Harefield, Southampton Explained

Country:England
Map Type:Southampton
Official Name:Harefield
Coordinates:50.9188°N -1.3427°W
Population:14,488
Population Ref:[1]
Area Total Km2:2.62
Post Town:SOUTHAMPTON
Postcode Area:SO
Dial Code:023
Region:South East England
Postcode District:SO18
Static Image:Harefield Hampshire.jpg
Static Image Width:240px
Static Image Caption:Cheriton Avenue, Harefield

Harefield is a suburb and Electoral Ward near Bitterne in Southampton, England. Harefield Ward consists of a small council housing estate built around 1952/3 on the 238acres estate of Harefield House and additional private housing.

Harefield Ward had a population of 14,448 at the 2021 Census, and is adjacent to Bitterne Park, Peartree, Sholing and Bitterne wards.

History

Harefield House was a country house of Elizabethan style built in 1834 for Sir Edward Butler, chairman of the Southampton and Salisbury Railway Company.[2] The location is now the grounds of Harefield Infant and Junior Schools on Yeovil Chase. Edwin Jones, the Southampton draper whose store ultimately became part of Debenhams bought the house in 1887. Harefield House is often mistakenly reported as burning down in 1915, this misconception is printed in the book Memories of Bitterne by Irene Pilson and seems to have stuck. The house actually burnt down on May 6, 1917, as reported in the Southern Daily Echo at the time.[3] The Jones family sold the estate in 1917 and there was some building in the 1920s but it was not developed in earnest until after the Second World War.

The area was part of the civil parish of West End when it was established in 1894, but was transferred into Southampton in 1954.[4]

The street names on the western edge of the estate are all named after Somerset place names by the private housing developers active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The later council housing extended these streets and added more to the west that are named after Hampshire villages.

The development of the housing estate included two public houses (the Exford Arms and the Hare and Hounds), two shopping parades, two primary schools (Harefield and Moorhill, each consisting of infant and junior schools), and Moorhill Secondary School (named after Moorhill House, which stood just outside the estate in West End). The Moorhill schools and the Exford Avenue shopping parade were constructed in 1964–65. Until then there was a Post Office in a Nissen hut opposite the Exford Arms.

Moorhill Secondary School was renamed as Woodlands Community School in 1984 and subsequently demolished and rebuilt in 2003. It is now known as Woodlands Community College.

Election Results

Southampton City Council Elections - Thursday, 5th May, 2022[5]
Election Candidate Party Votes % Outcome
Val Laurent Conservative 1645 50% Elected
Paul Robert Kenny Labour 1201 37% Not Elected
Chris Bluemel Green Party 208 6% Not Elected
Ben Curd Liberal Democrats 161 5% Not Elected
Levi Joshua Wellman Trade Unionists and Socialist Coalition 50 2% Not Elected
Southampton City Council - Thursday, 2nd May, 2019
Election Candidate Party Votes % Outcome
Daniel Raymond Fitzhenry Conservative 1646 47% Elected
Alan Lloyd Labour 1088 315 Not Elected
Christopher Francis Bluemel Green Party 291 8% Not Elected
Peter Alexander Virgo Integrity Southampton 236 7% Not Elected
John Robert Charles Dennis Liberal Democrats 221 6% Not Elected

Transport links

Harefield has had several different local bus services over the years. It now only has the number 13 First Bus service that goes to Bitterne, Woolston, and the City Centre with no bus service on Sundays.

Public Art

Harefield is also known for its public art, including the Mosaic Way; a trail of permanent mosaics that were created by local residents and installed in 2021 [6]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: CityPopulation.de . Harefield – Ward in South East England. 1.
  2. Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club Archaeolical Society. 39. 1983. 171-19. Jessica. Vale. The Country Houses of Southampton.
  3. News: Southern Daily Echo. 7 May 1917. Great fire in West End.
  4. Web site: History of West End. West End Local History Society. 19 October 2023.
  5. Web site: Election results . Southampton City Council. 14 May 2023.
  6. Web site: Public art unveiled in Townhill Park and Harefield . Southampton City Council. 21 October 2021. 19 October 2023.