Wallington is a village in

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, ...

, part of the borough 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 manufac ...

. It is situated between

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 ...

and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

near where the River Wallington enters Portsmouth Harbour. The name Wallington probably means 'settlement of the Welsh' (or Britons) – ''Weala-tun'' / ''Walintone'' (

Old English Old English ( or , or ), 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 developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

) and not 'walled town' as might be inferred.

Industry

The village is now an affluent residential suburb of

, but was once a separate entity with a

brewery A brewery or brewing company is a business that makes and sells beer. The place at which beer is commercially made is either called a brewery or a beerhouse, where distinct sets of brewing equipment are called plant. The commercial brewing of b ...

and

tannery Tanning, or hide tanning, is the process of treating skins and hides of animals to produce leather. A tannery is the place where the skins are processed. Historically, vegetable based tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound derived fr ...

as its main industries. Wallington was also important in brickmaking and pottery. The bricks known as " Fareham reds" were made locally – the most famous use of which is the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...

. Wallington also boasts the largest collection of ''Fareham pots'' – chimney pots.

Fort Wallington

In the 1860s the Royal Commission on the Defences of the United Kingdom recommended that a line of forts be built along

Portsdown Hill Portsdown Hill is a long chalk ridge in Hampshire, England. The highest point of the hill lies within Fort Southwick at 131m above sea level. The ridge offers good views to the south over Portsmouth, the Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, wi ...

. The western end of this line was Fort Wallington. Building of the fort was started in 1861 and completed in 1874. Following its sale to Mr J. Sullivan of the Southern Counties Trading Company the fort has been used as an industrial depot, and much of the old fort has been demolished – little now remains. What remains is now a Grade II

Listed Building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Wallington Village Community Association

The WVCA is an organisation based in the Village Hall. It is involved in many areas of village life. It began in the late 1970s initially in response to the threat of demolition to the bridge over River Wallington as it was seen as the cause of flooding.

2012 River Wallington Flood

In December 2012, Wallington residents were ordered to evacuate by the

Environment Agency The Environment Agency (EA) is a non-departmental public body, established in 1996 and sponsored by the United Kingdom government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with responsibilities relating to the protection and enha ...

due to potential heavy

flooding A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

from a breakdown in

flood defences A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are of significant concern in agriculture, civi ...

. Flooding led to six people having to be rescued by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service from submerged vehicles, in addition to two people rescued by a

Police Community Support Officer A police community support officer (PCSO; ), or as written in legislation Community Support Officer (CSO; ), is a uniformed member of police staff in England and Wales, a role created by Section 38(2) of the Police Reform Act 2002, which was giv ...

(PCSO) from their submerged car which had become stranded in a ford in

Sway, Hampshire Sway is a village and civil parish in Hampshire in the New Forest national park in England. The civil parish was formed in 1879, when lands were taken from the extensive parish of Boldre. The village has shops and pubs, and a Sway railway stati ...

Noted Person

Jerold Wells Jerold Wells (8 August 1908 – 19 July 1999) was an English actor. He was born in Wallington, Hampshire, and died in Bath, Somerset. He appeared primarily in British comedies. Films included ''Adventures of a Plumber's Mate'' and the TV-m ...

References

* ''Wallington Once in a Millennium'' – commemorative edition of Once in a While – Arthur Hackney.

External links

Victorian Forts data sheet

Wallington Village Community Association website
{{authority control Borough of Fareham Wallington