Portchester is a locality and suburb northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the

borough of Fareham The Borough of Fareham is a local government district with borough status and unparished area in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Fareham. Other places within the borough include Portchester, Hill Head, Stubbington, Titchfield, Wars ...

in Hampshire. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth and Southampton on the A27 main thoroughfare. Its population according to the

2011 United Kingdom census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

was 17,789 residents.

Name

Portchester is derived from its former Latin name Portus Adurni and the

Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain, Anglo ...

suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...

''ceaster'' ("fort; fortified town"), itself derived from the Latin word “castrum.”

History

The fort of Portus Adurni is considered the best-preserved

Roman fort In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire, the Latin word ''castrum'', plural ''castra'', was a military-related term. In Latin usage, the singular form ''castrum'' meant 'fort', while the plural form ''castra'' meant 'camp'. The singular and ...

north of

the Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

. It is sometimes identified as the ''Caer Peris''

Nennius Nennius – or Nemnius or Nemnivus – was a Welsh monk of the 9th century. He has traditionally been attributed with the authorship of the ''Historia Brittonum'', based on the prologue affixed to that work. This attribution is widely considered ...

(). Theodor Mommsen (). ''Historia Brittonum'', VI. Composed after AD 830. Hosted at Latin Wikisource. listed by the 9th-century '' History of the Britons'' as among the 28 cities of Britain.Ford, David Nash.
The 28 Cities of Britain
" at Britannia. 2000.Newman, John Henry & al
p. 92.">''Lives of the English Saints: St. German, Bishop of Auxerre'', Ch. X: "Britain in 429, A. D.", p. 92.
James Toovey (London), 1844. The medieval

Portchester Castle Portchester Castle is a medieval fortress that was developed within the walls of the Roman Saxon Shore fort of Portus Adurni at Portchester, to the east of Fareham in Hampshire. The keep was probably built in the late 11th century as a ba ...

was built within the Roman fort.

Amenities

As well as the castle, its parish church is listed as a Grade I protected building. There are also many historic houses in Castle Street. This suburb is well placed for waterfront leisure activities, only a short distance from the UK's 3rd-largest marina at Port Solent, from the historic city of Portsmouth, and from the market town of

Fareham Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufact ...

Public open spaces

* Portsdown Hill - Including Portchester Common a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

(SSSI) * Wicor Recreation Ground - Home to

A.F.C. Portchester A.F.C. Portchester is a football club based in Portchester, a suburb of the town of Fareham, Hampshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Wicor Recreation Ground. History The club was established in 1971 as Loyds S ...

and Wicor Skate Park.

Schools

* Portchester Community School, a mixed comprehensive community school for 11- to 16-year-olds. * Wicor Primary School * Northern Infant School * Northern Junior School * Red Barn Primary School * Castle Primary School

Crematorium

Opened in 1958, it is on the lower slopes of Portsdown Hill. It is owned by a Joint Committee representing the City of Portsmouth and the Boroughs of Fareham, Havant and Gosport. It has two chapels, the North (added 1969) and South (original). Those cremated there include two World War I Victoria Cross recipients,

Norman Augustus Finch Norman Augustus Finch, VC (26 December 1890 – 15 March 1966) was a Royal Marines soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces. ...

and

James Ockendon James Ockendon VC, MM (10 December 1890 – 29 August 1966) was an English recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forc ...

who both died in 1966.

Sport and leisure

Portchester has a

Non-League football Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to de ...

club

, which plays at Wicor Recreation Ground.

Notable residents

* Neil Astley, publisher and founding editor of Bloodaxe Books, born in Portchester *

Emily Farmer Emily Farmer (25 July 1826, London - 8 May 1905, Portchester, Hampshire) was an English watercolour painter. Life She was one of three children of John Biker Farmer, who worked for the East India Company, and his wife Frances Ann (née Frost). ...

, watercolour painter *

Neil Gaiman Neil Richard MacKinnon GaimanBorn as Neil Richard Gaiman, with "MacKinnon" added on the occasion of his marriage to Amanda Palmer. ; ( Neil Richard Gaiman; born 10 November 1960) is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, gr ...

, author, born in Portchester *

Steve Ridgway Stephen Ridgway, CBE (born 29 September 1951) is a British business executive best known for having been the CEO of Virgin Atlantic. Early life Ridgway was born in Tavistock, Devon, and grew up on a farm in Bantham near Salcombe. He went to sc ...

, Chief Executive, Virgin Atlantic Airways * Mike Hancock, former MP for Portsmouth South and former Councillor for Fratton ward, has lived here for over 30 years *

Harry Davis Harry Davis may refer to: Sports * Harry Davis (1900s first baseman) (1873–1947), Major League Baseball first baseman * Harry Davis (1930s first baseman) (1908–1997), played for the Detroit Tigers and St. Louis Browns (1932–1937) * Harry Da ...

, Councillor for Portchester East, Fareham Borough Council

Transport

Rail

Portchester railway station is managed and operated by South Western Railway with frequent Southern Railway services. Services run along the coast to Southampton,

, Portsmouth, Havant, Chichester and

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 services to

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 of ...

(via Fareham) and London Victoria (via Barnham) also stop at the station.

Bus services

First Hampshire & Dorset services to Portsmouth, Havant,

, Titchfield,

Locks Heath Locks Heath is a western residential suburb of Fareham, in the south of Hampshire, England. Locks Heath is immediately surrounded by a collection of villages including Sarisbury to the West, Swanwick, Park Gate and Whiteley to the North, Warsash ...

and Warsash.

Road

The

A27 road The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish (near Salisbury) in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevensey (near Eastbourne and Bexhi ...

cuts through the centre of Portchester running east/west between Fareham and Cosham on the northern outskirts of Portsmouth. Access to the M27 motorway is via Junction 11 at Fareham or Junction 12 at Port Solent.

References

External links

St Mary's

Portchester Castle Information
{{Authority control Borough of Fareham