{{infobox uk place |latitude

50.966667 |longitude -1.35 |os_grid_reference SU4563818844 |map_type Southampton |official_name Eastleigh |region South East England |countryEngland |post_town EASTLEIGH |postcode_area SO |postcode_district SO50 |constituency_westminsterEastleigh |dial_code 023 |websitehttp://www.eastleigh.gov.uk |static_image |static_image_caption''The Point'', Eastleigh |shire_countyHampshire |shire_districtEastleigh }}

Eastleigh is a railway town in Hampshire, England, and the main town in the Eastleigh borough which is part of Southampton Urban Area. 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 manufacturing plant owned by Prysmian Cables & Systems (formerly the cables division of Pirelli).

The town lies on the River Itchen, one of England's premier chalk streams for fly fishing, a designated site of Special Scientific Interest due to its high quality habitats supporting a wide range of protected species including the threatened water vole, otter, brook lamprey and white-clawed crayfish.

History

The modern town of Eastleigh lies on the old Roman road, built in A.D.79 between Winchester ''(Venta Belgarum)'' and Bitterne ''(Clausentum)''. Roman remains discovered in the Eastleigh area, including a Roman lead coffin excavated in 1908, indicate that a settlement probably existed here in Roman times.

A Saxon village called ‘East Leah’ has been recorded to have existed since 932 AD. (‘Leah’ is an ancient Anglo-Saxon word meaning ‘a clearing in a forest’). There is additional evidence of this settlement in a survey from the time which details land in North Stoneham being granted by King Æthelstan to his military aid, Alfred in 932 AD. The prefix ‘Est’ or 'East' is thought to refer to its location relative to the established settlement of Baddesley.

The Domesday Book of 1086 gives a more detailed account of the settlement, which is referred to as ‘Estleie’.

In 1838 the London and SouthWestern Railway Company (L&SWR;) built a railway from Southampton to Winchester. It was decided to build a station near the little village of Barton. This railway station was originally named Bishopstoke Junction. In 1868 the villages of Barton and Eastley were combined into one parish. A parish church, the Church of the Resurrection, was built in the same year, at a cost of £2,300. A local noted authoress of many novels, Charlotte Yonge, donated £500 towards the building of the church. 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.

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 roundabout 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'', and Benny Hill who both lived in the town. Benny's first job was in Woolworths in Leigh Road, Eastleigh. He then moved on to be a milkman for Hanns Dairies, in Factory Road, now Wells Place. His time working in Eastleigh on a horse-drawn milk-float gave him his inspiration for his hit record, ''‘Ernie,the fastest milkman in the West’''. In Benny's honour a plaque has been put up close to the site of the now demolished Hanns Dairies building and a new road has been named ''Benny Hill Close'', though many of the people who had bought the new homes were not happy with the decision.

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 ''The Toynbee Community Sports College'', ''Crestwood College'', Quilley School of Engineering, ''Cherbourg Primary School'', ''Norwood Primary School'', ''The Crescent Primary School'' and ''Shakespeare Primary School''

Sport

Eastleigh F.C. are the town's sole senior football team playing in the Blue Square South league (2 divisions below the football league) as well as entering the FA cup and the FA Trophy.

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 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. Chris Huhne was recently appointed as Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change following the 2010 general election.

Economy

The B&Q; head office is in the Portswood House in Eastleigh. The town was formerly home to a Mr Kipling bakery.

Transport

Air

Southampton Airport , the 20th largest airport in the UK, is located in Eastleigh. Southampton Airport is served by a dedicated mainline railway station, Southampton Airport Parkway, which is the next station stop (5 minutes) from Eastleigh railway station.

Rail

Eastleigh is served by Eastleigh railway station, a mainline station on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo (just 66 minutes away) and Winchester to Southampton, Bournemouth and Poole, with a fast and frequent service to those places. It is also the junction station for two other routes, the Eastleigh-Fareham Line and the Eastleigh-Romsey Line.

Bus

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

Road

Eastleigh is also located close to the junction between the M3 motorway and M27 motorway, giving easy road access to Southampton, Winchester, Bournemouth, Portsmouth and places between.

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 (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. Anchor stores at the Swan Centre include Tesco Metro, W H Smith, New Look, Next, McDonald's, Argos and Boots.

The Swan Centre has been largely successful commercially, with most of the ground floor units being occupied, 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. This extension completed in March/April 2009 with the opening of a Vue cinema, AMF bowling alley and several restaurants.

Notable people

Notable residents of Eastleigh include:

{| cellpadding="10" |- style="vertical-align:top;" |

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) ||

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)

Stephen Gough (the 'Naked Rambler')

Giz Watson (Australian politician)

|}

See also

Eastleigh (borough)

Eastleigh constituency

References

Bibliography

Notes

External links

Eastleigh Borough Council

Eastleigh College

Eastleigh News

Eastleigh Town Centre web site

Eastleigh Football Club unofficial site

Eastleigh TownTalk - Local Information for Eastleigh

Local Rail Information

Photos from the Borough of Eastleigh

The Eastleigh Photograph Archive

The Point, Eastleigh

The Swan Centre

Category:Towns in Hampshire Category:Railway towns in England

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