Portchester
| Portchester | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's church within Portchester Castle | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU6105 |
| Location: | 50°50’31"N, 1°7’12"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Fareham |
| Postcode: | PO16, 17 |
| Dialling code: | 023/01329 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Fareham |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Fareham |
Portchester is an ancient parish in Hampshire that forms a suburb four miles north-west of Portsmouth. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth and Southampton on the A27 main thoroughfare. Its population according to the 2001 Census was approximately 17 000 residents.
Name
Portchester is derived from its former Latin name Portus Adurni and the Old English suffix ceaster ("fort; fortified town").
History
The fort of Portus Adurni is considered the best-preserved Roman fort north of the Alps.[1] It is sometimes identified as the Cair Peris[2] listed by the 9th-century History of the Britons as among the 28 cities of Britain.[3][4] The mediæval Portchester Castle was built within the Roman fort.
Amenities
As well as the castle, its parish church, St Mary's[5] is listed as a Grade I protected building.[6][7] There are also many historic houses in Castle Street. This suburb is well placed for waterfront leisure activities, only a short distance from the UK's 3rd-largest marina at Port Solent, from the historic city of Portsmouth, and from the market town of Fareham.
Public open spaces
- Portchester Castle
- Portsdown Hill - Including Portchester Common[8] a Site of Special Scientific Interest
- Wicor Recreation Ground[9] - Home to A.F.C. Portchester and Wicor Skate Park.[10]
Crematorium
Opened in 1958, it is on the lower slopes of Portsdown Hill. It is owned by a Joint Committee representing the City of Portsmouth and the Boroughs of Fareham, Havant and Gosport. It has two chapels, the North (added 1969) and South (original).[11] Those cremated there include two World War I Victoria Cross recipients, Norman Augustus Finch and James Ockendon who both died in 1966.[12]
Sport and leisure
Football
Portchester has a non-league football club A.F.C. Portchester, which plays at Wicor Recreation Ground. The club was established in 1971 as Loyds Sports. In 2014–15 they won the Wessex League's League Cup.
Boating and sailing
Portchester is a coastal area and is home to Portchester Sailing Club.
Notable residents
- Neil Astley, publisher and founding editor of Bloodaxe Books, born in Portchester
- Emily Farmer, watercolour painter[13]
- Neil Gaiman, author, born in Portchester[14][15]
- Steve Ridgway, Chief Executive, Virgin Atlantic Airways
- Mike Hancock, former MP for Portsmouth South and former Councillor for Fratton ward, has lived here for over 30 years
Transport
Portchester railway station provides services along the coast to Southampton, Fareham, Portsmouth, Havant, Chichester and Brighton. London services to London Waterloo (via Fareham) and London Victoria (via Barnham) also stop at the station.
The A27 road cuts through the centre of Portchester running east/west between Fareham and Cosham on the northern outskirts of Portsmouth. Access to the M27 motorway is via Junction 11 at Fareham or Junction 12 at Port Solent.
References
- ↑ John Goodall (author) (2008) [2003], Portchester Castle, London: English Heritage, p. 3, ISBN 978-1-84802-007-8
- ↑ Nennius (attrib.). Theodor Mommsen (ed.). Historia Brittonum, VI. Composed after AD 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource.
- ↑ Ford, David Nash. "The 28 Cities of Britain" at Britannia. 2000.
- ↑ Newman, John Henry & al. Lives of the English Saints: St. German, Bishop of Auxerre, Ch. X: "Britain in 429, A. D.", p. 92. James Toovey (London), 1844.
- ↑ St Mary's Portchester.
- ↑ "CHURCH OF ST MARY - 1339235 | Historic England". list.english-heritage.org.uk. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1339235. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ "News: Breaking stories & updates". Sunday Telegraph (telegraph.co.uk) (2,409). 12 August 2007. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/08/12/nvicar112.xml. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ "Portchester Common". fareham.gov.uk. http://www.fareham.gov.uk/leisure/parks_and_open_spaces/portchestercommon.aspx. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ http://www.fareham.gov.uk/leisure/sport_and_fitness/recgrounds.aspx
- ↑ "Wicor Skate Park". fareham.gov.uk. http://www.fareham.gov.uk/leisure/parks_and_open_spaces/skate_parks/wicorskate.aspx. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ "Crematorium website.". portchestercrematorium.org. http://portchestercrematorium.org/. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ "Burial locations of VC holders in Hampshire.". victoriacross.org. http://www.victoriacross.org/cohampsh.htm. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
- ↑ B. S. Long, "Farmer, Emily (1826–1905)", rev. Charlotte Yeldham, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 8 Aug 2007
- ↑ What's fame got to do with it?, Frances Atkinson, The Age, 24 July 2005
- ↑ Flood, Alison. "Neil Gaiman novel inspires Portsmouth street name". the guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jun/21/neil-gaiman-portsmouth-street-ocean. Retrieved 30 April 2015.