Bedhampton is a former village, and now suburb, located in the Borough of Havant

Havant (borough)

Havant is a local government district and borough in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Havant. Other places within the Borough include Bedhampton, Cowplain, Emsworth, Hayling Island, Purbrook, Waterlooville and Widley...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is located at the northern end of Langstone Harbour

Langstone Harbour

Langstone Harbour is an inlet of the English Channel in Hampshire, sandwiched between Portsea Island to the south and west, Hayling Island to the south and east, and Langstone to the north. Geographically it is a ria....

 and at the foot of the eastern end of Portsdown Hill

Portsdown Hill

Portsdown Hill is a long chalk hill in Hampshire, England, offering good views over Portsmouth, The Solent, Hayling Island and Gosport, with the Isle of Wight beyond. The hill is on the mainland, just to the north of Ports Creek, which separates the mainland from Portsea Island, on which lies the...

.

Early mentions of Bedhampton stretch back to the ninth century, and the village was mentioned in the Domesday Book

Domesday Book

Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...

.

Modern Bedhampton has a railway station

Bedhampton railway station

Bedhampton railway station serves the former village of Bedhampton, now a suburb lying a mile west of the centre of Havant, in Hampshire, England.-History:...

, with regular services to Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, Brighton

Brighton

Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...

, and London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, and less frequent services to Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, Bristol

Bristol

Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...

, and South Wales

South Wales

South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...

. The A27

A27 road

The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk...

 and the A3(M)

A3 road

The A3, known as the Portsmouth Road for much of its length, is a dual carriageway, or expressway, which follows the historic route between London and Portsmouth passing close to Kingston upon Thames, Guildford, Haslemere and Petersfield. For much of its length, it is classified as a trunk road...

 pass through the south-west part of Bedhampton.

Anne Brewis

Anne Brewis

Lady Anne Brewis, daughter of Roundell Cecil Palmer, 3rd Earl of Selborne, was an English botanist. As a child, Brewis had spent long holidays studying the orchids on Noar Hill, near Selborne. This led her to study the works of Gilbert White, and eventually to a degree in Zoology at Somerville...

 has commented on the different kinds of trees and flowers in the area.

The author of Jane's Fighting Ships

Jane's Fighting Ships

Jane's Fighting Ships is an annual reference book of information on all the world's warships arranged by nation, including information on ship's names, dimensions, armaments, silhouettes and photographs, etc...

 Fred T. Jane

Fred T. Jane

John Fredrick Thomas Jane was the founding editor of reference books on warships and aircraft . He also once kidnapped Victor Grayson MP in a political stunt....

 founded the first Bedhampton Scout

Boy Scout

A Scout is a boy or a girl, usually 11 to 18 years of age, participating in the worldwide Scouting movement. Because of the large age and development span, many Scouting associations have split this age group into a junior and a senior section...

 troop.

Housing

Bedhampton has a mixture of older houses, many (but not all) in what is known as Old Bedhampton; post-war municipal housing at Stockheath; built in the late 50s and 60s at the southern end of the Leigh Park

Leigh Park

Leigh Park is a large suburb of Havant, in Hampshire, England. It has four electoral wards: Battins, Bondfields, Barncroft and Warren Park ....

 estate, a significant proportion of which is now privately owned; and a range of private housing, largely semi-detached.

Schools

The first school in Bedhampton was built on the corner of Bedhampton Road and King's Croft Lane. Miss Dust was the original mistress, serving at the school until 1876. The first page in her log book notes that she had to "reprove a boy for fighting". Scrutiny of the logbook suggests that Miss Dust was frequently visited by the squire, Mr Stone, and the rector, Rev Daubiney.

The next occupant of the school house, Mrs Dugdale, was to forge an association with the school which would last 46 years (Smith 1968). Mrs Dugdale (until 1902) and her daughter, Miss Dugdale (until 1922) were the first two in a long line of long serving head teachers, continued by Mrs Smith (1948 until 1975), Mrs Carrick (1975–94) and Mrs Rowley (1994–2007).

After World War Two, school places were at a premium and extra places were created by turning the former HMS Daedalus III Naval Camp into Stockheath Primary School. Stockheath Naval Camp was two miles north where Great Copse Drive is now.

In 1974 Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council

Hampshire County Council is the county council that governs the majority of the county of Hampshire in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...

 decided to split the primary intake, and a new school for the older children was built on land immediately south of Hooks Lane Recreation Ground, and named Bidbury Middle School. A long campaign began to move the newly created Bedhampton First School to the new site too. This eventually happened in February, 1985 when Bedhampton and Stockheath First schools amalgamated to become Bidbury First School, renamed Bidbury Infant School http://www.bidbury-inf.hants.sch.uk/ in 1994.

Just across the recreation ground is a Roman Catholic Primary School, St Thomas More's.http://www.bidbury-inf.hants.sch.uk/

Parks

Bedhampton is well served with open spaces where people can relax. The Hermitage Stream Walk runs to the north of the parish, from New Road in the east to Purbrook Way in the west. Havant Borough Council have prioritised the environmental well-being of the habitat, and erected distinctive signs and information panels to highlight its importance. In the centre of Bedhampton is a large open space bounded by Hooks Lane, part of which is home to Havant RFC

Havant RFC

Havant RFC is an English rugby union club, playing in National Division Three South.Havant currently run 5 senior teams; 1st XV, 2nd XV , 3rd XV, an Academy and a Vets side ....

.
To the south of Bedhampton Road is Bidbury Mead, a large tree-ringed recreation ground — home to Bedhampton Mariners Cricket Club and Bedhampton Bowling Club. The locality borders onto Old Bedhampton, the area around St Thomas the Apostle parish church. The fourth, and least known, space in Bedhampton is Scratchface Recreation Ground, situated to the west of the village.

Churches

Some include St Josephs R.C. Church here (because of its proximity to Bedhampton railway station

Bedhampton railway station

Bedhampton railway station serves the former village of Bedhampton, now a suburb lying a mile west of the centre of Havant, in Hampshire, England.-History:...

) but most do not.

There has been a church in Bedhampton since 1086. The present parish church, St Thomas The Apostle, situated in Old Bedhampton, dates from the 12th century. In 1953 a church centre was built, and dedicated to St Nicholas. There are also a Methodist church, a modern building in Hulbert Road replacing an earlier primitive chapel by the station, and a Gospel Hall, built between 1901 and 1922 with funds provided by local benefactress Miss Meiklam, within the parish boundary.