Waterlooville

History

It is reputed that the name derived from a pub that stood at the centre of the village, then known as Wait Lane End, where the stage-coach horses waited to change places with the team that pulled the coach up and over Portsdown Hill. The pub had been named Heroes of Waterloo because, on its opening day, in 1815, soldiers who had just disembarked at Portsmouth, returning from the Battle of Waterloo, decided to stop there and celebrate their victory. According to local legend, many of them settled there.There is no proof of this assertion. The pub was thereafter renamed in their honour and the area around the pub became known as Waterlooville.

The original "Heroes" pub was at a crossroads near the main bus-stop. It was demolished in 1966 and replaced with a bank; a new pub took the same name and is located at the northern end of the shopping precinct. There are two other pubs in the town centre, The Wellington, at the southern end of town, and the Denmead Queen, part of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, which is adjacent to the Heroes.

In June 2015 Waterlooville town celebrated its first 200 years, its origins and history in a festival called Waterlooville 200.

The local electrical shop, Eric Jackson Ltd, has been open since 1928 and is the oldest retailer in the town. The business, now owned by the family's third generation, was started by Eric, then passed down to his son Michael, and then to his son Peter.

The town centre was closed to traffic in 1981 when a bypass was constructed to take traffic away from the main shopping area. The bypass, initially anonymous, was named Maurepas Way sometime after the two towns were twinned in 1995. An underpass was constructed for pedestrians walking up along the Hambledon road. Between 1982–83 the old road was then fully converted to a pedestrian precinct. The precinct had a fountain and raised area at the northern end, near the Heroes pub, however regular vandalism of the fountain soon resulted in its removal.

GEC Marconi built a site at Waterlooville for their Underwater Systems Division in the early 1980s, for the Stingray anti-submarine torpedo. A peace camp was set up near the construction site. After completion of the GEC building, a free music festival was held at Old Park Farm in Waterlooville called Torpedo Town. A second Torpedo Town festival was held in August 1987 at Bramdean Common near Winchester.

Near the town centre is the rebuilt St George's church. During the 1950s and 1960s the surrounding area saw extensive growth in housing, when large suburban public and private housing estates were constructed. This resulted in the original Victorian church failing to cope with the population growth. Plans for a new church were started and in 1970 the new church was built on the site of the old church. Parts of the old church were retained.

In July 2011 the town saw the consecration of its first Roman Catholic Church. For the preceding eighty years the growing Catholic community in the town had utilised at first one aisle of, and ultimately the entire of the chapel at St Michaels convent. However the decision of the sisters of Our Lady of Charity to sell the main convent site coupled with the inadequate capacity led to a new church being required. The new church which is dedicated to "The Sacred Heart and St Peter the Apostle" sits to the north of the town centre on London Road.

In August 2012 the northern part of the shopping centre underwent a £700,000 renovation, the raised area holding the former fountain was removed and new block paving installed. The renovation increased the area available to the weekly Friday market and improved pedestrian accessibility. In addition a "smoking-shelter" style band-stand was installed at pedestrian T-junction with The Boulevard.

Climate

Waterlooville has a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification Cfb), similar to much of southern Britain. However, the climate in the area does have mild differences between highs and lows. with Chilly winters and warm summers. In January and February average nighttime minimum temperatures drop to about 2 °C (36 °F) to 1 °C (34 °F), whereas in July and August average daytime maximum temperatures are around 23 °C (73 °F) to 24 °C (75 °F). Although 30 °C (86 °F) is common in July and August, the area rarely achieves above 35 °C (95 °F). In fact, in the last century there has only been two days in June 1976, one day in August 1990 and 1 day in August 2003 where temperatures reached over 35 °C (95 °F). The highest recorded temperature was around 37 °C (99 °F) on 10 August 2003. In contrast, the lowest recorded temperature was on 12 January 1987, where the temperature dipped to −10 °C (14 °F). During winter, Waterlooville tends to have more frost than nearby Portsmouth as it has less influences from the sea and is more exposed to northerly winds. However, highs in the summer are slightly warmer than Portsmouth because there is less influence of cool breezes from the English Channel as the town is more inland. Sunshine averages are typical of that across the Portsmouth area, Isle of Wight and the south-west Sussex coast of around 1800 – 2100 hours of sunshine a year, where Southwesterly winds keep the sunshine hours up between late March and mid September, the town is also protected by the South Downs.

