Oliver's Battery | |
---|---|
The earthworks and shops in Oliver's Battery Road South. | |
Location within Hampshire | |
Population | 1,547 (2011 Census) [1] |
OS grid reference | SU458277 |
• London | 62.2m |
District | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Winchester |
Postcode district | SO22 |
Dialling code | 01962 |
Police | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
Fire | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
Ambulance | South Central |
UK Parliament | |
Oliver's Battery is a civil parish [2] in Hampshire, England, of some 700 households located just to the south of the City of Winchester. The parish was formed in 1956 (in the then Winchester Rural District, and part of the City of Winchester District since 1974) from part of Compton parish. The parish does not include the whole of the settlement known informally as Oliver's Battery, with the northern boundary following the A3090 and therefore excluding Oliver's Battery Road North.
The name Oliver's Battery refers to a prominent Iron Age earthwork. A fine Anglo-Saxon bowl [3] from a burial within the Battery [4] was on show for many years at the British Museum, but has now been returned to Winchester City Museum on long-term loan. [5] The parish also contains a number of Bronze Age burial mounds. The Olivers Battery name dates back to the English Civil War and is specifically associated with Oliver Cromwell's siege of Winchester in 1645. A map of 1780 refers to the area as "Cromwell's Camp" and later maps show it as "Oliver Cromwell's Battery". The ancient earthwork may well have provided a suitable campsite for the besieging Parliamentarian forces, but cannon of the period would have lacked the range to fire on Winchester Castle and city walls from the so-called battery site.
For centuries, Oliver's Battery was open downland grazed by sheep. Permanent settlements only appeared in the early years of the twentieth century with the establishment of a military camp. During the First World War the army maintained an extensive Veterinary Hospital for horses. After the war, the camp was split up into small holdings with army huts being used as dwellings. Gradually, a community developed as huts were replaced with houses and other homes were built.
In the late 1970s the community was bisected by Badger Farm Road (now the A3090), which acts as a south-western ring road for Winchester. A southern Winchester park-and-ride scheme opened in 2010 and is intended to reduce rush-hour congestion on this road. [6]
There is a local shopping centre built in the 1960s, with Sub Post Office. A small Anglican church, St Mark's, doubles up as a village hall and there is also a Catholic church, St Stephen's. Oliver's Battery Primary School was opened in 1973. St Peter's Catholic Primary School was built in the 1980s (having originated in Winchester in the 1850s), next to St Stephen's. The Catholic school and church are in Oliver's Battery Road North, and therefore not within the civil parish. There is no secondary school, but Kings' School is within walking distance.
David Farmer, 2000, A Brief History of Oliver's Battery (pamphlet)
Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is 60 miles (97 km) south-west of London and 14 miles (23 km) from Southampton, its nearest city. At the 2011 census, Winchester had a population of 45,184. The wider City of Winchester district, which includes towns such as Alresford and Bishop's Waltham, has a population of 116,595. Winchester is the county town of Hampshire and contains the head offices of Hampshire County Council.
Mere is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It lies at the extreme southwestern tip of Salisbury Plain, close to the borders of Somerset and Dorset. The parish includes the hamlets of Barrow Street, Burton, Charnage, Limpers Hill, Rook Street and Southbrook.
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Barton Stacey is a village and undulating civil parish, which includes the hamlets of Bransbury, Newton Stacey, Drayton and Cocum, in the Test Valley district of Hampshire, England, centred about 7 miles (11 km) south-east of Andover. It is bounded to the north by the estate of Drayton Lodge, and, to the south, by the minor A30 road; both being east–west routes, and connected by The Street/Cocum Road, the main road that bisects the village. The distance between the A303 and A30 at this point is 2 miles (3.2 km), which is twice the width of the parish.
Micheldever is a village in Hampshire, England, situated 6 miles (10 km) north of Winchester. It lies upon the River Dever.
Bulford is a village and civil parish in Wiltshire, England, close to Salisbury Plain. The village is close to Durrington and about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of the town of Amesbury. The Bulford Camp army base is separate from the village but within the parish.
West End is a parish in Hampshire in the borough of Eastleigh, five miles (8.0 km) east of the city of Southampton. The village of West End is small and generally classed as an area in the outer suburbs or rural urban fringe of the borough of Eastleigh because of the surrounding woodland and countryside, including Telegraph Woods and Itchen Valley Country Park.
Corhampton is a village in Hampshire, England. It lies on the western bank of the River Meon. It forms a civil parish with Meonstoke which adjoins it on the eastern bank. It is in the civil parish of Corhampton and Meonstoke.
Sparsholt (/ˈspɑːʃəʊlt/) is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England, 2+1⁄2 miles (4 km) west of Winchester. In 1908 its area was 3,672 acres (1,486 ha). The 2011 Census recorded its population as 982.
Wellow is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England that falls within the Test Valley district. The village lies just outside the New Forest, across the main A36 road which runs from the M27 motorway to Salisbury. The nearest town is Romsey, 3+3⁄4 miles (6.0 km) to the east, and the closest city is Southampton, 9 miles (14 km) to the southeast. The parish had a population of just over 3,300 in the 2011 census.
Frensham is a village in Surrey, England, next to the A287 road, 13 miles (20.9 km) WSW of Guildford, the county town. Frensham lies on the right bank of the River Wey, only navigable to canoes, shortly before its convergence with the north branch. Farnham is the nearest town, 3.5 miles (5.6 km) to the north.
Stanmore is a large residential suburb of Winchester, Hampshire, England, situated on a very steep slope from West to East. It lies to the south-west of the city centre and to the north of Badger Farm, and makes up a large percentage, in both area and population, of the St. Luke electoral ward. It is home to roughly 6,000 inhabitants.
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