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

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

, 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 Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point, where the estuaries of the River Test and River Itchen meet. Along its salt marsh-fringed wes ...

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 __NOTOC__ Burgess may refer to: People and fictional characters * Burgess (surname), a list of people and fictional characters * Burgess (given name), a list of people Places * Burgess, Michigan, an unincorporated community * Burgess, Missouri, U ...

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 William Chamberlayne may refer to: *William Chamberlayne (poet) *William Chamberlayne (MP) *William Chamberlayne (soldier) *William Chamberlayne (burgess) William Chamberlayne (died circa 1736) emigrated from England to the Virginia colony, where ...

, 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 Thomas Chamberlayne may refer to: *Sir Thomas Chamberlayne (judge) Sir Thomas Chamberlayne, SL (died 27 September 1625) was an English judge who served as Chief Justice of Chester during the reign of James I of England. Life Chamberlayne, the ...

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 failed military action involving the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan against Russian forces during the Battle of Balaclava on 25 October 1854 in the Crimean War. Lord Raglan had intended to se ...

. He died in 1873. In 1876,

Tankerville Chamberlayne Tankerville Chamberlayne (9 August 1843 – 17 May 1924) was a landowner in Hampshire and a member of parliament, serving the Southampton constituency three times, as an Independent and Conservative. He was deprived of his seat after the 1895 ge ...

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 (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 ...

. 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 United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

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) William Chamberlayne (1760-1829), of Coley Park, Berkshire and Weston Grove, Hampshire, was an English Member of Parliament. He was a Member (MP) of the Parliament of England for Christchurch 31 May 1800 - 1802 and for Southampton Southampton ( ...

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 1931 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

, 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 of ...

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 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 a ...

and

Tower block A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, residential tower, apartment block, block of flats, or office tower is a tall building A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently ...

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

at a

shingle beach A shingle beach (also referred to as rocky beach or pebble beach) is a beach which is armoured with pebbles or small- to medium-sized cobbles (as opposed to fine sand). Typically, the stone composition may grade from characteristic sizes ranging ...

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 Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

and in the subsequent re-supply operations. A local community group called the Friends of Weston Shore carry out regular litter picks on the shore with help from members of the public.

Schools

The main secondary school serving Weston is

Weston Secondary School Weston Secondary School is a coeducational secondary school located in the Weston, Southampton, Weston area of Southampton, in the English county of Hampshire. History Weston Park Girls' School opened in 1957. Nearby was Weston Park Boys' Scho ...

. 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 thriller film

Containment Containment was a 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'', which was ...

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