Leigh Park | |
---|---|
Staunton Country Park | |
Location within Hampshire | |
Population | Approx 27,500 |
OS grid reference | SU712082 |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Havant |
Postcode district | PO9 |
Dialling code | (023) |
Police | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
Fire | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Leigh Park is a large suburb (population 27,500) of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It currently forms the bulk or whole of four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park (generally referred to as 'The Warren').
Staunton Country Park lies on the northern edge of Leigh Park, also within the Havant boundary.
Leigh Park existed before becoming a post Second world war housing estate,
As early as 1750 mention was made of a farm on the site in a will of that year and local historians consider it likely that a farm existed there around 100 years earlier. [1]
The stables, walled garden and coach house of the house survived as part of Staunton Country Park. The estate encompassed decorative planting, lakes and follies [2] and was described as "one of the most beautiful spots in the county" in 1826. [3]
In 'The Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales' Leigh is described as a tything of Havant parish two miles to the north west of Havant with a population of 547. [4]
Leigh Park was re-developed as a new suburb for those made homeless in Portsmouth by bomb damage which occurred during World War II and to enable the new roads and parks of Portsmouth to be built.
The land for the estate was purchased by Portsmouth City council from the Fitzwygram family in 1944; work started on building in 1947 and the first residents moved in during 1949. The first shops opened in 1952 (in Stone Square) and the main shopping centre of Park Parade / Greywell Shopping opened in 1955. [lower-alpha 1]
The majority of homes in Leigh Park were built by Portsmouth City Council, not Havant Borough Council through a financially underwritten cooperation with the former Havant and Waterloo Urban District Council. Most Leigh Park tenants of social housing pay rent to the properties' owners Guinness Partnership (formerly Hermitage Housing) or Portsmouth City Council which has an office near Park Parade. Residents are liable in council tax to Havant Borough Council who provide local services and collect the Hampshire County Council proportion.
Construction of the estate was not fully completed until the early 1970s, although most of the houses in the area were built by 1960.
Barratt Homes is currently building on the former Procter & Gamble site in the centre of Leigh Park. Leigh Park was one of the largest wholly council estates in Europe however following the ongoing right to buy many of the properties are privately owned.
In 2004, Leigh Park made the news when a gang stole more than £100,000 from the Nationwide Building Society [5] and a man sleeping on a bench was set on fire, in a separate incident. [6]
The suburb of Leigh Park comes under the remit of the local government district and borough of Havant and within the boundary of Hampshire County Council. As of November 2019 [update] the area is broadly covered by the electoral wards of Barncroft, Battins and Warren Park while some northern section of Bedhampton ward might be considered within what might be commonly thought of Leigh Park. [7]
Leigh Park is part of the parliamentary constituency of Havant. As of November 2019 [update] it is served by MP Alan Mak, a Conservative.
The modern estate is bordered to the east by the Havant to Petersfield railway line excluding perhaps some industrial units by the railway which would not be considered part of the estate. The Northern extent is approximately defined in line with the A3M and B2150 junction. Staunton Country Park and Leigh Park Gardens may or may not be considered part of the estate, as might the Southleigh House area which lies to the east of the Railway. The western edge is bounded but excluding houses around B2150 road from Old Bedhampton to Waterlooville. To the south, the boundary lies broadly just to the north of the B2149 road.
Leigh Park is broadly flat gradually rising to the North with some sharper rises at fringes around the northern parts.
The Hermitage Stream and tributaries run through parts of Leigh Park while the Lavant stream runs down the left side of the settlement. [8] [9] Both run into Langstone Harbour which is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the south at the nearest point.
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There was a Bowling alley beside park parade that was converted to a bingo hall and opened by Diana Dors in 1984. [10] : 4 There also used to be a netto on park parade that sold mars bars at below market prices. [11] : 5
The main shopping precinct is served by Stagecoach South bus routes 20, 21, 23, 37 and 39, which provide links with central Havant (with some services continuing to Portsmouth and the main area hospital). First Hampshire & Dorset operates the 27 service through the estate between Rowlands Castle, Havant and Emsworth.
Havant railway station is the nearest major train station, smaller stations Bedhampton and Rowlands Castle are near parts of Leigh Park. The A3(M) motorway and A27 Havant bypass are the areas' major links to the rest of the country.
Leigh Park contains several primary schools: Front Lawn, Trosnant, Riders, Sharps Copse, Park House, Warren Park, Barncroft School and St Albans C of E.
Leigh Park is currently served by three secondary schools: Havant Academy (known as Wakefords Secondary School when it opened in 1970 [12] and latterly Staunton Community Sports College until 2009), Park Community School (known previously as Broomfield Secondary School, when it opened in 1958, [13] and Broomfield Comprehensive School until 1988) and Prospect School, built in 2008, an education centre for children with learning and social disabilities.
The West Leigh area was also served by Oak Park Secondary School on Leigh Road (close to the junction with Crosland Drive - now demolished), from its opening in 1957 to its closure in the late 1980s. [12] Pupils from that area then attended Warblington Comprehensive School situated some distance from the area on Southleigh Road, Denvilles.
