Hilsea

Hilsea

Hilsea Lagoon footbridge
Hilsea
 Hilsea shown within Hampshire
Population 13,552 (2011.Ward)[1]
OS grid referenceSU663035
Unitary authorityPortsmouth
Ceremonial countyHampshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town Portsmouth
Postcode district PO2
Dialling code 023
Police Hampshire
Fire Hampshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentPortsmouth North
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire

Coordinates: 50°50′N 1°04′W / 50.83°N 1.07°W / 50.83; -1.07

Hilsea is a district of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Hilsea is home to one of Portsmouth's main sports and leisure facilities – the Mountbatten centre. Trafalgar School (formerly the City of Portsmouth Boys' School) is also in Hilsea. It is also the home of Portsmouth rugby football club

A map of Hilsea from 1833

Located at the northern end of Portsea Island, for most of its history Hilsea was a small hamlet on the Portsmouth to London road. The boundaries of Portsmouth were not extended to encompass the hamlet until 1832. The last working farm in Portsmouth, Green Farm, was located in the area up to the 1990s. This area is now a residential estate and is marked by a pub and hotel known as the Green Farm.

Hilsea Barracks were built in 1756.[2] Over the decades they underwent various rebuildings and changes of use before being knocked down to allow for housing development in the 1960s.[2]

In the years after 1926 Hilsea expanded with the building of the Hilsea Crescent Estate which was constructed on former allotments.[3]

The north of the district composes the Hilsea Lines, former defensive fortifications that are now a nature reserve. In the 1930s western end of the line's moat became known as the Hilsea lagoon[4] and in the mid-1930s work was done on the banks and it was turned into a boating lake.[5][6] In the same period the land around the eastern end of the boating lake was converted into Hilsea bastion gardens.[7] Most of the gardens were destroyed as the result of road widening in 1968–70.[8] The terraces that formed part of the gardens were demolished in 2000.[7] In 1938 a bridge was built across the boating lake section of the moat.[9] It was demolished in 1999[9] and later replaced by the current structure.

The area is home to the Coach & Horses pub. This was originally the first public house reached when arriving on Portsea island from the mainland.[10] It was damaged in a fire in 1870 and had to be rebuilt.[10] It was again rebuilt between 1929 and 1931 to a design by A.E. Cogswell and this is the building that stands today.[11]

Another facility in the area was the Hilsea Lido which opened in July 1935.[12] It closed in 2008 although attempts are being made to reopen it.[13]

The north west of Hilsea is protected from the sea by Stamshaw Esplanade which was built between 1936 and 1938.[3][14] The Esplanade also serves to connect site of Hilsea lido with Alexandra Park[14]

Modern Hilsea is a mixture of residential and industrial areas. One of the major routes into Portsmouth still runs through the area. In addition, a small station serves the area.

References

  1. ↑ "Portsmouth Ward population 2011". Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  2. 1 2 Mitchell, Garry (1988). Hilsea Lines and Portsbridge. p. 30. ISBN 0-947605-06-1.
  3. 1 2 Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 29. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  4. ↑ Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 34. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  5. ↑ Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 53. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  6. ↑ Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 62. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  7. 1 2 Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. pp. 72–74. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  8. ↑ Slater, John (July 2006). "Hilsea lido area action plan – preferred options" (PDF). Portsmouth city council. p. 6. Retrieved 18 September 2010.
  9. 1 2 Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 70. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  10. 1 2 Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 17. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  11. ↑ Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 44. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  12. ↑ Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 61. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
  13. ↑ Judd, Emma (22 September 2010). "Hilsea Lido trust: There is still work to do". The News. Retrieved 26 September 2010.
  14. 1 2 Smith, Jane (2002). The book of Hilsea Gateway to Portsmouth. Halsgrove. p. 60. ISBN 1-84114-131-3.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/4/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.