Nicholstown-Newtown (usually called Nicholstown or Newtown) is a small area to the north-east of

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 ...

city centre A city centre is the commercial, cultural and often the historical, political, and geographic heart of a city. The term "city centre" is primarily used in British English, and closely equivalent terms exist in other languages, such as "" in Fren ...

. To the north is

Bevois Valley Bevois Valley ( ) is an inner city area of Southampton, England, within Bevois Electoral Ward, and includes areas called Bevois Town and Bevois Mount. The area lies south of and adjoins Portswood and is within easy walking distance of the city ...

, to the east Northam and to the west and south is St Mary's. In the north of Newtown is the Mount Pleasant area, which spills over into the north of Northam. Black signs saying "Welcome to Nicholstown-Newtown

demarcate the district on the roads running east from St. Mary's Rd – hence the district is bordered on the west by St. Mary's Road, the south by Six Dials road, and the east by the railway lines. The area is formed of residential streets with a typical parade of small shops and services; the exception is its central feature,

Royal South Hampshire Hospital The Royal South Hants Hospital, known locally as "The RSH", is a community hospital in Southampton. It is managed by NHS Property Services. History The hospital was founded as a voluntary hospital in 1835 and moved into its first premises in S ...

, established in 1843–1844.

History

The Church of St Luke was constructed in Newtown in 1853 using a gift of land and money from Thomas Chamberlayne. In 1918 the area elected Southampton's first female Councilor

Lucia Foster Welch Lucia Marion Foster Welch (1864–1940) was a suffragette and conservative politician who served as Southampton's first female mayor. Lucia Foster Welch was born Lucia Marion Brown in Liverpool in 1864. Her mother was a close friend of Elizabeth ...

. In the 1960s and 1970s, the area was notorious as Southampton's

red-light district A red-light district or pleasure district is a part of an urban area where a concentration of prostitution and sex-oriented businesses, such as sex shops, strip clubs, and adult theaters, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particu ...

with high crime rates.This is Hampshire: 5 July 2004: Inner-city pride restored
Accessed 11 April 2007 Frustrated with the inaction of the city council and police, over 2,000 people marched from Derby Road to the

civic centre A civic center or civic centre is a prominent land area within a community that is constructed to be its focal point or center. It usually contains one or more dominant public buildings, which may also include a government building. Recently, the ...

. Following this "march of neglect",

the Queen In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to: * Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death The Queen may also refer to: * Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...

visited the area and a cash injection of half a million pounds followed. However, by the 21st century, little had changed. In the year 2000 a report highlighted that the urban renewal area encompassing Nicholstown "exhibits both the highest levels of unfitness and disrepair ... in the city" and the area was still very much a red light district in 2004.

Nicholstown today

;Youth Centre Newtown Youth Centre in Graham Road (also known as Boyzy or NYC) was intended to be permanently cut on budgetary cuts in Spring 2014, providing a wide range of facilities, skills and activities to older and young people. It re-opened for the younger generations under the YMCA in Autumn 2014 The area was the subject of a controversial documentary in 2015, '' Immigration Street'', a sequel to Channel 4's series ''

Benefits Street ''Benefits Street'' is a British documentary series broadcast on Channel 4. It was first aired on 6 January 2014, and ran for five episodes. The show was filmed by documenting the lives of several residents of James Turner Street, Winson Green, ...

'' based in Birmingham.

References

Areas of Southampton {{hampshire-geo-stub