Salvation Data 0800 075 0720

Eastleigh

Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough. The town lies between Southampton and Winchester, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation. Eastleigh borough stretches from Netley on the banks of Southampton Water, the historic river villages of Hamble-le-Rice, Bursledon and Botley, the developing areas of Hedge End, West End, Fair Oak & Bishopstoke and the green residential belt of Chandler's Ford and Boyatt Wood. Eastleigh is home to many businesses, including a large manufacturing plant owned by Prysmian Cables & Systems (formerly the cables division of Pirelli).

History

A village called East Leah has been recorded to have existed since 932 AD.^[1] Leah is an ancient Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘a clearing in a forest’.^[1] In 1838 the London and SouthWestern Railway Company (L&SWR) built a railway from Southampton to Winchester.^[1][2] It was decided to build a station near the little village of Barton. This railway station was originally named Bishopstoke Junction.^[1] In 1868 the villages of Barton and Eastley were combined into one parish.^[1] A parish church, the Church of the Resurrection, was built in the same year, at a cost of £2,300.^[3] A local noted authoress of many novels, Charlotte Yonge, donated £500 towards the building of the church.^[4] She was rewarded by being given the privilege to choose a name for the 'new' parish; either Barton or Eastly. She chose Eastly, but with a new modern spelling; Eastleigh.^[4] In 1891 the L&SWR Carriage and Wagon Works from Nine Elms in London were transferred to Eastleigh. This was followed by the Nine Elms Locomotive Works which were moved there in 1909. These Railway Works were closed in 2006 but have since reopened, albeit on a smaller scale.

Eastleigh has seen a rapid and controlled expansion in residential, industrial and commercial development over recent years. The borough of Eastleigh was ranked the "9th best place to live in the UK 2006" by a Channel 4 programme.^[5]

Perhaps Eastleigh's most well known 'resident' is the Spitfire aeroplane which was built in Southampton and first flown from Eastleigh Aerodrome (now Southampton International Airport). A replica has recently been placed on the traffic island at the entrance to the airport.

The most famous people linked to Eastleigh are probably Christabel Leighton-Porter, the model for the World War II cartoon character Jane^[6], and Benny Hill who both lived in the town. In Benny's honour a new road was recently named Benny Hill Close, though many of the people who had bought the new homes were not happy with the decision.^[7]

Sir Arthur Young, the eminent police chief, was born at 55 Chamberlayne Road in 1907. Sporting notables include Tommy Green who won an Olympic Gold Medal at the 1932 Los Angeles Games in the 50K walk, and Vince Hawkins who was briefly British Middleweight Boxing Champion in the late 1940s.

Eastleigh Museum, which is to be found in the High Street holds information about the town and the surrounding villages, including Bishopstoke which had been the largest residential area.

Education

Eastleigh has two further education colleges, Barton Peveril College (the alma mater of Colin Firth) and Eastleigh College. It also holds many other schools including Toynbee Sports College, Crestwood College, Quilley School of Engineering, Cherbourg Primary School, Norwood Primary School and Fryern Junior School.

Sport

Eastleigh Ladies Hockey Club is based in South Hampshire. It fields 2 teams in the Hampshire Women's League (playing Saturdays), as well as playing floodlit and indoor league games (playing on weekdays).

Eastleigh F.C. are the town's sole senior team after the demise of Eastleigh Athletic F.C..

Eastleigh is also home to Eastleigh Rugby club and Trojans Rugby club.

Politics

In 2005 Chris Huhne was elected as the Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament (MP) for the Eastleigh constituency after the previous MP (David Chidgey, also Liberal Democrat) retired. Eastleigh has a tradition of close contests, and Huhne narrowly beat the Conservative candidate Conor Burns with the second lowest swing against the Liberal Democrats of any seat with a retiring MP (2.6%). David Chidgey had succeeded the Conservative MP Stephen Milligan after his high profile death.

Transport

Eastleigh has 17 bus routes, served by served by 6 different companies: Stagecoach South, Bluestar, Brijan Tours, First Group Hampshire, Wilts & Dorset or Velvet.

For more details about bus routes in Eastleigh see List of bus routes in Eastleigh & Romsey

Shopping

The Swan Shopping Centre opened in 1989, and was built in the heart of the town's Victorian 'grid iron' road layout and blocked off Market Street and High Street - although through access was possible for pedestrians while the centre was open. The Swan Centre included a French-style café and a new library^[8] (replacing the recently demolished Town Hall library) in the High Street atrium.

The Centre originally contained a large shop unit which was reserved for a major fashion retailer (rumoured to be Dunnes), however this never came to fruition and in the late 1990s, significant modifications were made to the 'Octogan' (the Market Street atrium), including removal of the glass lift, replacement stairs and closure/in-filling of the mall that led to the southern part of Market Street (the shop units in this part were never let). These modifications were partly paid for by Littlewoods, who moved into the new enlarged shop unit. Following the demise of Littlewoods' retail business, the unit is now occupied by T.K. Maxx.^[8] Anchor stores at the Swan Centre include Tesco Metro, W H Smith, New Look, Next, McDonald's, Argos and Boots.^[8]

The Swan Centre has been largely successful commercially, with most of the ground floor units being occupied,^[8] however the retail units on the first floor have never been let. The High Street atrium used to have a crèche but now only has the library and centre management offices. In 2008, a project to extend the Swan Centre was started. The extension, at the eastern side of the centre saw a new structure constructed above the Tesco car park.^[8] This extension completed in March/April 2009 with the opening of a Vue cinema, AMF bowling alley and several restaurants.^[8][9]

Notable people

Sir Arthur Young (1907-1979) (commissioner of the City of London Police)

Christabel Leighton-Porter (1913-2000) (model for the ‘Jane’ comic strip)

Vince Hawkins (1923-2008) (Champion Boxer)^[10][11][12]

Benny Hill (1924-1992) (comedian/actor)

Heinz Burt (1942-2000) (pop-musician)

Colin Firth (1960-present) (film, television and stage actor))

Scott Mills (1974-present) (Radio 1 DJ)

Wesley Schinkel (music producer)