Rowner
| Rowner | |
| Hampshire | |
|---|---|
| |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SU578020 |
| Location: | 50°48’56"N, 1°10’47"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Gosport |
| Postcode: | PO13 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Gosport |
Rowner is a small village within the conurbation stretching out of Gosport, which town is to the south-west. Rowner, like its neighbours, is in the land between Portsmouth Harbour and the Solent, on the south coast of Hampshire.
History
Roman burial shrouds have been found in the grounds of the church, indicating that a Roman or Romano-British presence here.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that in 1114 King Henry I and the Archbishop of Canterbury met John of Sieyes at Rowner (Rugenore), and appointed him Abbot of Peterborough,[1] the day the king rode to Portsmouth to sail for Normandy.
The Domesday Book of 1086 records that the manor of Rowner was held by William Mauduit.[2] The family of Mauduit seems to have been of considerable importance at this time as the possessor of large estates in Hampshire, and its members were among the chamberlains of Henry I and Henry II.[2] In the 13th century Rowner passed out of the Mauduit family, and in 1240–1241 Elias de la Falaise was holding land in Rowner.[2] Before 1277 the property had escheated to the Crown by the felony of William de la Falaise, grandson of William, and was granted in that year to Sir William le Brune, chamberlain to the king.[2] The manor then stayed solidly in the Brune family until the death of Charles Brune in 1769, when the family became extinct in the male line.[2] By his will his estates eventually devolved onto his grand-nephew the Rev. Charles Prideaux-Brune of Prideaux Place by Padstow in Cornwall, and it remained in the possession of the Prideaux-Brune family into the 20th century.[2]
The mediæval church of Saint Mary the Virgin is the oldest church in Gosport, dating from the 12th century, however it was extensively modified in a restoration in 1874. [2] The church was expanded in 1968 and then rebuilt in 1992 after a fire.[3]
In the 19th century, three Palmerston Forts, Fort Rowner, Fort Brockhurst, and Fort Grange, were built, which today lie to the east and south.[2]
As the start of the 20th century the village of Rowner, only consisted of a small number of old cottages scattered over a long narrow strip of land, the southern and eastern portions of which had been bought by the War Office for the land defences of Portsmouth.[2]
Arriving by helicopter on 19th May 2000, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, visited the engineering training centre at HMS Sultan in Rowner, taking the salute from 820 sailors, who were on parade with the Band of the Royal Marines.
On the 6th December 1966, a new housing estate complete with a thousand new flats, maisonettes and houses was opened as accommodation for service personnel and their families, along with a shopping precinct, that earned this side of Rowner the nickname, "The Concrete Jungle". These properties eventually passed into the ownership of the local council and Housing Associations, but were largely demolished in the early part of the 21st century during the £145, 000, 000 Rowner Renewal Scheme, which provided hundreds of more modern homes and commercial dwellings. Rowner has one of the largest BMX courses in the south of England, allowing the Gosport BMX Club, to compete in, and host national events such as the HSBC UK National BMX Series. Commercial premises in Rowner include a Tesco Superstore, a Subway, and that of The Alver Valley Garden Centre.
On television
In 2011, Channel 4 filmed the Tony Robinson's God's And Monsters programme at "The 17th Century Village".
In 2018, the same location was used for the BBC's Doctor Who episode The Witchfinders.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Rowner) |
References
- ↑ Anglo-Saxon Chronicle Laud Chronicle (1114) Ðis wæs don þes dæges xi kalendæ Octobris, on þone tuna þe man cleopað Rugenore. 7 þes ylces dæges eode se cyng on scipa on Portesmuðe.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 A History of the County of Hampshire - Volume 3 pp 218-219: Parishes: Rowner (Victoria County History)
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Hampshire & The Isle of Wight, 1967 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09606-4
