Chandler's Ford

Chandler's Ford

Junction of Winchester Road and Brownhill Road, Chandler's Ford
Chandler's Ford
 Chandler's Ford shown within Hampshire
Population 21,436 [1]
OS grid referenceSU435212
Civil parishChandler's Ford
DistrictEastleigh
Shire countyHampshire
RegionSouth East
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post town EASTLEIGH
Postcode district SO53
Dialling code 023
Police Hampshire
Fire Hampshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK ParliamentWinchester
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire

Coordinates: 50°59′02″N 1°22′45″W / 50.984°N 1.3792°W / 50.984; -1.3792

Chandler's Ford (originally The Ford[2] and historically Chandlersford[3]) is a largely residential area and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England, with a population of 21,436 in the 2011 UK Census.[1]

Chandler's Ford lies on the old Winchester to Southampton road and the 'Ford' is thought to refer either to the ford of Monks Brook[4] on the Hursley Road (shown on the Hursley map of 1588 as "Charnells foord") [4] or on the Winchester-Southampton road.[2] The "Chandler's" prefix was added in the late 16th century,[2] and is derived from the surname, Chaundler, of a family in the area from the 14th Century.[5]

The head offices of Draper Tools,[6] B&Q,[7] Selwood and Ahmad Tea[8] are located in Chandler's Ford. Draper Tools has recently announced that they plan to move to Test Valley where they are currently building a new complex.

History

Hiltonbury Farmhouse

Hiltonbury Farm (now a public house) appeared on a map of 1588 and may originally have been owned by the Hursley Park Estate in nearby Hursley. It was later sold to Cranbury Park Estate and stopped being a working farm in the late 1970s, when the surrounding area was developed. Other communities revolved around other farms in the area but Chandler's Ford was very sparsely populated until the 19th century.

In 1889, an iron church and some schools were constructed.[3] The civil parish of Chandlersford was created in 1897, from portions of North Stoneham, North Baddesley, and Ampfield, although the railway station remained in the North Baddesley parish.[3]

Chandler's Ford used to be a town with mainly housing estates, however there are now various developments of shops and schools that have been built in the area. In the 1920s, building took place in the King's Court, Merdon and Hiltingbury areas. Later, development in the Hursley Road area happened, followed by housing across the Hiltingbury, Scantabout, Peverells Road, Spring Hill and Oakmount areas. More recently, developments in North Millers Dale, South Millers Dale and the 'new town' of Valley Park to the West of Chandler's Ford have completed the mix of housing. Chandler's Ford is considered to be the development to the West of the M3 motorway and now forms the majority of the Eastleigh urban area.

Due to the development of the town, there is little identifiable 'town centre'. The main commercial centre is in Fryern, the area of the Halfway Inn (near the old tollhouse for Winchester-Southampton), but other smaller shopping areas include the Central Precinct and the area around St Boniface Church (built 1904). An Anglican church was added in Hiltingbury in the 1960s, with the Roman Catholic Church of St. Edward the Confessor and Methodist churches existing on the main Winchester-Southampton route.

Although a mainly residential area, Chandler's Ford has a significant industrial estate located mainly off School Lane and in between the B3043 - Bournemouth Road. The companies on the industrial estate now cover a wide variety of industries from light engineering and manufacturing, distribution, retail and outsourcing. A number of employers on the estate are of particular local interest. Peter Green Furnishers were once regarded as the biggest furniture and carpeting store in the whole of Hampshire.[9] Selwoods is also another company of interest having been in the area since 1946[10] and with its head office on the corner of School Lane. Proving the diverse nature of the companies on the industrial estate, ORS Group (a scanning and outsourcing company) are also a long-standing employer having been in two different locations on the estate since 1988.[11]

Chandler's Ford is represented by Compton and Chandler's Ford Cricket Club which formed in 1995 when Chandler's Ford Cricket Club (CC) merged with Compton and Shawford CC.

Chandler's Ford railway station was re-opened in May 2003, having been closed since 1969. It now has an hourly service run by South West Trains, from Romsey to Salisbury via Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh and Southampton stopping at all stations in between.

An allegedly 'haunted' phone box once stood opposite the Hendy Ford car showroom. This was featured in the DVD "Haunted Hampshire", with noted historian Richard Felix. The phone box has since been removed following a number of reported cases of the phone constantly ringing and those responding to the calls finding themselves hearing silence on the other end.

Governance

Three Members of Parliament serve Chandler's Ford. The majority of Chandler's Ford was moved into Winchester constituency for the 2010 General Election, when Steve Brine of the Conservative Party was elected. Valley Park forms part of the Romsey and Southampton North constituency, won in 2010 by the Conservative Caroline Nokes. Part of the Eastleigh South ward lies west of the M3, and so is normally considered part of Chandler's Ford; it is in the Eastleigh constituency, represented by Conservative Mims Davies.

The Chandler's Ford seat on the Hampshire County Council is held by Colin Davidovitz, representing the Conservative Party.[12][13] Parts of Chandler's Ford are also located in the Eastleigh West division, held by Chris Greenwood of the UK Independence Party[14] and the Baddesley division, represented by Alan Dowden of the Liberal Democrats.[15]

On Eastleigh Borough Council, Haulwen Broadhurst and Pamela Holden-Brown represent the Chandler's Ford East ward, while Alan Broadhurst and David Pragnell represent Chandler's Ford West, and Paul Bicknell, Darshan Mann and Steve Sollitt represent Eastleigh South; all seven are Liberal Democrats.[16] Hiltingbury West is represented by Judith Grajewski and Michael Hughes, and Hiltingbury East by Margaret Atkinson and Godfrey Olson; all four are Conservatives.[16] Valley Park lies in the Test Valley Borough and is represented by Liberal Democrats Andrew Beesley, Alan Dowden and Katherine Tilling.[17]

