The City of Winchester () is a
local government district in
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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...
, with a
city status.
The district covers the ancient settlement of the city of
Winchester itself, but also covers a large area of central Hampshire including
Bishop's Waltham,
Denmead,
New Alresford, and
Kings Worthy (for a full list of these, see the "Settlements and parishes" section below), for a total area of . The
2011 Census recorded the population of the district as 116,600.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the
Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of the City of Winchester with Droxford Rural District and part of Winchester Rural District. It borders
Basingstoke and Deane to the north,
East Hampshire to the east, the
Borough of Havant
The Borough of Havant is a local government district with borough status and as Havant and Waterloo an unparished area in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Havant. Other places within the borough include Bedhampton, Cowplain, Ems ...
and the unitary authority area 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 d ...
to the south-east, 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, War ...
to the south, the
Borough of Eastleigh to the south-west, and
Test Valley to the west.
The city traces its history to the
Roman Era
In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...
, developing from the town of
Venta Belgarum. It saw historic significance from its reconstruction under Alfred the Great in the 9th century, and grew in prominence until London replaced it as capital; Winchester saw a decline after plague swept the country, but began to recover from the 19th century.
Governance
Parliamentary constituencies
The City of Winchester is made up of two parliamentary constituencies.
Winchester constituency covers the north-eastern part of the city, as well as
Chandler's Ford, which is part of
Eastleigh. The remainder constitutes
Meon Valley, which also covers part of
East Hampshire and
Havant. Winchester constituency has been represented by
Steve Brine since 2010, whilst Meon Valley has been represented by
Flick Drummond since the 2019 general election.
Winchester City Council
Elections to the council are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats on the council being elected at each election. From 1995 to the
2004 election the
Liberal Democrats had a majority on the council, but after 2 years when no party held a majority the
2006 election saw the
Conservative party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
gain control.
The
elections
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
on 6 May 2010 saw the Liberal Democrats re take control of the council, however the council soon switched to NOC a year later in 2011. In 2012, the Conservative Party made their only Council gain of the entire English local elections and won a majority in Winchester once again.
Subsequently, two Conservative councillors defected to the Liberal Democrat group, placing the council under No Overall Control.
Following local elections on 7 May 2015, the Conservatives re-gained majority control of the council.
Since the
2016 council election, in which new boundaries were introduced, no other parties than the Conservative and Liberal Democrats have held seats on the council. After the
local elections on 2 May 2019, the Liberal Democrats gained majority control. Three independent councillors were elected as Conservatives. Cllr Weston resigned from the party in late 2019.
Cllr Clementson was suspended from the party pending an investigation. Due to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...
, the scheduled 2020 local elections were postponed until 2021, when they took place alongside elections for Hampshire County Council. In November 2020 Alresford & Itchen Valley councillor Lisa Griffiths resigned from the Conservative Party to sit as an independent. In September 2020, Liberal Democrat Councillor Kim Gottlieb (who joined the party after leaving the Conservatives) resigned as a Councillor, leaving one of the three St Michael seats vacant. The vacancy was subsequently won in
2021 City Council election by the Liberal Democrats, who retained an overall majority on the council despite losing a seat to the Conservatives.
The council is currently led by a Liberal Democrat administration. The make up of the council as of February 2022 is:
*
Liberal Democrats - 27
*
Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
- 15
*
Independent
Independent or Independents may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups
* Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s
* Independe ...
- 2
*
Green Party
A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence.
Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...
- 1
County Council
Hampshire County Council holds elections every four years. Several Councillors are members of both the City and County Councils. In the
2021 elections the Winchester City district area elected seven representatives, out of 78:
Demographics
A
Legatum Prosperity Index published by the
Legatum Institute in October 2016 showed the City of Winchester as the third most prosperous council area in the United Kingdom, after the
Borough of Waverley and
Mole Valley.
Ethnicity
Settlements and parishes
Settlements in the district include:
*
Abbotts Barton
Abbotts Barton is a village in Hampshire, England. The settlement is a suburb of Winchester
Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at th ...
,
Abbots Worthy
Abbots Worthy is a small village in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It is in the civil parish of Kings Worthy.
Abbots Worthy lies on the A33 about to the north of Winchester. Abbots Worthy is included within the civil ...
,
Avington
*
Badger Farm,
Beauworth,
Bighton,
Bishops Sutton,
Bishops Waltham,
Boarhunt,
Bramdean,
Brockwood Park
Winchester is a cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, at the western end of the South Downs National Park, on the River Itchen. It is south-west of Lo ...
*
Cheriton,
Chilcomb
Chilcomb is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Hampshire east of Winchester and includes the South Downs Way long-distance footpath.
