A HISTORY OF HAMPSHIRE 



Southsea, while the London and South Western and 

 London Brighton and South Coast railways have a joint 

 station near the junction of Fratton Road with the 

 main road from Portsmouth Town Hall to Milton. 



Before the Conquest there was a little settlement 

 at Fratton. The manor was held of Edward the 

 Confessor by Chetel, and was among the lands 

 obtained by William de Warenne under William I. 

 The actual tenant under him was Orsmelin, who had 

 one plough in demesne, while there were four villeins 

 and four bordars with two ploughs. 638 The overlord- 

 ship belonged to Earl Warenne in the thirteenth 

 century, while Hugh de Plaiz, a successor of Orsmelin, 

 had granted half a knight's fee in Fratton to the 

 Domus Dei of Portsmouth. 635 Hugh de Plaiz had 

 other lands in Portsea by virtue of a royal grant, but 

 these were given in 1215 to Walter Rufus, 634 and 

 afterwards to William Briwer. 636 The master of 

 the Domus Dei obtained a grant of free warren in 

 his demesne lands at Fratton in 1 3o6, M6 and this 

 privilege was confirmed to the house in I32I-2. 637 

 In 1 346 the master's holding at Fratton was described 

 as one fee. 538 Though there is now no trace of a 

 manor house, the hospital appears to have had a house 

 of some kind within the vill, for in 1470 William 

 Cocke and his wife Joan sold a cottage in Fratton 

 ' opposite the door of the warden of the Domus 

 Dei.' a> At the surrender of the lands of the hospital 

 to the crown in 1540, its possessions included rents of 

 assize at Fratton and rents from various fields in the 

 neighbourhood, and from Henry Bickley, who farmed 

 the demesne lands, while the perquisites of court, 

 together with the hall, parlour, rooms, stables, and 

 dove-cote, were reserved to the master of the hospital 

 and his successors. 640 Some of the lands, such as the 

 field called Feldersche or Feldryche, were granted out 

 separately, 641 while the demesne lands were leased from 

 time to time to various tenants, 641 the manorial rights 

 being reserved by the crown. 643 In 1599-1600 an 

 apportionment of the common land belonging to the 

 two manors of Fratton and Portsea took place, 644 but 

 the common of Fratton was not inclosed till 1786. 

 The manor was granted to Henry Prince of Wales, 

 eldest son of James I, in idio, 646 but excepted from 

 the grant to Prince Charles (afterwards Charles I) in 

 1 62 3. 646 The demesne lands finally passed in moieties 

 to Anne wife of George St. Loe Beeston, and Eliza- 

 beth wife of William Dugard. 547 Thomas Beeston 

 conveyed a moiety to Jude Storer in I743, 648 while 

 Mary wife of John Clempson and Margaret Charlotte 

 wife of John Thompson were in possession of a moiety 

 in I783- 649 The estate has long since been divided 

 into building plots. The manorial lands originally 

 extended over the greater part of Southsea northwards 

 as far as Lake Road. 660 



SOUTHSE4 is a well-known seaside resort, which, 

 though it lies within the boundary of Portsmouth 

 borough, and is contiguous to Portsea and Landport, 

 differs from them considerably in style. The north- 

 western district, being the nearest to Portsmouth and 



Landport, resembles them in that its streets are 

 narrow and its buildings chiefly in use as small shops. 

 This district is divided from the rest of the town by a 

 broad street known as Somers Road, to the east of 

 which the wide roads of detached villas, hotels, and 

 private residences which form the town of Southsea 

 proper extend over a flat country celebrated for the 

 amount of sunshine which it enjoys. Southwards from 

 the centre of the town, Palmerston Road, lined with the 

 best shops of the neighbourhood, leads on to South- 

 sea Common directly opposite the castle. The com- 

 mon, which is the property of the War Office, is a 

 flat, turf-covered expanse extending from Portsmouth 

 town beyond Southsea Castle. It is traversed by 

 asphalt paths which lead across it to the Clarence 

 Esplanade, the favourite walk of visitors, which 

 stretches from the Clarence Esplanade Pier, whence 

 a fine view of the harbour and Spithead is obtained, 

 along the coast to Southsea Castle, where it is continued 

 in a paved walk past the Canoe Lake, surrounded by 

 well-laid-out public gardens. At intervals along the 

 esplanade there are monuments to commemorate naval 

 victories, including the anchor of the Victory. 



The whole town is of very recent growth. South- 

 sea Common, which lay within the manor of Frat- 

 ton, was inclosed in 1785. During the Peninsular 

 War Southsea first came into favour as a seaside 

 resort, and hotels were built along the parade facing 

 the sea ; but the common, which was originally a 

 stretch of morass and marsh land, was not completely 

 drained till the middle of the last century. 661 The 

 western portion of the town was then already built, 

 its central and most compact district being temporarily 

 called Croxton Town. 661 About 1865 large districts 

 now known as Havelock Park and Nelsonville were 

 laid out in building sites. 663 This part of the town 

 was then known as New Southsea, and is still being 

 extended eastwards towards Eastney and Milton. The 

 London and South Western, and London Brighton and 

 South Coast railways have a branch line to Fratton 

 from East Southsea, where a station was opened in 

 1885. 



No church is mentioned in the 

 CHURCHES Domesday Survey of the manors of 

 Buckland, Copnor, and Fratton. The 

 earliest foundation was probably the parish church of 

 Portsea, now represented by ST. MARY, KINGSTON, 

 one of the finest modern churches in the country, 

 begun in 1887 while the present bishop of St. Albans 

 was vicar, and built at an enormous cost from the 

 designs of Sir A. W. Blomfield. It has a shallow 

 chancel and transepts of two bays with side chapels, 

 a nave of five bays with aisles and porches, and a lofty 

 west tower embattled and pinnacled, which in spite 

 of its low-lying site is a landmark for miles around. 

 The churchyard contains a monument to Admiral 

 Kempenfeldt and the crew of the Royal George. 



The registers date from 1753, except the marriage 

 register, which begins in 1754. There is also a 

 register of marriages for the chapel of St. Peter from 



58a f.C.H. Hants, i, 492. 



688 Testa de Nevill (Rec. Com.), 



684 Rot. Lit. Claus. (Rec. Com.), i, 236*. 



585 Ibid, i, 242*. 



586 Chart. R. 35 Edw. I, m. 8. 

 M 7 Ibid. 15 Edw. II, m. 15. 

 " F/. ^j^j, ii, 336. 



589 Anct. D. (P.R.O.) D. mo. 



540 Mins. Accts. 31 & 32 Hen. VIII 

 (Hants), R. 139, m. 77. 



641 Pat. 24 Eliz. pt. 3, m. 6. 



5 Ibid. 8 Jas. I, pt. 36. 



448 Exch. Spec. Com. (Eliz.), 2059. 



444 Ibid. M* Pat. 8 Jas. I, pt. 41, No. 3. 



S4S Ibid. 14 Jas. I, pt. 20, m. 29. 



44 ' Feet of F. Hants, East. I Geo. I, 

 Hit I Geo. II. 



196 



148 Ibid. Trin. 17 Geo. II. 



" Ibid. Hil. 23 Geo. III. 



160 Information kindly supplied by 

 Mr. W. H. Saunders. 



'" Post Office Directory, Hants, 1848. 



6M Pigot's Commercial Directory for 

 Hants, 1823-4. 



668 The New Portsmouth Guide, 1865, 

 p. 14. 



