Portchester

Portchester is a locality and suburb 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the borough of Fareham in Hampshire. 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 2011 United Kingdom census was 17,789 residents.

Portchester
Portchester
Location within Hampshire
Population17,789 (2011 Census. Wards)[1]
OS grid referenceSU6105
District
  • Fareham
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townFAREHAM
Postcode districtPO16 - PO17
Dialling code023/01329
PoliceHampshire
FireHampshire
AmbulanceSouth Central
UK Parliament
View of Portchester from Portsdown Hill; castle keep on left, Portsmouth harbour and city in background

Name

Portchester is derived from its former Latin name Portus Adurni and the Old English suffix ceaster ("fort; fortified town"), itself derived from the Latin word “castrum.”

History
Main article: Portus Adurni

The fort of Portus Adurni is considered the best-preserved Roman fort north of the Alps.[2] It is sometimes identified as the Caer Peris[3] listed by the 9th-century History of the Britons as among the 28 cities of Britain.[4][5] The medieval Portchester Castle was built within the Roman fort.

Amenities

As well as the castle, its parish church St Mary's[6] is listed as a Grade I protected building.[7][8] 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

Schools

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).[17] Those cremated there include two World War I Victoria Cross recipients, Norman Augustus Finch and James Ockendon who both died in 1966.[18]

Sport and leisure

Portchester has a Non-League football club A.F.C. Portchester, which plays at Wicor Recreation Ground.

Notable residents
  • Neil Astley, publisher and founding editor of Bloodaxe Books, born in Portchester
  • Emily Farmer, watercolour painter[19]
  • Neil Gaiman, author, born in Portchester[20][21]
  • 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

Rail

Portchester railway station is managed and operated by South Western Railway with frequent Southern Railway services. Services run 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.

Bus services

First Hampshire & Dorset services to Portsmouth, Havant, Fareham, Titchfield, Locks Heath and Warsash.

Road

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.

See also

References
  1. "Ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 4 January 2016.
  2. Goodall, John (2008) [2003], Portchester Castle, London: English Heritage, p. 3, ISBN 978-1-84802-007-8
  3. Nennius (attrib.). Theodor Mommsen (ed.). Historia Brittonum, VI. Composed after AD 830. (in Latin) Hosted at Latin Wikisource.
  4. Ford, David Nash. "The 28 Cities of Britain Archived 15 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine" at Britannia. 2000.
  5. Newman, John Henry & al. Lives of the English Saints: St. German, Bishop of Auxerre, Ch. X: "Britain in 429, A. D.", p. 92. Archived 21 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine James Toovey (London), 1844.
  6. St Mary's Portchester.
  7. Historic England. "CHURCH OF ST MARY (1339235)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  8. "News: Breaking stories & updates". Sunday Telegraph. telegraph.co.uk (2, 409). 12 August 2007. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  9. "Portchester Common". fareham.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  10. http://www.fareham.gov.uk/leisure/sport_and_fitness/recgrounds.aspx%5B%5D
  11. "Wicor Skate Park". fareham.gov.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  12. "Wicor Primary School: Home". wicor.hants.sch.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  13. "Northern Infant School". northern-inf.hants.sch.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  14. "Northern Junior School". northern-jun.hants.sch.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  15. "Home - Red Barn Community Primary School". redbarnprimaryschool.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  16. "Home | Castle Primary School". castleprimaryschool.co.uk. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  17. "Crematorium website". portchestercrematorium.org. Archived from the original on 2 August 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  18. "Burial locations of VC holders in Hampshire". victoriacross.org. Retrieved 28 July 2016.
  19. B. S. Long, "Farmer, Emily (1826–1905)", rev. Charlotte Yeldham, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004 accessed 8 Aug 2007
  20. What's fame got to do with it?, Frances Atkinson, The Age, 24 July 2005
  21. Flood, Alison. "Neil Gaiman novel inspires Portsmouth street name". theguardian. the guardian. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
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