Horndean is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

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 ...

, England, north 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 ...

. The nearest railway station is southeast of the village at

Rowlands Castle Rowland's Castle is a village and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 2.9 miles (4.7 km) north of Havant, on the Hampshire/West Sussex border. The focal point of the village is the village green which ...

. The village had a population of 12,942 at the 2011 Census, and shares the semi-rural character of others in the district. The village was the home of

Gales Brewery George Gale & Co. Ltd was a Hampshire brewery with a distinctive range of, mainly, bitter beers. Founded in 1847 it was bought by the London brewers, Fuller's of Chiswick in 2005. The brewery was closed in 2006 with production transferred to Chi ...

from 1850. In 2005, it was bought by Fuller, Smith and Turner, who closed it in 2006, when it was converted to shops and flats.

History

Horndean expanded in the early

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

due to its convenient position as a

staging post A stage station or relay station, also known as a staging post, a posting station, or a stage stop, is a place where exhausted horses could be replaced by fresh animals, since a long journey was much faster without delays when horses needed rest ...

on the road from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

(now the A3). In 1836 it became home to the Hon. Sir Charles Napier Senior, father to the more famous Sir Charles Napier, who purchased a property in the village called The Grove but subsequently changed its name to Merchistoun Hall (named after his former home in Falkirk,

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

). Merchistoun Hall is now a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

and serves as the village's major community centre. Horndean was bypassed by main line

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

s but was served by

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

s of the Portsdown and Horndean Light Railway until 1935 and thereafter by

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es. A three-storey workhouse was built during Victorian times to home the local poor. This stood on a site currently developed into a large retirement complex in 2017/18. This building had served a number of purposes including a local swimming pool. This was its primary function during the 1970s, provided by the use of a large polythene lined 'tank' on its ground floor. Using the pool was a fairly unpleasant experience by today's standards due to its small size, lack of poolside space and most of all - daylight. The first and second floors were used in latter years as a small lampshade factory. Defunct and dangerous, the entire building was demolished in spring 1982, leaving a small building that was closed and eventually demolished with the construction of the new retirement development in 2017. The village experienced significant expansion in the 20th century, particularly with the building of the Hazleton estate on the former grounds of Merchistoun Hall in the early 1960s, and the building of the A3(M) motorway in the 1970s, which passes under a bridge adjacent to the village centre. The easy access to the motorway has encouraged an influx of light industry to the village, most of it concentrated in three major estates, the most recent of which is Hazelton Interchange, built in the early 1990s. The centre of the village has a 1960s built small shopping precinct which is home to specialist businesses, as well as a cafe, fast food and newsagent. In 1992, Horndean was the site of the high-profile child murder of Helen Gorrie, who was found strangled to death after going out one night to meet local man John Corcoran. He was convicted of the murder in 1999 but was released on a technicality in 2003 and moved back to Warren Park in

Havant Havant ( ) is a town in the south-east corner of Hampshire, England between Portsmouth and Chichester. Its borough (population: 125,000) comprises the town (45,826) and its suburbs including the resort of Hayling Island as well as Rowland's Cast ...

. Her murder remains officially unsolved.

Meaning of name

Dean refers to the old English word "denu" meaning

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between hills or mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers or streams ove ...

, and the name ''Horndean'' most likely means "valley by a horn-shaped hill" (the horn-shaped hill probably being Horndean Down). Alternatively "Harne" is the old English word for

Dormouse A dormouse is a rodent of the family Gliridae (this family is also variously called Myoxidae or Muscardinidae by different taxonomists). Dormice are nocturnal animals found in Africa, Asia, and Europe. They are named for their long, dormant hibe ...

making it "valley of the Dormouse". The second part of the name, ''Dean'', can also mean forest, giving rise to further connotations.

Community

Horndean's major community centres are Horndean Community Association at Merchistoun Hall and Barton Hall,

Horndean Technology College Horndean Technology College is a large school, situated in the village of Horndean in Hampshire, England. The school has formerly been called Horndean Community School, Horndean Secondary School and Horndean Bilateral. It is also sometimes info ...

. There is also a youth centre
RKdia
Other venues include Napier Hall, which was partially rebuilt in 2004, and the Jubilee Hall, opened in 2002. The two

C of E The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

churches in the area are Holy Trinity at Blendworth and All Saints in neighbouring Catherington. In 2020, Hampshire County Council announced plans to close Horndean library. The surrounding villages are

Catherington Catherington is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 1 mile (1.8 km) northwest of Horndean. The village is also close to Cowplain and Clanfield. It is situated about 10 miles north of Portsmouth and eight mi ...

, Cowplain,

Blendworth Blendworth is a village in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It lies 0.4 miles (0.6 km) northeast of Horndean just east off the A3 road. The village has a population of fewer than 100 people. The church, Holy Trinity, was ...

and Clanfield.

Sport and leisure

Horndean has a Non-League football club Horndean F.C., which plays at Five Heads Park.

Twinning

The village of Horndean has been 'twinned' with the town of

Aubergenville Aubergenville () is a commune in the Yvelines department in north-central France. It is located between Mantes-la-Jolie and Saint-Germain-en-Laye, in the valley of the Seine. This city is located near the Côteau de Montgardé on the road to ...

in France since 1998. Various activities and exchange visits are organised by the Horndean Parish Twinning Association. * Aubergenville, France

Politics

Horndean is in the Meon Valley constituency for elections to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

. Prior to

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

in 2020, it was in the

South East England South East England is one of the nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It consists of the counties of Buckinghamshire, East Sussex, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight, Kent, Oxfordshire, Berkshi ...

constituency for elections to the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...

Media

ITV Meridian ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned ...

and

BBC South BBC South is the BBC English Region serving Oxfordshire, Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Dorset, Berkshire and parts of Gloucestershire, Buckinghamshire, Northamptonshire, Surrey, West Sussex and Wiltshire, with geographic coverage varying b ...

are the local ITV and

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...

...