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Hill Head is a residential area and village [1] on the coast of the Solent. It is located south of Stubbington, west of Lee-on-the-Solent and south east of Titchfield, in the borough of Fareham, Hampshire.
Hill Head is in the Gosport parliamentary constituency. The MP is Caroline Dinenage of the Conservative Party since 2010.
Hill Head has a sandy beach with sailing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and fishing being the most popular pastimes upon its shores. There is also a small harbour, located where the River Meon enters the Solent. It is next to Titchfield Haven National Nature Reserve.
Hill Head has a substantial elderly population – 33.2% of its 7,100 residents are over 65, compared to an English average of 18.4%. At the 2021 Census the ward population had fallen slightly to 7,100. [2]
During World War II, Hill Head was one of many loading zones for the D-Day invasions and the area was inundated with allied troops. Along the coast here there are still many reminders of the war time activities including remnants of fortifications. Part of a Mulberry harbour broke away and was grounded at Hill Head beach. It remained there for many years.[ citation needed ] Seafield Park, a Royal Navy establishment was nearby.
The Swordfish public house at Hill Head was demolished in 2004 to make way for a small development of beach-front homes known as Swordfish Close. The name Swordfish is derived from the World War Two bomber the Fairey Swordfish which flew from the nearby airfield at RNAS Lee-on-Solent (HMS Daedalus). Swordfish Close has been featured in the BBC television series Seaside Rescue. The pub was previously called the Marine Court Hotel.
For many years the only remaining pub along Hill Head beach-front was the Osborne View, so named as Osborne House (residential home of Queen Victoria) was visible on a clear day. It burnt down in a fire that started at 2.30am on 22 February 2024. [3] Built in the Victorian era and constructed down the cliff over four floors, the Osborne View was a hotel until 1971; regulars included football player and manager Alf Ramsey. [3]
Between 1985 and 1990, Hill Head's beaches appeared in the BBC TV show Howards' Way , which was mostly filmed at nearby Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice, Warsash and Swanwick.
Bus services to and from Hill Head are provided by First, [4] with a half-hourly circular service to and from Fareham.
The area has a convenience store with a post office, a lighting shop, a door and windows shop, two hairdressers, a Chinese takeaway and a prep school.
Southsea is a seaside resort and a geographic area of Portsmouth, Portsea Island in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. Southsea is located 1.8 miles (2.8 km) to the south of Portsmouth's inner city-centre.
Wickham is a village in the civil parish of Wickham and Knowle, in the Winchester district, in the county of Hampshire, England. It is about 3 miles north of Fareham. In 2021 it had a population of 2173. At the 2001 census, it the parish a population of 4,816, falling to 4,299 at the 2011 Census.
Fareham is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufacturer of bricks, used to build the Royal Albert Hall, and grower of strawberries and other seasonal fruits. In 2011 it had a population of 42,210.
Gosport is a town and non-metropolitan borough, on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2021 Census, its population was 81,952. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite the city of Portsmouth, to which it is linked by the Gosport Ferry. Gosport lies south-east of Fareham, to which it is linked by a Bus Rapid Transit route and the A32. Until the last quarter of the 20th century, Gosport was a major naval town associated with the defence and supply infrastructure of His Majesty's Naval Base (HMNB) Portsmouth. As such over the years extensive fortifications were created.
Portchester is a village in the borough of Fareham in Hampshire, England. It is 4 miles (6.4 km) northwest of Portsmouth and around 18 miles east of Southampton on the A27 road. Its population according to the 2011 United Kingdom census was 17,789.
The Borough of Fareham is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Fareham. Other places within the borough include Portchester, Hill Head, Sarisbury, Stubbington, Titchfield and Warsash. The borough covers much of the semi-urban area between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The neighbouring districts are Eastleigh, Winchester, Portsmouth and Gosport. The district's southern boundary is the coast of the Solent.
Whiteley is a planned community of 6,500 homes in the county of Hampshire, England, United Kingdom near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.
Lee-on-the-Solent, often referred to as Lee-on-Solent, is a seaside district of the borough of Gosport in Hampshire, England, about five miles (8 km) west of Portsmouth. The area is located on the coast of the Solent. It is primarily a residential area, with an upsurge of mostly local visitors in summer, but was also the former home to the Royal Naval Air Station HMS Daedalus.
Stubbington is a village which is located between Southampton and Portsmouth, in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. It is within the borough of Fareham.
The River Meon is a chalk stream in Hampshire in the south of England. It rises at East Meon then flows 34 km (21 mi) in a generally southerly direction to empty into the Solent at Hill Head near Stubbington. Above Wickham, the river runs through the South Downs National Park.
Titchfield is a village and former civil parish in the Fareham district, in southern Hampshire, England, by the River Meon. The village has a history stretching back to the 6th century. During the medieval period, the village operated a small port and market. Near to the village are the ruins of Titchfield Abbey, a place with strong associations with Shakespeare, through his patron, the Earl of Southampton.
The Solent Way is a long-distance footpath in Hampshire, southern England. For the most part, the path follows the coast of the Solent, the sea strait that separates mainland Britain from the Isle of Wight. The Solent Way forms part of the King Charles III England Coast Path, as well as part of the E9 European Coastal Path, which runs for 5000 km (3125 miles) from Cape St Vincent in Portugal to Narva-Jõesuu in Estonia.
Stokes BaySZ 590 980) is an area of the Solent that lies just south of Gosport, between Portsmouth and Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire. There is a shingle beach with views of Ryde and East Cowes on the Isle of Wight to the south and Fawley to the south west. The settlement of Alverstoke is close by.
Funtley – from the Anglo-Saxon, "Funtaleg", "spring field (clearing)", is a hamlet or exurb north of Fareham, Hampshire, England. It forms a projection towards the South Downs National Park and is generally included within Fareham's population as it is within its built-up area. At present the village is unparished, as the creation of a parish council was rejected by Fareham Borough Council, despite having the support of the majority of residents.
Locks Heath is a residential suburb of Fareham, in the south of Hampshire, England. Locks Heath is immediately surrounded by a collection of villages including Sarisbury to the west, Swanwick, Park Gate and Whiteley to the north, Warsash to the southwest and Titchfield to the southeast. Within the heart of the area its shopping village is located with a community centre. The population of the village itself in 2011 was 7,104 whilst the wider Locks Heath residential area equaled 43,359 as of 2011.
Alverstoke is a village in the borough of Gosport, on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It stretches east–west from Fort Blockhouse, Haslar to Browndown Battery, and is centred 0.5 miles (0.80 km) east of the shore of Stokes Bay and near the head of a creek which extends a mile westward from Portsmouth Harbour.
Sarisbury is a village to the west of Park Gate within the borough of Fareham, Hampshire, in the south of England. Its focal point is Sarisbury Green and the parish church of St Paul, formerly part of Titchfield parish. In previous times it was a rural locality dependent on fruit growing. At the 2011 Census the population of the ward was 7,385. Nearby villages include Bursledon, Hamble-le-Rice and Swanwick. The name is pronounced 'Sarsbury' with the 'i' being silent.
Port Solent is the commercial business name of a housing and leisure development located in the Paulsgrove suburb of the English city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, comprising a marina, a housing estate, shopping and leisure facilities.
Titchfield Haven is a 134.5-hectare (332-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest north-west of Gosport in Hampshire. Most of it is a local nature reserve and a national nature reserve. It is part of Solent and Southampton Water Ramsar site and Special Protection Area.