Buckland is a residential area in the city 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 dens ...

in the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

county of

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

History

Buckland, then known as Bocheland, was one of the three settlements on

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 th ...

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 manus ...

. The Manor of Bocheland was purchased by

Jean de Gisors Jean de Gisors (1133–1220) was a Norman lord of the fortress of Gisors in Normandy, where meetings were traditionally convened between English and French kings. It was here, in 1188, a squabble occurred that involved the cutting of an elm. Ini ...

. De Gisors, a

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

lord who then founded Portsmouth on land at the southern end of the manor, in 1180. The area was extensively bombed during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. Due to this, and the slum nature of much of what housing was left, large parts were demolished and replaced with social housing built in the 1950s and '60s. Buckland has their own language barrier of rhyme and slang just like London back in the early 60s.

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

was born in Buckland in 1812. His father moved to Portsmouth to work at the Naval Base. He bought a terraced house in an area close to the base then called Newtown. The house of his birth is now a museum. It stands in Old Commercial Road which is to this day a very prestigious street containing many

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

and Victorian

terraced house In architecture and city planning, a terrace or terraced house ( UK) or townhouse ( US) is a form of medium-density housing that originated in Europe in the 16th century, whereby a row of attached dwellings share side walls. In the United State ...

s and town houses. There is no official boundary of Buckland, but the locals usually define it as Kingston Crescent (A2047 westbound) to the north, Kingston Road (A2047 southbound) to the east, Lake Road to the south and Mile End Road to the west. Barkis and Nickelby houses are the most prominent buildings in the neighbourhood standing 17 stories high. Pickwick and Copperfield houses are another set of tower blocks which are 11 stories high. Blackwood and Brisbane houses are mid rise "groundscraper" blocks at 6 stories high located near the busy M275 Mile End Road. All mentioned houses have been used and to some degree still are used as social housing by Portsmouth City Council (exact status unknown). Buckland is now a mixture of terraced houses, modern 2 floor houses, modern two floor per flat - overlapped flats and the infamous houses that are spread at the southwest corner of Buckland. Population density is high, although the houses or flats are quite small in size and lack comfort most of them are in a decent state. Flying Bull Primary and Nursery School serves the Buckland area.

References

Areas of Portsmouth {{Hampshire-geo-stub