gas company based in the US, America's third largest by revenue among all industries, and the eighth largest in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hardley, Hampshire</span> Village in Hampshire, England

Hardley is a suburb of the village of Holbury in the civil parish of Fawley in Hampshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Gibson (rugby)</span> England international rugby union player

Arthur Sumner Gibson was a rugby union international who represented England in 1871 in the first international match.

Asterix was a small tug/mooring launch which capsized and was a total loss in March 2015 while operating at the marine terminal of Fawley Refinery in Southampton Water, England

References

  1. ↑ "The Church of All Saints, Fawley". Southern Life. Archived from the original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved 16 January 2011.
  2. ↑ "History Of All Saints'". All Saints', Fawley. Fawley Parish. Archived from the original on 9 October 2010. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  3. ↑ Hampshire Treasures, Volume 5 (New Forest), Page 125 Archived 9 June 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ↑ Fawley, Old Hampshire Gazetteer
  5. ↑ Domesday Map - Fawley
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Victoria County History, (1912), A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 5, Fawley
  7. 1 2 Fawley - southernlife.org.uk Archived 25 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ↑ Domesday Map - Stanswood
  9. ↑ Fawley refinery, ExxonMobil
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.