Chandler's Ford (originally The Ford and historically Chandlersford) is a largely residential area and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It has a population of 21,436 in the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

. Chandler's Ford lies on the old

Winchester Winchester is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs Nation ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

road and the 'Ford' is thought to refer either to the ford of

Monks Brook Monks Brook is a river in the English county of Hampshire. It is a tributary of the River Itchen, which it joins at a medieval salmon pool in Swaythling. The brook is formed from seven streams that rise in the chalky South Downs, with the offi ...

on the Hursley Road (shown on the Hursley map of 1588 as "Charnells foord") or on the Winchester-Southampton road. The "Chandler's" prefix was possibly added in the late 16th century, although there are numerous theories for the origin of the word. The head offices of

Draper Tools Draper Tools Ltd is a British distributor of tools for professional and consumer use, based at a 50,000m2 (535,000 sq. ft.) site in Chandler's Ford in Hampshire, England. History Draper Tools started in 1919, when Bert Draper ran a business o ...

, B&Q,

Utilita Energy Utilita Energy is an electricity and gas supplier operating in the United Kingdom. Utilita began trading in 2003, specialising in pay-as-you-go metering. As of January 2021, Utilita has over 800,000 customers, representing a 2.6% share in the do ...

, Selwood and

Ahmad Tea Ahmad Tea is a tea company based in Chandler's Ford, Hampshire, England. It sells a range of tea bags, specialty teas and gifts including: black tea, green tea, flavoured teas, and herbal teas. The company moved from London to a new headquarte ...

are located in Chandler's Ford.

History

Hiltonbury Farm (now a

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

) appeared on a map of 1588 and may originally have been owned by the Hursley Park Estate in nearby

Hursley Hursley is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England with a population of around 900 in 2011. It is located roughly midway between Romsey and Winchester on the A3090. Besides the village the parish includes the hamlets of Standon and ...

. It was later sold to Cranbury Park Estate and stopped being a working farm in the late 1970s, when the surrounding area was developed. Other communities revolved around other farms in the area but Chandler's Ford was very sparsely populated until the 19th century. In the mid 19th century, Bell's brickfields was one of the biggest in England, producing 35 million bricks for the construction of the Royal Courts of Justice in The Strand. In 1889, an iron church and some schools were constructed. The

of ''Chandlersford'' was created in 1897, from portions of North Stoneham, North Baddesley, and Ampfield, although the railway station remained in the North Baddesley parish. In 1929 Herbert Collins, a well known Southampton based architect designed the Congregational Church in King's Road. This is now the United Reformed Church. The original building has been extended but the original style of the building remains. Chandler's Ford used to be a town with mainly housing estates, however there are now various developments of shops and schools that have been built in the area. In the 1920s, building took place in the King's Court, Merdon and

Hiltingbury Hiltingbury is an area within the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest ...

areas. Later, development in the Hursley Road area happened, followed by housing across the Hiltingbury, Scantabout, Peverells Road, Spring Hill and Oakmount areas. More recently, developments in North Millers Dale, South Millers Dale and the 'new town' of Valley Park to the West of Chandler's Ford have completed the mix of housing. Chandler's Ford is considered to be the development to the West of the M3 motorway and now forms the majority of the Eastleigh urban area. Due to the development of the town, there is little identifiable 'town centre'. The main commercial centre is in Fryern Arcade (built 1967), the area of the Halfway Inn (near the old tollhouse for Winchester-Southampton), but other smaller shopping areas include the Central Precinct and the area around St Boniface Church (built 1904). An Anglican church was added in Hiltingbury in the 1960s, with the Roman Catholic Church of St. Edward the Confessor and

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...

churches existing on the main Winchester-Southampton route. Although a mainly residential area, Chandler's Ford has a significant industrial estate located mainly off School Lane and in between the B3043 – Bournemouth Road. The companies on the industrial estate now cover a wide variety of industries from light engineering and manufacturing, distribution, retail and outsourcing. A number of employers on the estate are of particular local interest. Peter Green Furnishers were once regarded as the biggest furniture and carpeting store in the whole of Hampshire. Selwoods is also another company of interest having been in the area since 1946 and with its head office on the corner of School Lane. A library was constructed over two years starting in 1981. In 2018, an