Demography

As of April 2011, the Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury council wards (which form a continuous built-up area, and make up the main part of what is referred to as "Chandler's Ford") had a population of 21,436, across 8,896 households.[1] The ethnicity of the population was mainly white, with 310 mixed race people, 937 Asian or Asian British people, 100 Black or Black British people and 224 in other ethnic groups.[1] In 2001, 13,531 of the population were Christians, 5,528 professed no religion, and 1,477 did not state their religious beliefs. There were 59 Buddhists, 205 Hindus, 29 Jews, 263 Muslims, 289 Sikhs and 55 people of other religions living in the ward.[1]

Transport

Chandler's Ford railway station

Chandler's Ford is served by Chandler's Ford railway station. The station was reopened for passenger traffic on 18 May 2003. There are links between Romsey and Salisbury via Southampton.

Crime

Wikinews has related news: Two shot and killed in UK bank robbery

Chandler's Ford made national headlines in September 2007 when an armed bank robbery was foiled: On 13 September 2007, the Metropolitan Police's Flying Squad, in conjunction with the Hampshire Constabulary, foiled the robbery outside the HSBC bank in the central precinct on Winchester Road in Chandler's Ford.[18] The police had been tipped off and hid behind the nearby toilet cubicles, before shooting dead two of the robbers. A third fled the scene by car and was later arrested.

The same bank unfortunately had another attempt which managed to relieve a security guard of a cash box delivering to the branch on 24 January 2011.

Education

There are various schools and day nurseries in Chandler's Ford. The secondary schools in Chandler's Ford include Thornden School and Toynbee School. Chandler's Ford is served by colleges nearby, including Barton Peveril College.[19][20]

Day nurseries

Infant and primary schools

Junior schools

Secondary schools

Independent schools

Community

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Neighbourhood Statistics: 2011: Key Statistics - Area: Chandler's Ford East (Ward)". 2011 UK Census. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2013-10-15. "Neighbourhood Statistics: 2011: Key Statistics - Area: Chandler's Ford West (Ward)". 2011 UK Census. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2013-10-15. "Neighbourhood Statistics: 2011: Key Statistics - Area: Hiltingbury East (Ward)". 2011 UK Census. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2013-10-15. "Neighbourhood Statistics: 2011: Key Statistics - Area: Hiltingbury West (Ward)". 2011 UK Census. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 2013-10-15.
  2. 1 2 3 Cox, Gordon Daubney (2005). Around Eastleigh, including Chandler's Ford, Bishopstoke and Botley. Salisbury: Francis Frith Collection. p. 72. ISBN 1-84589-029-9.
  3. 1 2 3 Page, William (1908). A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3. pp. 478–481.
  4. 1 2 Currie, Christopher (Spring 2005). "Chandler's Ford, Hiltingbury Lake and the Hursley map of 1588". Hampshire Field Club & Archaeological Society Newsletter (43). Retrieved 2008-01-03.
  5. ↑ Mills, A. D. (1998). Dictionary of English Place Names. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 76. ISBN 0-19-280074-4.
  6. ↑ "Draper Tools - Welcome".
  7. ↑ "About B&Q".
  8. ↑ "Client Stories - Ahmad Tea". Barclays. September 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2011.
  9. ↑ Martin, Wendy. "Mrs". Chandlers Ford Today. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
  10. ↑ "Selwood Company History". Selwood. Retrieved 28 January 2016.
  11. ↑ "ORS Group Company Overview". ORS Group Company Overview. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  12. ↑ "Councillors and Meetings". Eastleigh Borough Council. 2007-11-28. Archived from the original on 2007-10-09. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  13. ↑ "Colin Davidovitz: About Me". Your County, Your Councillors. Hampshire County Council. 2007-08-15. Retrieved 2007-12-02.
  14. ↑ http://www3.hants.gov.uk/ChrisGreenwood/aboutme.htm?memid=ymukcg&pref=aboutme
  15. ↑ http://www3.hants.gov.uk/AlanDowden/aboutme.htm?memid=ymdedo&pref=aboutme
  16. 1 2 http://www.eastleigh.gov.uk/meetings/mgMemberIndex.aspx?FN=WARD&VW=LIST&PIC=0
  17. ↑ http://testvalley.cmis.uk.com/testvalleypublic/ElectedRepresentatives/tabid/63/ScreenMode/Ward/Default.aspx#MemberSectionValleyPark
  18. ↑ BBC.Two men killed during 'bank raid'. BBC News. Retrieved 18 November 2007.
  19. ↑ Education
  20. ↑ Chandler's Ford Online: Schools
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Education: Day Nurseries
  22. ↑ Hiltingbury Infant School: Website
  23. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Education: Infant and Primary Schools
  24. ↑ Chandler's Ford Infant School: Website
  25. ↑ Fryern Infant School: Website
  26. ↑ Knightwood Primary School: Website
  27. ↑ Scantabout Primary School: Website
  28. ↑ Sherborne House School: Website
  29. ↑ St Francis Church of England Primary School: Website
  30. ↑ St. Swithun Wells R.C. Primary School: Website
  31. ↑ Hiltingbury Junior School: Website
  32. 1 2 3 Education: Junior Schools
  33. ↑ Fryern Junior School: Website
  34. ↑ Merdon Junior School: Website
  35. ↑ Thornden Secondary School: Website
  36. 1 2 3 Education: Secondary Schools
  37. ↑ Toynbee Secondary School: Website
  38. ↑ Sherborne House School: Website
  39. 1 2 Education: Independent Schools
  40. ↑ Woodhill School: Website

External links

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