Transport

The main shopping precinct is served by First in Hampshire & Dorset bus routes 7/X7, 8 and X9, and Stagecoach services 37 and 39. The A3 Bus Corridor priority route (constructed between 2003–2007) serves the town. As of 2006, the shopping precinct is closed to all road traffic other than buses.

The nearest train station is located in Bedhampton and is on the main train route between London and Portsmouth. For a time, South West trains provided a direct bus link to Petersfield railway station via Horndean, enabling quick access to fast London-bound trains, but now the link to Petersfield is Stagecoach service 37 via Clanfield. Havant railway station is served by Stagecoach service 39, and stations in Portsmouth by First services 7/X7, 8 and X9. For westbound trains the station at Cosham, served by the local bus services, is on the line between Portsmouth and Fareham, with regular trains to Southampton and Cardiff.

Sport

Waterlooville also has a swimming pool which is home to Havant & Waterlooville Swimming Club.

Waterlooville Cricket Club play their home games at Jubilee Park, they run 3 Saturday sides and have a youth team. They currently compete in Hampshire League Division 1.

There is also a thriving bowls club with a carpet green in Jubilee Park.

The town is represented in association football by Havant & Waterlooville F.C., who play in Havant. The club formed in 1998 after a merger between Havant Town and Waterlooville.

Politics

The town is within the Borough of Havant and includes the Waterloo, Hart Plain, Cowplain, and Stakes wards.

The town is partly within 3 parliamentary constituencies Meon Valley constituency, East Hampshire, and Havant whose respective MPs, George Hollingbery, Damian Hinds, and Alan Mak are all in the Conservative Party.

Development

Much of Waterlooville as well as Purbrook, Cowplain and Horndean, has 'spread' out from London Road. However to the west of Waterlooville and Purbrook, (the area bordered by Hambledon Road and London Road) contains much undeveloped land. As a result, the centre of Waterlooville borders fields to the west just a few hundred meters away, while to the north, east and south it is bordered by housing estates and Cowplain and Purbrook respectively. This is due to the fact that Waterlooville, which is part of Havant Borough Council, is bordered by Winchester City Council and so has hindered any plans in the past. This is much evident with the lack of street lights on a stretch of Hambledon Road between Denmead and Waterloovlle.

However, in 2009, years of planning and joint involvement of Havant and Winchester councils came to fruition with the 'West of Waterlooville Major Development Area' housing scheme, starting with Maurepas Roundabout, being enlarged to accommodate for a new road and increased traffic that comes with the new homes. The work was delayed for some time, but continued in January 2012.

Education

Waterlooville contains ten primary schools: Morelands Primary School, Meadowlands Junior and Infants School, Padnell Infants and Junior School, Hart Plain Infants and Junior schools, Springwood Infant School (formerly Stakes Hill Infant School), Springwood Junior School (formerly Hulbert Junior School), Mill Hill Primary School (formerly Waite End Infants and Waite End Junior School and Waite End Primary School), Purbrook Infant and Junior Schools, Queens Inclosure Primary and St. Peter's Catholic Primary.

Two new two form entry primary schools are to be built in the new housing development area situated off the Maurepas Roundabout. The first of these is scheduled to open in September 2014 with a possible Year R only intake depending on the number of children needing places. The other primary school will be built when the need for it arises – possibly 2019.

It contains five secondary schools: Horndean Technology College, Cowplain Community School, Oaklands Catholic School, Purbrook Park School and Crookhorn College.

There are two colleges, Oaklands Catholic Sixth Form College and South Downs College.

Notable residents