Between 1958 and 1960 Havant Grammar School had shared the Broomfield Secondary School site on Middle Park Way until it moved to its own, new buildings on the corner of Barncroft Way and New Road. [13] The title Havant Grammar School disappeared with the arrival of the comprehensive school system and it became Havant College a sixth-form college in 1974.
The suburb's main non-league football side is Havant & Waterlooville who currently play in the Conference South, two divisions below the Football League. The team's main claim to fame is reaching the FA Cup fourth round in the 2007-08 season when they twice took the lead against Liverpool at Anfield before finally losing 5-2.
Havant Hockey Club play at Havant College on Barncroft Way (just on the outskirts of Leigh Park). The team were National and European Champions in the 1990s.
Sombourne Drive is home to Leigh Park Bowls Club and Front Lawn Recreation Ground, the "Rec" had a £1.5M upgrade and is now known as Front Lawn Community Hub, this upgrade provided improved facilities including four changing rooms, toilets and community space. In addition to this,
Front Lawn Community Hub also has A full-size, state-of-the-art 3G artificial pitch.
- 3G floodlit football pitch inc. changing facilities
- Multisport courts including: Tennis Courts x3 (x2 are floodlit), Basketball & Netball
- Office building with x2 function rooms
- Free parking
Leigh Park boxing club is based at the community centre. [14]
Emsworth is a town in the Borough of Havant in the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England near the border with West Sussex. It lies at the north end of an arm of Chichester Harbour, a large and shallow inlet from the English Channel, and is equidistant between Portsmouth and Chichester.
Waterlooville is a town in the Borough of Havant in Hampshire, England, approximately 6 miles (9.7 km) north northeast of Portsmouth. It is the largest town in the borough. The town had a population of 64,350 in the 2011 Census. It is surrounded by Purbrook, Blendworth, Cowplain, Lovedean, Clanfield, Catherington, Crookhorn, Denmead, Hambledon, Horndean and Widley. It forms part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The town formed around the old A3 London to Portsmouth road.
Havant is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England, between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough comprises the town (45,826), the resort of Hayling Island, the town of Waterlooville, and the town of Emsworth. Housing and population more than doubled in the 20 years following World War II, a period of major conversion of land from agriculture and woodland to housing across the region following the incendiary bombing of Portsmouth and the Blitz.
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 Forest of Bere is a mixed-use partially forested area in Hampshire immediately north of Fareham, Portsmouth and Roman Road, Havant and including a small part of the South Downs National Park.
Cowplain is a village north of Waterlooville, Hampshire, England. With a population of 9,353 at the 2011 census, it makes up above 7% of Havant borough's population. It grew along the old London to Portsmouth road on which the village centre and local shops lie.
Rowland's Castle is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) north of Havant, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border.
Havant is a constituency in Hampshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Alan Mak, a member of the Conservative Party. He is the first person of Chinese and East Asian origin to be elected to the House of Commons.
Staunton Country Park is a listed Regency landscaped parkland and forest encompassing approximately 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) in Hampshire, England.
Bedhampton railway station serves the former village of Bedhampton, now a suburb lying a mile west of the centre of Havant, in Hampshire, England.
Bedhampton is a former village, and now suburb, located in the borough of Havant, Hampshire, England. It is located at the northern end of Langstone Harbour and at the foot of the eastern end of Portsdown Hill.
Farlington is a primarily residential district of the city of Portsmouth in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. It is located in the extreme north east of the city on the mainland and is not on Portsea Island unlike most of the other areas of Portsmouth. Farlington was incorporated into the city in 1932 and now forms a continuous development with Cosham and Drayton. To the north of Farlington is the suburb of Widley and to the east is the town of Havant. To the west is the suburb of Drayton, and to the south is Langstone Harbour.
Hatch Warren is a district and ward of Basingstoke in Hampshire, England. The population of the appropriate ward called Hatch Warren and Beggarwood was 9,284 at the 2011 Census. It is situated west of the town centre and neighbouring housing estates include Kempshott and Brighton Hill. It is primarily served by Brighton Hill Community School, one Primary school, St Marks and a junior school, Hatch Warren.
Warblington is a suburb of Havant, in the county of Hampshire, England. Warblington used to be a civil parish, and before that was part of the Hundred of Bosmere.
The Borough of Havant is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Havant. Other towns and villages within the borough include Bedhampton, Cowplain, Emsworth, Hayling Island, Purbrook, Waterlooville and Widley. The borough covers much of the semi-urban area in the south east of Hampshire, between the city of Portsmouth and the West Sussex border.
Havant Academy is a mixed secondary school located in the Leigh Park area of Havant in the English county of Hampshire. The school is situated at the edge of Staunton Country Park.
The 2007 Havant Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2007 to elect members of Havant Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
The 2012 Havant Borough Council election took place on 3 May 2012 to elect members of Havant Borough Council in Hampshire, England. One third of the council was up for election and the Conservative Party stayed in overall control of the council.
Havant Thicket Reservoir is a reservoir currently (2022) under preliminary site preparation to the north of the town of Havant in Hampshire, England. The reservoir is a joint initiative between two water companies, Portsmouth Water and Southern Water and, when completed, will span 160 hectares with an anticipated capacity of 8.7 billion litres. It will supply an average of 21 million litres of water per day and allow Southern Water to reduce the volume it extracts from the rivers Test and Itchen.