Buckland is a
residential
A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas.
Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...
area in the city of
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
in the
English county of
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...
.
History
Buckland, then known as Bocheland, was one of the three settlements on
Portsea Island 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...
. The Manor of Bocheland was purchased by
Jean de Gisors. De Gisors, a
Norman 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 (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. Due to this, and the
slum
A slum is a highly populated Urban area, urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are p ...
nature of much of what housing was left, large parts were demolished and replaced with social housing built in the 1950s and '60s.
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...
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 a street with many
listed Georgian and
Victorian terraced house
A terrace, terraced house ( UK), or townhouse ( US) is a type of medium-density housing which first started in 16th century Europe with a row of joined houses sharing side walls. In the United States and Canada these are sometimes known as row ...
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 houses 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.
On the western edge of Buckland sits the Buckland wall, a series of housing blocks built in the 1970s to a design by W.D. Warden the then city architect.
Flying Bull Primary and Nursery School serves the Buckland area.
In the far north west corner of Buckland there is a building that was previously a pub called the Air ballon.
References
Areas of Portsmouth
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