Denmead
Coordinates: 50°54′18″N 1°03′53″W / 50.9050°N 1.0648°W
Denmead is a village in Hampshire, England. It is part of the City of Winchester district. As of 2005, it had a population of 6,457 and an electorate of 4,987.
Denmead occupancies all have Waterlooville postal addresses (Waterlooville is in turn part of Havant) and is considered to be a village attached to Waterlooville by Hampshire County Council. Waterlooville is about 3 km away from Denmead.
The village became well known in the 19th century as a venue for cockfighting.
The church is the All Saints' Church and it also has a church hall.
The village is next to part of the Forest of Bere, and rural farm land. The 'gap' between Waterlooville is gradually being reduced, but Denmead is currently a rural village, although it has had much housing development in recent years with more to come. The majority of the development has been conducted by the company Taylor Wimpey in recent years, with McAlpine present in late 80's/early 90's.
There are two schools, Denmead Infant School which takes children 4-7 with approx 255 pupils (Offsted results: Good / Grade 2) and Denmead Junior School which takes children 7-11 with approx 290 pupils (Offsted results: Requires Improvement / Inadequate grade of 4).
1st Denmead Scout group have a scout hut and field just outside the village centre.
In the village centre there are a few shops, the Co-op, bakery, bank, two cashpoints, two estate agents and a Hardware Store/Ironmongers, named Parkers.
In recent years, a village skate park has also been constructed in King George's playing field in order to provide more leisure activities for the youth of Denmead. Along with this, a pavilion has been built alongside it, this pavilion is used mainly to enrich youth lives again, as it is the headquarters of a popular Denmead Youth Group.
On top of this, a wooden play park has also been constructed in Creech Woods. This features many wooden tubes and a raised obstacle course around an area of the woodland.
History
In 1316, Denmead was owned by the Bishop of Winchester, who leased it to various tenants. It became referred to as a manor in 1449, when it was owned by William Wayte. When Wayte's grandson died, the lands were divided amongst various other members of the family and Denmead was passed down.
The village is shown in the Hambledon Hundred on John Speed's map of Hampshire[1] which was published in 1611.
After some time the property became further divided as it was split between different owners because it was inherited down multiple generations. This occurred frequently until 1831 when Henry Kennett became its owner. There was no further mention of Denmead Manor until 1908, when the Ecclesiastical Commissioners were its Lords of the Manor.
Originally part of the ecclesiastical parish of Hambledon, Denmead achieved its own identity with the creation of the new parish of All Saints, Denmead in 1880. Denmead was once a widely dispersed village which included the hamlets of Worlds End, Furzeley, Anmore, Denmead Mill and Barn Green. It has become more densely packed and close as it became filled with more modern properties. The parish possesses a parish church, "All Saints" which is constructed of flint with brick quoins and Bath stone window surrounds. The church was extended in the 1990s to accommodate a growing congregation, and a major upgrade was carried out to the adjacent Church Hall as part of the same project.
The civil parish of Denmead in its current form was created in 1932 from the lower southern end of Hambledon Parish .
In the run up to D-Day many American and Canadian troops, including U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower, camped under the cover of local forests. Nearby Creech Wood also housed a prisoner of war camp, some remains of which can still be found in the undergrowth.
Denmead is twinned with St Georges Le Baillargeaux, located in the region of Poitou-Charentes, France. Saint Georges is a village with a population of 3,500 residents which is approximately half the population of Denmead located about 5 miles from Poitiers.[2]
Sport and leisure
Denmead is home to the Denmead Striders, a running club with over 100 members of a wide range of abilities. Denmead also has a brass band which is currently in the Second Section in national grading.
http://www.denmeadbrass.org.uk/
There is a memorial hall and a Community Centre. Denmead also has a fitness trail which stretches around half of the village.
Denmead Cricket Club fields two teams in the Hampshire Cricket League, and also has a Sunday team playing friendly matches. The club plays its home matches at King George V playing fields.
Ville Bowmen a target archery club also call Denmead home. They shoot out doors during the summer, adjacent to the scout hut in Kidmore Lane. During the winter months they shoot indoors in the memorial hall. The club often turn out for public have a go events at the village show and fetes.
Denmead has a King George's Field in memorial to King George V where the village cricket, football, tennis and bowls clubs are based.
Denmead is also home to Mead End Football Club, who are based out of the Mead End Inn. Mead End have a Saturday Team, who play in the Portsmouth Saturday League Division 1, after winning Division 3 in the 09/10 season, and being promoted another division due to teams dropping out. Homes games are played at King George Playing Fields, Denmead, Saturday's at 2 pm. Mead End also have a Sunday Team who play in Meon Valley Division 3. Games are played at the nearby military facility at Southwick Park.
Denmead Wanderers Football Club was established in 2012 and also play matches King George Playing Fields, on Sundays, in Meon Valley Division 4.
Denmead Football Club (Youth) train and play matches King George Playing Fields. Boys and girls of all ages train on Saturday mornings, all welcome.
The Denmead Youth Theatre takes place on Fridays during term time and is split into two groups, the drama group for ages 7–12 which runs from 4:30 pm to 6:00 pm, and the youth theatre for 12- to 18-year-olds that runs 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm, all groups are run by emerging theatre directors associated with the Theatre Royal, Winchester. Over the last few years the groups have performed numerous performances in professional theatres and in a variety of genres, most recently performing “the short history of Denmead” with the help of the Denmead Village Association and members of the local community.
References
- ↑ "John Speed's Map of Hampshire". Retrieved 18 December 2012.
- ↑ Denmead Twinning Association
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Denmead. |
- Denmead Parish Council Web Site
- Denmead Brass Band Web Site
- Denmead Neighbourhood Plan (Future development)
- Denmead Countryside (challenger to Parish Council)
- Denmead Scout Group
- Denmead Striders
- Village Association
- All Saints' Church
- Denmead Brass Band
- Memorial Hall
- Denmead Football Club Youth Football Annual Tournament details
- Denmead Belles Football
- Mead End Football Club
- Denmead Parish Community
