Petersfield, Hampshire
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Petersfield | |
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  |
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| Population | 15,000 |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | |
| District | East Hampshire |
| Shire county | Hampshire |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PETERSFIELD |
| Postcode district | GU31, GU32 |
| Dial code | 01730 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | East Hampshire |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| List of places: UK • England • Hampshire | |
Petersfield is a market town in the English county of Hampshire, situated on the northern border of the South Downs. The town was founded at the end of the 11th century. It grew as a coach stop on the Portsmouth to London route, and today is situated on both the main rail and road link between the two cities. Petersfield is twinned with Barentin in France, and Warendorf in Germany.
The artist Flora Twort, the agriculturalist John Worlidge, the footballer George Best, actor Alec Guinness and the Hambledon cricketer John Small all lived in Petersfield at some point. Small was a Petersfield cobbler in the late eighteenth-century, whose shop sign read:
Here lives John Small
Makes bat and ball
Pitch a wicket, play at cricket
With any man in England.
Contents |
[edit] Attractions
[edit] Museums
Petersfield boasts the world's first Teddy Bear Museum. There are also several other museums in the town including the Flora Twort Gallery, based in her old studio, and the Petersfield Museum, which is concerned with the history of the town and is situated in the town's old Courthouse. Exhibitions are sometimes also held at The Festival Hall, St. Peter's Church, and The Physic Garden.
[edit] Markets
Petersfield's market square holds regular markets throughout the week, and there are also monthly Farmers' markets. On top of this, stallholders and farmers from Petersfield's French twin town Barentin visit Petersfield and hold a French market, selling items they sell on a typical French market.
The town's market square has a statue of King William III (William of Orange). The king is carved sitting astride his horse, and the statue is raised up on an engraved plinth. This is the only statue of William in a town square in the United Kingdom outside Northern Ireland and, as such, attracts bands of marching Orangemen in mid-July, anxious to commemorate William's victory at the Battle of the Boyne.
[edit] Nature
Petersfield is surrounded on all sides by countryside and so has a great deal of scenery and foot/bridle paths.
Close to the town and situated on the South Downs is Queen Elizabeth Country Park, which incorporates Butser Hill (the highest point on the downs), and has a wide variety of scenery from chalk hills to pine forest. The Hangers Way footpath run from the Country Park, through Petersfield and on to Alton.
The town also lies at the western end of the Greensand Ridge, a sandstone ridge running through Hampshire, Surrey and Kent.
Within the town is Petersfield Heath, a large area of heathland with a lake which offers boating and fishing amongst its activities.
In the High Street is the Physic Garden, which is a recreation of a 17th century herb garden. It is open to the public nearly every day of the year.
[edit] Cinema and theatre
Petersfield's Festival Hall shows many plays and concerts during the year, and there are plans to construct a small cinema in the building.
[edit] Pubs and bars
Petersfield offers a good range of public houses and bars to suit all tastes, 14 pubs in all, from historic coach stops to trendy modern bars, one nightclub and coffee houses.
Petersfield also has one nightclub, Vertigo. This building was once used as the Savoy cinema many years ago. There are plans to completely redevelop the site with a more modern building.
The King's Arms is the local youth club for the young people of the town as is situated near the town centre
[edit] Sport
Petersfield has a wealth of clubs and teams for most sports. Several players have gone on to lead successful professional sporting careers, such as footballer Maik Taylor and the widely acclaimed international prop Nick Todd.
There are various sports venues, such as the Taro Centre, a leisure centre containing swimming pools, squash courts, a gymnasium and other facilities. The town also has tennis courts, an open air pool, and many playing fields and local golf courses.
[edit] Teams
- Association Football - Petersfield Town F.C.
- Cricket - Petersfield Cricket Club and Colts Section
- Hockey - Petersfield Hockey Club
- Rugby - Petersfield R.F.C
- Swimming -
- Running
- Squash - Petersfield Squash Club
- Tennis - Steep Lawn Tennis Club
- Archery - Bowmen of Petersfield
[edit] Government
The East Hampshire District Council offices are in Petersfield.
Petersfield is part of the parliamentary constituency of East Hampshire. Its Member of Parliament is Michael Mates, a member of the Conservative Party, though he is standing down at the next general election.
The County Councillors are Samantha Payne and Michael Cartwright.
EHDC has supported the formation of the South Downs National Park, which includes Petersfield.
[edit] Transport
Petersfield is located on the mainline rail link (the Portsmouth Direct Line) between Portsmouth and London. It is served by Petersfield railway station.
The main road (the A3) link between Portsmouth and London used to go through Petersfield, before the bypass was built round the north side of the town. Another major road, the A272, runs through Petersfield on its route between Winchester, Hampshire's County Town, and Heathfield, East Sussex.
[edit] Schools
[edit] State schools
The local state secondary school is The Petersfield School, usually referred to as 'TPS'. Primary schools in the area include Petersfield Infant School, Sheet Primary School and Herne Junior School. There are also a number of schools in the surrounding areas of Petersfield, which feed into the Petersfield secondary schools. These schools include Langrish Primary school, East Meon Primary School, West Meon Primary School, Steep Primary School and Buriton Primary School.
[edit] Public schools
The town and ithe surrounding villages are home to several renowned independent schools. public school Churcher's College is located in Petersfield, and counts Tim Rodber and Tiny Rowland amongst its alumni. Ditcham Park School is situated just outside the town, and Bedales School is located in the neighbouring village of Steep. Former Bedales pupils include the Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day Lewis and pop singer Lily Allen.
Formerly, Morton House School was located in the town centre. In 1993 it was purchased by Churcher's College to become the Churcher's College Junior School, however, the school's success meant it soon outgrew these premises and has since relocated to Liphook.
[edit] Local media
Petersfield has two weekly newspapers, Petersfield Post and Petersfield Herald. Delta FM is the local radio station and has been transmitting to Petersfield since 2003 after many years of campaigning.
[edit] Commerce, business, industry
Main employment is in shops and offices in the town centre and farms in nearby villages, while there is a large number of commuters to London and Portsmouth. Light industry tends to be concentrated in the Bedford Road estate on the west side of Petersfield. Here is a list of some organizations with a significant presence in Petersfield:
- Corrie Fences
- Criterion Assurance
- East Hampshire District Council has its offices on the east side of Petersfield.
- Neural Technologies
- TEWS Engineering
- TalkFreely LTD - Experts in Enterprise Feedback Management
The Henry Willis organ factory has been pulled down and all production moved to Liverpool. The Estee Lauder (cosmetics company) factory relocated to Fareham in 2005. Compassion in World Farming moved to nearby Godalming in 2007.
[edit] Geography
Petersfield is located at (51.0000, -0.9333)1.
Petersfield is situated on the northern border of the South Downs, and Butser Hill, the highest point on the downs is only 3 miles from the town.
[edit] Weather and climate
Being situated in a dip, with Butser Hill and Harting Hill to the south, and Stoner Hill to the north, the weather in Petersfield can be quite different from the weather over the hill. In particular, there tends to be more fog than on the other side.
[edit] External links
- Petersfield/ Infant School
- East Hampshire District Council
- Sheet Primary School
- myPetersfield: what makes life worth living in the Petersfield region?
- Hugh Sandeman's blog: a local town councillor
- Petersfield Bear museum
- Petersfield School - Senior school
- Churcher's College - Independent public school
- Petersfield United Reformed Church