History
The nearby bowl barrow on Telegraph Hill along the South Downs Way just east ...
,
Colden Common,
Compton and Shawford,
Corhampton,
Crawley,
Curdridge
Curdridge is a village and civil parish within the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The parish also contains the similarly-named village of Curbridge. The village has a small school. The parish is located eight miles to the ...
*
Denmead,
Droxford
Droxford ( Drokensford) is a village in Hampshire, England.
Geography
The village is clustered with slight ribbon development along its main, north–south, undulating road. It is entirely on the lower half of the western slopes of the Meon v ...
,
Durley
*
Easton,
Exton
*
Hambledon,
Headbourne Worthy
Headbourne Worthy (formerly Worthy Mortimer) is a village and former manor within the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The parish also includes the former manor of Worthy Pauncefoot.
History
* 9th century – manor believed t ...
,
Hinton Ampner
Hinton Ampner is a village and country house estate with gardens within the civil parish of Bramdean and Hinton Ampner, near Alresford, Hampshire, England. The village and house are 8 miles due east of Winchester. The name probably derives f ...
,
Hursley
*
Itchen Abbas
Itchen Abbas is a village on the River Itchen about north-east of Winchester in Hampshire, England. The village is part of the Itchen Valley civil parish.
A major oil pipeline from Hamble to Aldermaston runs through Itchen Abbas.
Parish chur ...
,
Itchen Stoke
Itchen Stoke and Ovington () is an English civil parish consisting of two adjoining villages in Hampshire, England, west of Alresford town centre in the valley of the River Itchen, north-east of Winchester, and south-east of Itchen Abbas.
Itc ...
,
Itchen Valley
Itchen Valley is a civil parish in the English county of Hampshire. Forming part of the City of Winchester district, it comprises the villages of Avington, Easton, Itchen Abbas and Martyr Worthy, with a population of 1,267 at the time of the 2 ...
*
Kilmeston
Kilmeston is a small village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Chann ...
,
Kings Worthy
*
Littleton and Harestock
*
Martyr Worthy
Martyr Worthy is a small village in the English county of Hampshire. It is part of the Worthys cluster of small villages.
Martyr Worthy is located on the banks of the River Itchen to the northeast of the city of Winchester.
The place-name 'Ma ...
,
Meonstoke,
Micheldever,
Morestead
*
New Alresford,
Northington
Northington is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. It lies half a mile from the neighbouring village, Swarraton. Its nearest railway station is at New Alresford, on the Mid-Hants railway line.
R ...
*
Old Alresford,
Olivers Battery
Oliver's Battery is a civil parish in Hampshire, England, of some 700 households located just to the south of the City of Winchester. The parish was formed in 1956 (in the then Winchester Rural District, and part of the City of Winchester Di ...
,
Otterbourne,
Ovington,
Owslebury
*
Shedfield
Shedfield is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. In the 2001 UK Census, Shedfield had a population of 3,914, falling to 3,842 at the 2011 Census. Shedfield parish includes the neighbouring villa ...
,
Soberton,
Southwick,
South Wonston
South Wonston is a village on the outskirts of the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The population of the parish of South Wonston was estimated in 2017 to be 2,870.
Governance
South Wonston is part of the Wonston and Michelde ...
,
Sparsholt,
Stoke Charity
Stoke Charity is a small village on the River Dever that lies within the Wonston (where the 2011 Census was included) civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. Its nearest town is Winchester, which lies approximately ...
,
Sutton Scotney,
Swanmore
Swanmore is a rural village and civil parish situated in the Meon Valley, Hampshire, England. It is very near to Bishop's Waltham.
Swanmore was originally set up to provide homes for workers in local brickworks. As such, the houses in the villa ...
*
Tichborne
Tichborne is a village and civil parish east of Winchester in Hampshire, England.
History
In archaeology in the south of the parish within the South Downs National Park is a bell barrow, bowl barrow and regular aggregate field system immediat ...
,
Twyford
*
Upham
*
Warnford,
West Meon,
Whiteley (part),
Wickham,
Widley
Widley is an area of the Greater Portsmouth conurbation in the South East of England near Waterlooville and Purbrook. It is on the dip slope of the South Downs just north of the ridge called Portsdown Hill.
Widley is served by the A3(T), trunk ...
,
Winchester,
Winnall,
Wonston
Wonston is a village and civil parish in the City of Winchester district of Hampshire, England. The village had an estimated population of 1,283 in the census of 2001. The civil parish includes the settlements of Sutton Scotney, Stoke Charity, ...
Parishes
Notes
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winchester, City of
Non-metropolitan districts of Hampshire
Boroughs in England