Cosham ( or ) is a northern suburb of

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...

lying within the city boundary but off

Portsea Island Portsea Island is a flat and low-lying natural island in area, just off the southern coast of Hampshire in England. Portsea Island contains the majority of the city of Portsmouth. Portsea Island has the third-largest population of all ...

. It is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

of 1086 along with Drayton and

Wymering Wymering is a residential area of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire. Unlike the majority of Portsmouth, it is located on the mainland rather than Portsea Island. Wymering was one of the estates held by Hampshire's bigges ...

(mainland) and Bocheland ( Buckland), Frodington (

Fratton Fratton is a residential and formerly industrial area of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. Victorian style terraced houses are dominant in the area, typical of most residential areas of Portsmouth. Fratton has many discount shops and "greasy spo ...

) and Copenore (

Copnor Copnor is an area of Portsmouth, England, located on the eastern side of Portsea Island. The population of Copnor Ward at the 2011 Census was 13,608. As Copenore, it was one of the three villages listed as being on Portsea Island in the Domesda ...

) on the island.

Toponymy

The name is of

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country (Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the Nor ...

origin (shown by the -ham suffix) and means "Cossa's homestead". Originally pronounced , since the latter half of the 20th century has become more widely used. Until the 1920s it was a separate small village surrounded by fields (including on the north end of

History

Extensive suburban growth then expanded around the village and both east and west along the slopes of

Portsdown Hill Portsdown Hill is a long chalk ridge in Hampshire, England. The highest point of the hill lies within Fort Southwick at 131m above sea level. The ridge offers good views to the south over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, wit ...

. It has been for many years a local route centre as a pinch point for buses travelling in and out of Portsmouth and offers three railway routes to London. Cosham railway station was until 1935 the terminus for City

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport ...

s and

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

es from the south and

Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway The Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway SU657058 > SU660061 > SU666064 >SU674086 > SU683094 > SU690108 > SU698126> SU702128 ) --> was a tram service that ran initially from Cosham to Horndean in Hampshire, England. History Authorised in 18 ...

trams to the north. The High Street is a significant local shopping centre. Few traces of the original village now remain; the oldest houses (Chalk Cottage of 1777 and Mile Stone Cottages of 1793) were demolished in the 1960s and replaced by a car park, but the old milepost showing mileage to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Petersfield Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is north of Portsmouth. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth a ...

and

remains. The interior of St Philip's Church (1938) in Highbury is cited as a fine example of

Ninian Comper Sir John Ninian Comper (10 June 1864 – 22 December 1960) was a Scottish architect; one of the last of the great Gothic Revival architects. His work almost entirely focused on the design, restoration and embellishment of churches, and the des ...

's work. Indeed, ''England's 1000 Best Parish Churches'' (by

Simon Jenkins Sir Simon David Jenkins (born 10 June 1943) is a British author, a newspaper columnist and editor. He was editor of the ''Evening Standard'' from 1976 to 1978 and of ''The Times'' from 1990 to 1992. Jenkins chaired the National Trust from 20 ...

) regards St Philip's as the only parish church within Portsmouth worth visiting on architectural merit.

Economy

Cosham is also home to the UK headquarters of IBM UK Ltd. The site known as 'North Harbour' was built in the 1970s, the location being selected due to the job cuts by the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against Fr ...

during the time.

Local amenities

The

Queen Alexandra Hospital The Queen Alexandra Hospital (commonly known as QA Hospital, QAH or simply QA) is a large NHS hospital in Portsmouth, Hampshire. Located in Cosham, it is run by Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust and has a Ministry of Defence Hospital ...

is situated in the north of the area at the bottom of Portsdown Hill. Locally referred to as simply QA, it is the major hospital for the south-east Hampshire and south-west

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ...

area.

Cosham railway station Cosham railway station serves Cosham, a northern suburb of the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire in southern England. It is from . Opened in 1848 by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), it is located on the West Coastway Line which runs ...

provides frequent services by 3 train companies to destinations including;

Brighton Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...

London Waterloo Waterloo station (), also known as London Waterloo, is a central London terminus on the National Rail network in the United Kingdom, in the Waterloo area of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is connected to a London Underground station o ...

London Victoria Victoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a central London railway terminus and connected London Underground station in Victoria, in the City of Westminster, managed by Network Rail. Named after the nearby Victoria Street (not the Q ...

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

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 ...

Education

The main campus of

Highbury College Highbury College is a further education college in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. It offers vocational and academic education and training, including apprenticeships, A-levels and foundation degrees. The college is a member of the Collab G ...

is situated in the south east of Cosham on the Highbury estate.

References

{{Authority control Areas of Portsmouth