Fawley, Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Fawley is a village
and civil parish
in Hampshire
, England
. It is situated in the New Forest
on the western shore of the Solent
, approximately 7 miles (11 kilometres) south of Southampton
. Fawley is also the site of an oil refinery
, operated by Exxon-Mobil, which is the largest facility of its kind in the United Kingdom
. Fawley Power Station
is also located less than a mile to the south east of the village.
. Other areas in the parish can boast remains from the Stone Age
and Roman occupation. A church at Fawley apparently existed in 971. The present church (All Saints) was built between 1170 and 1340. This church still exists and is the parish church of much of the surrounding area.
The arrival of the Esso oil refinery in 1921 transformed a sparsely populated agricultural area into an industrial centre with a population of around 14,500. Modern Fawley is smaller and less populous than its more recently founded neighbours, Holbury
and Blackfield
, but remains the administrative centre of the parish. Other villages within the parish of Fawley include Hardley
(a suburb of Holbury), Langley
(a suburb of Blackfield), Ashlett
, and Calshot
. Calshot possesses shingle beaches and attracts significant numbers of tourists and local visitors during the summer months. Near Calshot is Luttrell's Tower
, an 18th century Gothic folly.
In Domesday Book
of 1086 Fawley is listed among those lands which were held by the Bishop of Winchester
for the support of the monks of Winchester
. In 1284 the monks gave up all their rights in Fawley to the bishop. There seems to have been a close connexion between Fawley Manor and the manor of Bitterne
, which also belonged to the bishops of Winchester. In 1546 John Skullard was tenant at Fawley Manor, which remained in the hands of that family until 1681. In 1705 the manor was conveyed
to Edward Peachey, and a family settlement concerning Fawley Manor was made by William and Erlysman Peachy in 1765. In 1801 the manor was conveyed to Robert Drummond of Cadlands. Fawley thus became annexed to the neighbouring manor of Cadlands.
The manor of Cadlands was in the 13th century attached to the lordship of the Isle of Wight
until the end of the century when the overlordship was sold to the Crown
. The manor was held from 1241 onwards by Titchfield Abbey
until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
. Sometime after 1560 the manor was combined with the estates of Holbury
and Langley
, and it subsequently fell into two moieties
. One moiety was in the possession of the Stanley family from 1693 onwards, the other moiety passed to Lady Mary Talbot, and thence after 1772 into Drummond family. The Cadland estate, which stretched down the coast of Southampton Water
for nearly eight miles, was the residence of the Drummond family, who owned most of the land in the parish. Cadland house was built in 1773, but was greatly enlarged in 1836; it burnt down in 1916 but was rebuilt in 1935. It was subsequently demolished with the growth of Fawley oil refinery which is built over much of the old Cadlands estate.
Three other estates in the parish are those of Ower, Stanswood, and Stone, all of which are recorded in the Domesday Book
of 1086, and still exist as farms in the south of the parish. With a size of 37 households, Stanswood was in fact the largest settlement in the area in 1086.
An oil refinery
was first established at Fawley in 1921 by the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Company. The site was chosen because a large amount of land was available for development, as the area was not heavily populated, and because of Fawley's position on the Solent
. This provided access to the large amount of water used in the refining process, and also made it possible for crude oil to be brought to the site in ocean tankers by sea. Proximity to Southampton
was also a factor, as at the outset much of the plant's output was used to supply liners using Southampton docks.
The refinery is now owned by Esso
, which acquired the site in 1925. It was rebuilt and extended in 1951 and is now the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom with a capacity of 326,000 barrels a day. The site also houses a chemical facility operated by Exxon Mobil and Nalco
. As in earlier years, crude oil is brought to the site in tankers, making use of the docks which extend for 1.5 kilometres and are the largest independently owned docks facility in Europe
. Over 3,000 people (including many contractors) are employed at the site.
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
and civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
in 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 situated in the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
on the western shore of the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
, approximately 7 miles (11 kilometres) south of 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...
. Fawley is also the site of an oil refinery
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
, operated by Exxon-Mobil, which is the largest facility of its kind in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Fawley Power Station
Fawley Power Station
Fawley Power Station is an oil-fired power station located on the western side of Southampton Water, between the villages of Fawley and Calshot in Hampshire...
is also located less than a mile to the south east of the village.
The village of Fawley
A settlement has existed at Fawley for many centuries, and the village itself was recorded in the Domesday BookDomesday 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...
. Other areas in the parish can boast remains from the Stone Age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
and Roman occupation. A church at Fawley apparently existed in 971. The present church (All Saints) was built between 1170 and 1340. This church still exists and is the parish church of much of the surrounding area.
