Bursledon 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 ...

on the

River Hamble The River Hamble is located in south Hampshire, England. It rises near Bishop's Waltham and flows for through Botley, Bursledon, and Lower Swanwick before entering Southampton Water between Hamble Common and Warsash. The Hamble is tida ...

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. It is located within the borough of Eastleigh. Close to the city 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 ...

, Bursledon has a

railway station 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 Track (rail transport), tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the ...

, a

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or ...

, dockyards and the Bursledon Windmill. Nearby villages include Swanwick,

Hamble-le-Rice Hamble-le-Rice is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Eastleigh in Hampshire, England. It is best known for being an aircraft training centre during the Second World War and is a popular yachting location. The village and the River ...

Netley Netley, officially referred to as Netley Abbey, is a village on the south coast of Hampshire, England. It is situated to the south-east of the city of Southampton, and flanked on one side by the ruins of Netley Abbey and on the other by the R ...

and Sarisbury Green. The village has close ties to the sea. The Elephant Boatyard located in Old Bursledon dates back centuries and is where

Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is best known for his six marriages, and for his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disa ...

's fleet was built. Submerged remnants of the fleet can be found in the River Hamble. The village, particularly the Jolly Sailor pub and the Elephant Boatyard, were used as the primary filming venue for the 1980s BBC TV soap opera '' Howards' Way''.

Etymology

The village was known as ''Brixendona'' or Brixenden in the 12th century, Burstlesden in the 14th century, and ''Bristelden'' in the 16th century.British History Online: 'Parishes: Bursledon', ''A History of the County of Hampshire: Volume 3'' (1908), pp. 283-84.
Date accessed: 29 June 2007. The name probably means "Hill associated with a man called Beorhtsige", from

Old English Old English (, ), 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 was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

personal name A personal name, or full name, in onomastic terminology also known as prosoponym (from Ancient Greek πρόσωπον / ''prósōpon'' - person, and ὄνομα / ''onoma'' - name), is the set of names by which an individual person is kno ...

meaning 'bright victory' and ''dun'' meaning "hill, modern down". It is unlikely the Beohrtsige is the same individual who gave his name to

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th cent ...

South London South London is the southern part of London, England, south of the River Thames. The region consists of the boroughs, in whole or in part, of Bexley, Bromley, Croydon, Greenwich, Kingston, Lambeth, Lewisham, Merton, Richmond, Southwark, Sut ...

History

The original bridge carrying what is now the

A27 road The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish (near Salisbury) in the county of Wiltshire, follows the south coast of Hampshire and West Sussex, and terminates at Pevensey (near Eastbourne and Bex ...

across the River Hamble was made of wood in 1783 and was a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

. Bursledon's waterside position and woodland surroundings made it a natural location for building wooden ships. Numerous vessels were built for 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 Fr ...

at private shipyards at Bursledon, although a claim that two eighty-gun ships were constructed at Bursledon during the reign of

William IV William IV (William Henry; 21 August 1765 – 20 June 1837) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death in 1837. The third son of George III, William succeeded h ...

is untrue. The yard owned by Philemon Ewer in the 18th century was responsible for the building of the 50-gun and the sloop in 1744, the 50-gun in 1745, the 24-gun in 1746, and the 60-gun HMS ''Anson'' in 1747 among other vessels. There is a monument to Ewer, who died in 1750, featuring a model of the ''Anson'' in the

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

. George Parsons's Bursledon shipyard built a number of naval ships from 1778 to 1807, when he moved to

Warsash Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club. It is also home ...

at the mouth of the

; this included HMS ''Elephant'' launched in 1786, which carried Nelson to the Battle of Copenhagen. Although most of the construction of these ships was carried out in Bursledon, they were sailed after their launchings to

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 be sheathed in

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pink ...

there. By the 1870s, the shipbuilding trade had disappeared from Bursledon and the main industry was arable

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people ...

, particularly the growing of

strawberries The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...

. The Bursledon Brickworks, based in the village of Swanwick (now in 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 ...

), was founded in 1897 and produced the famous

Fareham red brick Fareham red brick is a famous red-tinged clay brick, from Fareham, Hampshire. Notable buildings constructed of these distinctive bricks include London's Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South ...

. Today it is the last surviving example of a Victorian

steam powered A steam engine is a heat engine that performs mechanical work using steam as its working fluid. The steam engine uses the force produced by steam pressure to push a piston back and forth inside a cylinder. This pushing force can be tr ...

brickworks in the country.Fareham Borough Council: Bursledon Brickworks
Accessed 29 June 2007 The brickworks were sold to Hampshire Buildings Preservation Trus

and can be visited as the Bursledon Brickworks Industrial Museu

People

Notable people from Bursledon include: * Claude Grahame-White, aviation pioneer and aircraft manufacturer. *

Richard Page Richard Lewis Page (born 22 February 1941) is a former Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) in the United Kingdom from 1976 to 1979 and from December 1979 to 2005. Early life Born the son of Victor Charles Page, he went to the independent Hu ...

(1910—2006), first-class cricketer and British Army officer *Nicholas Armstrong, artistic director of the Brooklyn Symphony Orchestra.

Folklore and local legends

According to local legend, the old Victorian bridge over the railway line on Coal Park Lane is haunted by the ghost of Polly Crook whose love of distilled apple cider and clay pipe caused her to accidentally ignite herself on this spot.

References

External links