Compton and Shawford

Compton and Shawford
Compton and Shawford
Compton and Shawford shown within Hampshire
Population 1,420 [1]
1,729 (2011 Census)[2]
OS grid reference SU470251
Civil parish
  • Compton and Shawford
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Winchester
Postcode district SO21
Dialling code 01962
Police Hampshire
Fire Hampshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
Website Compton and Shawford Parish

Compton and Shawford is a civil parish in the City of Winchester, Hampshire, England. The word compton means village in a combe and aptly describes the settlement as it primarily consists of a long street on the side of a chalk valley.

All Saints church in Compton is unusual in that it has two naves and two chancels, the original Norman constructions being supplemented by a new nave and chancel in 1905.

Shawford is notable for having the longest railway viaduct in Hampshire (now known as Hockley Railway Viaduct). This is over 2,000 feet (610 m) in length and 40 feet (12 m) high. The viaduct was initially threatened with demolition when the M3 motorway was proposed but after much protest it was incorporated into the scheme.

The two halves of the parish are linked by Shawford Down which runs alongside the River Itchen. However they are now symbolically separated by the motorway with Compton on its west side and Shawford on its east.

Shawford is served by a railway station on the South Western Main Line. The parish is crossed from east to west by the Monarch's Way long distance footpath, and from north to south by the Itchen Way.

Compton is represented in the Hampshire Cricket League as one half of Compton & Chandlers Ford CC following the merging of Compton & Shawford CC and Chandlers Ford CC in 1995. The club plays its home games at the Memorial playing fields, just off of Shepards Lane.[3]

Geology

The parish lies on the Upper Cretaceous chalk at the northern edge of the Hampshire Basin, dipping south from the Winchester anticline, with successively younger beds being exposed from north to south. In the north the Seaford Chalk formation of Santonian age makes up Compton Down. South of this the Newhaven Chalk outcrops in the dry valley running down from Oliver's Battery to Shawford. In the south of the parish the Culver Chalk of Campanian age is largely overlain by a layer of 'clay-with-flints' weathered out of the chalk. In the east the chalk is cut through by the Itchen valley and overlain by calcareous tufa.[4] A feature of the geology is the hill immediately southwest of the village of Shawford known as Shawford Down. This area is noted for its rich variety of habitats and the grazed pasture supports a wealth of flora and fauna, including notable insects and wildflowers.

Transport

National Cycle Route 23 passes through the parish,[5] as do bus services provided by Bluestar. The M3 motorway also goes through the parish, with junction 11 to the north and junction 12 to the south. Shawford railway station is served by stopping services on the South Western main line.

Media

Shawford was the location used for Victor Meldrew's death in One Foot in the Grave in the episode "Things Aren't Simple Any More".[6][7] It is also referred to in Robyn Hitchcock's song "Winchester".

Shawford railway station was featured in a 1974 film starring Sophia Loren, a remake of Brief Encounter, as was Winchester station (though most filming took place at Brockenhurst). It caused great excitement in the village; a large crowd watched the actress being filmed getting out of a car on the forecourt.

Jon Tufnell, the leader of the band Plastic Toys is a former resident of Compton and it was in his home studio in the village that he recorded the album For Tonight Only which included the single Let Me Feel The Love which charted at Number 30 in the UK Indie Chart in 2007.

Nearby places

References

Notes

  1. ↑ "Parish Headcounts, Area: Compton & Shawford CP". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 2001. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
  2. ↑ "Civil Parish population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  3. ↑ Compton & Chandler's Ford CC
  4. ↑ British Geological Survey (2002), Winchester. England and Wales Sheet 299. Solid and Drift Geology, 1:50,000 Series geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN 0-7518-3340-1
  5. ↑ "Route 23 - Map". Sustrans. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
  6. ↑ Banks, David (21 July 2000). "Village scene of Victor's demise" (Extract reproduced on unofficial website by permission of the Editor). Hampshire Chronicle. Retrieved 23 December 2016.
  7. ↑ Webber 2006, p. 186

Bibliography

  • Webber, Richard (2006). The Complete One Foot in the Grave. London: Orion. ISBN 978-0-7528-7357-2.

Media related to Compton and Shawford at Wikimedia Commons

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