Weston is a small suburb on the south-eastern side of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, UK, predominantly built on the Weston Grove Estate formerly owned by the Chamberlayne family. It also includes the area that was previously the Barnfield Estate. Weston includes part of Mayfield Park, which was previously the Mayfield Estate.The Illustrated History of Southamptons suburbs. Jim Brown. 2002. Weston is bounded by Woolston, Sholing, Netley and Southampton Water.

Origins

Weston was originally a small fishing community. The earliest references date to the end of the 10th century. John de Weston is recorded as a Burgess of Southampton in 1332. In the 17th and 18th centuries, there are occasional records of disputes over fishing rights The Seaweed Hut that used to stand on Weston Shore appears on 17th century maps. It was used to store the fishermen's equipment.

The Chamberlayne family

In 1424, Ralph Chamberlayne's wife Alice inherited an estate on the east bank of the River Itchen. What that estate contained, how it subsequently changed hands and was split-up is not clear, but at least part of it remained connected with the Chamberlayne family as in 1781, William Chamberlayne inherited what was then the Weston Park Estate from Thomas Dummer. His son, William Chamberlayne, later to become MP for the

, inherited the estate on the death of his father in 1799. In 1802, William Chamberlayne built Weston Grove House, forming the Weston Grove estate. The Weston Grove estate was subsequently inherited by Thomas Chamberlayne in 1831. Part of the Estate was sold to Col. Robert Wright in 1854, to create the ''Mayfield estate''. The ''Barnfield estate'' was situated between Weston Grove House and the ''Mayfield estate'' and is shown on the 1864 Ordnance Survey map (NC/03/17984) Denzil Chamberlayne, eldest son of Thomas Chamberlayne, took part in the

Charge of the Light Brigade The Charge of the Light Brigade was a military action undertaken by British light cavalry against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava in the Crimean War, resulting in many casualties to the cavalry. On 25 October 1854, the Light Br ...

. He died in 1873. In 1876, Tankerville Chamberlayne inherited the estate. He too was to become MP for the

. He died in 1924 leaving a daughter, Penelope Mary Alexandra Chamberlayne, who married Major Nigel Donald Peter Macdonald (son of Sir Godfrey Middleton Bosville Macdonald of the Isles (15th Baronet)), changing their surname to "Chamberlayne-Macdonald".

World War I

A number of the larger houses in Southampton were used to treat wounded soldiers during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. Barnfield HouseSouthampton. An Illustrated History. Adrian Rance. 1986. and Mayfield House were definitely among them, convenient due to their proximity to the Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Netley. Whether Weston Grove House was also used for this purpose is not yet confirmed. The

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

also had a large site between Archery Road and the waterfront, on land that was originally part of the Weston Grove estate.Southampton. An Illustrated History. Adrian Rance. 1986. . pp. 137 Built in 1917, this building was half a mile long and was originally used as a rolling mill, to produce brass strip that was used to make small calibre shell cases. The depot was subsequently used as Royal Navy stores, finally closing in 1987.

Development

Weston did not become part of Southampton until 1920, when it started to become more urbanised. A consequence was that Weston Lane was widened to cater for the motor car, demolishing two impressive stone arches built by William Chamberlayne (MP) that allowed him to cross between different parts of his ''Weston Grove'' estate unhindered by the Weston Lane. The arch at the upper end of Weston Lane was demolished in the early sixties and the arch at the lower end was demolished in 1948. In 1909, an act of Parliament required that of land be sold to London and South Western Railway, by Tankerville Chamberlayne, for the purpose of building an enormous dry dock some . Although the land was acquired, the project didn't proceed. The site was subsequently sold to the

Ministry of Munitions The Minister of Munitions was a British government position created during the First World War to oversee and co-ordinate the production and distribution of munitions for the war effort. The position was created in response to the Shell Crisis o ...

and the Rolling Mills were built instead.Southampton. An Illustrated History. Adrian Rance. 1986. . pp. 141–142 Situated directly below Weston Grove House, the Rolling Mills building obstructed the view of Southampton Water from Weston Grove House. The house was demolished in 1940. The site was subsequently used to build the Telephone Engineering Centre, in Archery Road.Estate Publications Red Book. Southampton. Although there is some pre- war housing in Weston Lane, near Holy Trinity Church, the bulk of Weston was built to meet the post- war demand for new housing in

. Many of the first new homes in this area were prefabs. Some of those supposedly temporary buildings still exist, suitably modernised. Modern Weston mainly consists of housing estates and

Tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building, as opposed to a low-rise building and is defined differently in terms of height depending on the jurisdiction. ...

s. It suffers some of the problems that are associated with this type of housing, but ''Hampton Towers'', ''Havre Towers'', ''Oslo Towers'', ''Copenhagen Towers'', ''Rotterdam Towers'' and ''Canberra Towers'' are a very distinctive landmark when approaching the port of

by sea.

Weston Shore

Weston borders Southampton Water at a

shingle beach A shingle beach, also known as either a cobble beach or gravel beach, is a commonly narrow beach that is composed of coarse, loose, well-rounded, and waterworn gravel, called ''shingle''. The gravel (shingle) typically consists of smooth, sphero ...

where some 1930s beach shelters can still be seen. These have been repainted white. This is

's only remaining shoreline and is a good place to observe Southampton's double high-tide. Weston Shore draws large crowds for every cruise liner that makes its first or final trip along Southampton Water to the port of

. It has also attracted large crowds to witness air displays over Southampton water. This stretch of shoreline was closed to the public and packed with troops, equipment and landing craft in the build-up to

D-day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

and in the subsequent re-supply operations. A local community group called the Friends of Weston Shore carry out litter picks on the shore with help from members of the public. Weston Sailing Club is on Weston Shore, at Abbey Hill in Netley. The club was founded in 1952 and originally located by the Rolling Mills. In 1954 the Council planned to redevelop the shore, and the club was therefore moved to near the Old Seaweed Hut. After some delay because of council planning issues and funding, the club was granted land at Abbey Hill in 1968, and built a clubhouse there.

Schools

The main secondary school serving Weston is Weston Secondary School. The neighbouring school of Weston Park Junior School and Weston Park Infant School share a site and have become Weston Park Primary School. Weston Shore Infant School the only other school in the area.

Weston in the media

The tower blocks featured in the 2015 British Sci-Fi thriller film

Containment Containment was a Geopolitics, geopolitical strategic foreign policy pursued by the United States during the Cold War to prevent the spread of communism after the end of World War II. The name was loosely related to the term ''Cordon sanitaire ...

Gallery

Image:WestonShoreShelters.jpg File:Weston-pipe-pier.jpg File:Weston-tower-blocks-clouds.jpg File:FoxMemorialMayfield.jpg File:Weston-estate.jpg File:Mayfield-park-bowls.jpg File:Holy Trinity, Weston - geograph.org.uk - 1514044.jpg

References

External links

Chamberlayne College for the Arts

Holy Trinity Weston Church
an
Weston Church Youth Project

Weston Sailing Club

Friends of Weston Shore
{{Districts of Southampton Areas of Southampton