Aldi Aldi (stylised as ALDI) is the common company brand name of two German multinational family-owned discount supermarket chains operating over 10,000 stores in 20 countries. The chain was founded by brothers Karl and Theo Albrecht in 1946, when t ...

supermarket opened in replacement of the old Homebase DIY store in the retail park on Chestnut Avenue - introducing new jobs and competition with Asda (located opposite on the main roundabout). Chandler's Ford is represented by Compton and Chandler's Ford Cricket Club which formed in 1995 when Chandler's Ford Cricket Club (CC) merged with Compton and Shawford CC.

Chandler's Ford railway station Chandler's Ford railway station serves the Chandler's Ford area of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is on the Eastleigh to Romsey Line, measured from . History The station was opened as a halt by the London and South Western Railway in 18 ...

was re-opened in May 2003, having been closed since 1969. It now has an hourly service run by South Western Railway, from

Romsey Romsey ( ) is a historic market town in the county of Hampshire, England. Romsey was home to the 17th-century philosopher and economist William Petty and the 19th-century British prime minister, Lord Palmerston, whose statue has stood in the t ...

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of Wil ...

via Chandler's Ford, Eastleigh and

stopping at all stations in between.

Governance

The name Chandler's Ford is used for the civil parish, some (but not all) individual electoral

wards Ward may refer to: Division or unit * Hospital ward, a hospital division, floor, or room set aside for a particular class or group of patients, for example the psychiatric ward * Prison ward, a division of a penal institution such as a priso ...

, and sometimes a wider geographic area; the boundaries are not entirely consistent. Chandler's Ford Parish Council, responsible for the most local matters, has 18 members elected from 5 wards (Chandler's Ford East & West, Hiltingbury East & West, Velmore). Two wards on

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census. The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...

Borough Council, Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury, cover most of the parish and lie fully within it. However Velmore is included in the Eastleigh South ward. Each ward elects 3

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s. On

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

County Council, the Chandler's Ford division includes most of the parish. But a significant portion, made up of the Chandlers Ford West and Velmore parish wards, is located in the Eastleigh South division. Each division elects one councillor. Similarly, most of the parish has formed around a quarter of the

parliamentary constituency since 2010. Velmore however is in the

constituency. Since the 1990s, Chandler's Ford elections have principally been contests between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. As at June 2021 the Parish and Borough councils are both controlled by the Liberal Democrats, with members of both parties representing Chandler's Ford. The County council is controlled by the Conservatives, although both representatives from Chandler's Ford are Liberal Democrats. Both parliamentary seats are represented by Conservatives. Most of Valley Park, which is sometimes included in a wider area portrayal of Chandler's Ford, lies outside the parish, and forms part of Test Valley Borough and the

Romsey and Southampton North Romsey and Southampton North is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since its 2010 creation by Caroline Nokes for the Conservative Party. For the purposes of election expenses and type of returning officer it ...

parliamentary constituency.

Demography

As of April 2011, the Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury council wards (which form a continuous built-up area, and make up the main part of what is referred to as "Chandler's Ford") had a population of 21,436, across 8,896 households. The ethnicity of the population was mainly white, with 310 mixed race people, 937 Asian or Asian British people, 100 Black or Black British people and 224 in other ethnic groups. In 2001, 13,531 of the population were

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

s, 5,528 professed no religion, and 1,477 did not state their religious beliefs. There were 59

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

s, 205

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s, 29 Jews, 263

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

s, 289

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

s and 55 people of other religions living in the ward.

Healthcare

Nuffield Health Nuffield Health is the United Kingdom's largest healthcare charity. Established in 1957 the charity operates 31 Nuffield Health Hospitals and 114 Nuffield Health Fitness & Wellbeing Centres. It is independent of the National Health Service and ...

Wessex Hospital provides private and NHS services.

