Southcourt is a housing estate in
Aylesbury,
Buckinghamshire, England. Building commenced in the early 1920s through to the mid-1930s and only stopped because of the Second World War. It was turned into a post war
housing estate
A housing estate (or sometimes housing complex or housing development) is a group of homes and other buildings built together as a single development. The exact form may vary from country to country.
Popular throughout the United States ...
during the years of 1946 and 1955. The area is named after the pig farm over which the housing estate was built.
History
The oldest house in Southcourt is in Cottesloe Road on the junction of Clover Lane. This was the original farmhouse built at the start of the 20th century. The first
sod
Sod, also known as turf, is the upper layer of soil with the grass growing on it that is often harvested into rolls.
In Australian and British English, sod is more commonly known as ''turf'', and the word "sod" is limited mainly to agricult ...
for the rest of the estate was cut in 1922 by
The Duke of York
Duke of York is a title of nobility in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. Since the 15th century, it has, when granted, usually been given to the second son of English (later British) monarchs. The equivalent title in the Scottish peerage was D ...
: hence one of the first roads of the estate was named York Place in his honour. At the time the housing was publicised as "Homes for Heroes", and the first houses on the estate were reserved solely for
veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that h ...
s of the
First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
Until 1967, there used to be a 'Halt' at what was the pedestrian crossing from Old Stoke Road, Southcourt to Mandeville Road (closed in 2016). The '
Aylesbury South Halt' as it used to be known, was on the ex GWR (originally broad gauge) line to Princes Risborough and High Wycombe, a stop for the train into Aylesbury to pause for any passengers who wanted a short train journey into the centre of town. It comprised a small wooden platform and shelter.
The pre-war part of the estate consists of terraced and semi-detached redbrick and rendered houses, as well as blocks of low rise flats. The post war houses are built at a higher density and of brick, concrete and steel with timber (now plastic) cladding.
The
secondary school located in Southcourt is
Mandeville School. The
primary school
A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...
is Oak Green School, which is a mixed
community school that takes approximately 430 pupils from the age of four through to the age of eleven. In the 2001
census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses in ...
the population of Southcourt was 5,849 people.
Demography
At the 2001 UK census, the Southcourt
electoral ward had a population of 5,849. The ethnicity was 86.2% white, 2.3% mixed race, 9% Asian, 1.9% black and 0.6% other. The place of birth of residents was 90.2% United Kingdom, 1.2% Republic of Ireland, 1.2% other Western European countries, and 7.4% elsewhere. Religion was recorded as 62.9% Christian, 0.1% Buddhist, 0.7% Hindu, 0.3% Sikh, 0.1% Jewish, and 8% Muslim. 19.6% were recorded as having no religion, 0.3% had an alternative religion and 8% did not state their religion.
The economic activity of residents aged 16–74 was 43.9% in full-time employment, 13.3% in part-time employment, 4.8% self-employed, 4.4% unemployed, 2.3% students with jobs, 2.9% students without jobs, 9.9% retired, 8.4% looking after home or family, 6.6% permanently sick or disabled and 3.5% economically inactive for other reasons. The industry of employment of residents was 23.7% retail, 14.3% manufacturing, 7.5% construction, 10.7% real estate, 12.7% health and social work, 5.3% education, 8.1% transport and communications, 3.8% public administration, 4.8% hotels and restaurants, 2.6% finance, 0.9% agriculture and 5.6% other. Compared with national figures, the ward had a relatively high proportion of workers in retail and health and social work. There were a relatively low proportion in agriculture and finance. Of the ward's residents aged 16–74, 8.9% had a
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after comple ...
qualification or the equivalent, compared with 19.9% nationwide.
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References
External links
Oak Green School website
{{Aylesbury Vale
Aylesbury
Housing estates in Buckinghamshire