Transport

Rail

Chandler's Ford is served by

. The station was reopened for passenger traffic on 18 May 2003. There are links between

and

via

Bus

Bluestar's route 1 connects Chandler's Ford with Southampton and Winchester.

Xelabus Xelabus LimitedCompanies House extract company no 7338043
Xelabus Lim ...

X6/X7 runs between Hiltonbury and Eastleigh and X5 connects Southampton Parkway and Chandlers Ford stations.

Road

The M3 runs past the eastern border of Chandler's Ford with access from junction 12 from the north and junction 13 from the south.

Crime

Chandler's Ford made national headlines in September 2007 when an armed bank robbery was foiled: On 13 September 2007, the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

Flying Squad The Flying Squad is a branch of the Serious and Organised Crime Command within London's Metropolitan Police Service. It is also known as the Robbery Squad, Specialist Crime Directorate 7, SC&O7 and SO7. It is nicknamed The Sweeney, an abbrevia ...

, in conjunction with the Hampshire Constabulary, foiled the robbery outside the

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

bank in the central precinct on Winchester Road in Chandler's Ford.BB
Two men killed during 'bank raid'
BBC News. Retrieved 18 November 2007. The police had been tipped off and hid behind the nearby toilet cubicles, before shooting dead two of the robbers. A third fled the scene by car and was later arrested. There was a theft from the same bank on 24 January 2011, when a cash box was stolen from a security guard.

Education

There are various schools and day nurseries in Chandler's Ford. The secondary schools in Chandler's Ford include Thornden School and Toynbee School. Chandler's Ford is served by colleges nearby, including

Barton Peveril College Barton Peveril Sixth Form College was, in 2011, the seventh largest sixth form college in the UK, located in Eastleigh, Hampshire, UK with approximately 4,000 students. It is part of the Wessex Group of Sixth Form Colleges. History Originally Ba ...

and

Eastleigh College Eastleigh College in Eastleigh, Hampshire is a further education college providing technical and professional training and apprenticeships to school leavers, in addition to part-time professional courses and part-time leisure courses for adults. ...

Day nurseries

* Kingsmead Day Nursery (120 Kingsway, SO53 5DW) * Making Miracles Nursery (25 Shaftesbury Ave, SO53 3BR) * Sherborne House School (39 Lakewood Road, SO53 1EU) * Yellow Dot Nursery (Hocombe Road, SO53 5QS)

Infant and primary schools

* Chandler's Ford Infant School (Kings Road, SO53 2EY) * Fryern Infant School (Oakmount Road, SO53 2LN) * Hiltingbury Infant School (Hiltingbury Road, SO53 5NP)Education: Infant and Primary Schools
* Knightwood Primary School (Bell Flower Way, SO53 4HW) * Scantabout Primary School (Ionic Close, SO53 2NR) * Sherborne House School (39 Lakewood Road, SO53 1EU) * St Francis Church of England Primary School (Pilgrims Close, Valley Park, SO53 4ST) * St. Swithun Wells R.C. Primary School (Hillcrest Avenue, SO53 2JP)

Junior schools

* Fryern Junior School (Oakmount Road, SO53 2LN) * Hiltingbury Junior School (Hiltingbury Road, SO53 5NP)
* Merdon Junior School (Merdon Avenue, SO53 1EJ)

Secondary schools

* Lakeside School (special school) (Winchester Road, SO53 2DW) * Thornden Secondary School (Winchester Road, SO53 2DW)Education: Secondary Schools
* Toynbee Secondary School (Bodycoats Road, SO53 2PL)

Independent schools

* Sherborne House School (39 Lakewood Road, SO53 1EU)Education: Independent Schools

Community

* Valley Park Community Association * Chandler's Ford Community Association Community Centre, Hursley Rd, Chandler's Ford. * Hiltingbury Recreation Ground, Hiltingbury Road, Chandler's Ford. * Romsey, Chandler's Ford & District Round Table

References

External links

Chandler's Ford TodayChandler's Ford News (on Eastleigh News website)A guide to Chandlers Ford on Hampshire Travel Guide
{{authority control Villages in Hampshire Borough of Eastleigh Civil parishes in Hampshire