The arrival of the Esso oil refinery in 1921 transformed a sparsely populated agricultural area into an industrial centre with a population of around 14,500. Modern Fawley is smaller and less populous than its more recently founded neighbours, Holbury
Holbury
Holbury is a village in Hampshire, England. It is part of the parish of Fawley.-Overview:Historically a small and scarcely populated village, Holbury and the adjoining hamlet of Hardley now has a sizeable population and a considerable number of shops and businesses...
and Blackfield
Blackfield, Hampshire
Blackfield is a village in Hampshire, England. It is within the parish of Fawley, and encompasses the small village of Langley.-Schools:The local school is Blackfield Primary...
, but remains the administrative centre of the parish. Other villages within the parish of Fawley include Hardley
Hardley, Hampshire
Hardley is a suburb of the village of Holbury in the civil parish of Fawley in Hampshire, England.-History:The name Hardley means "hard clearing", presumably in relation to the soft marshlands which surround the area. Hardley is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, when it was considered part of...
(a suburb of Holbury), Langley
Langley, Hampshire
Langley is a small village in the civil parish of Fawley in Hampshire, England. It is today part of the modern village of Blackfield.-History:...
(a suburb of Blackfield), Ashlett
Ashlett
Ashlett is a small settlement in Hampshire, England. It is at the end of Ashlett Creek a tidal inlet of Southampton Water. Ashlett is known for having a well preserved tidal mill , which is next to a free slipway and landing stage...
, and Calshot
Calshot
Calshot is a coastal village in Hampshire, England at the west corner of Southampton_Water where it joins the Solent. A settlement at the site is believed to have existed since the fifth century AD...
. Calshot possesses shingle beaches and attracts significant numbers of tourists and local visitors during the summer months. Near Calshot is Luttrell's Tower
Luttrell's Tower
Luttrells Tower is a three-story stuccoed yellow brick folly south of Southampton, Hampshire near the village of Calshot. It has a 6 storey circular stair turret extending above the rest...
, an 18th century Gothic folly.
History
The origin of the name "Fawley" is uncertain. It might mean "fallow(-coloured) wood/clearing" or "clearing with land broken in for arable".In 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...
of 1086 Fawley is listed among those lands which were held by the Bishop of Winchester
Bishop of Winchester
The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England diocese of Winchester, with his cathedra at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire.The bishop is one of five Church of England bishops to be among the Lords Spiritual regardless of their length of service. His diocese is one of the oldest and...
for the support of the monks of Winchester
Winchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
. In 1284 the monks gave up all their rights in Fawley to the bishop. There seems to have been a close connexion between Fawley Manor and the manor of Bitterne
Bitterne
Bitterne is an eastern suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England.Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the Bittern but from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words byht and ærn together mean "house near a bend", most likely a reference to Bitterne Manor...
, which also belonged to the bishops of Winchester. In 1546 John Skullard was tenant at Fawley Manor, which remained in the hands of that family until 1681. In 1705 the manor was conveyed
Conveyancing
In law, conveyancing is the transfer of legal title of property from one person to another, or the granting of an encumbrance such as a mortgage or a lien....
to Edward Peachey, and a family settlement concerning Fawley Manor was made by William and Erlysman Peachy in 1765. In 1801 the manor was conveyed to Robert Drummond of Cadlands. Fawley thus became annexed to the neighbouring manor of Cadlands.
The manor of Cadlands was in the 13th century attached to the lordship of the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
until the end of the century when the overlordship was sold to the Crown
Crown Estate
In the United Kingdom, the Crown Estate is a property portfolio owned by the Crown. Although still belonging to the monarch and inherent with the accession of the throne, it is no longer the private property of the reigning monarch and cannot be sold by him/her, nor do the revenues from it belong...
. The manor was held from 1241 onwards by Titchfield Abbey
Titchfield Abbey
Titchfield Abbey is a medieval abbey and later country house, located in the village of Titchfield near Fareham in Hampshire, England. The abbey was founded in 1222 for Premonstratensian canons, an austere order of priests...
until the Dissolution of the Monasteries
Dissolution of the Monasteries
The Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
. Sometime after 1560 the manor was combined with the estates of Holbury
Holbury
Holbury is a village in Hampshire, England. It is part of the parish of Fawley.-Overview:Historically a small and scarcely populated village, Holbury and the adjoining hamlet of Hardley now has a sizeable population and a considerable number of shops and businesses...
and Langley
Langley, Hampshire
Langley is a small village in the civil parish of Fawley in Hampshire, England. It is today part of the modern village of Blackfield.-History:...
, and it subsequently fell into two moieties
Moiety
Moiety may refer to:* Moiety , a part or functional group of a molecule* Moiety , either of two groups into which a society is divided* An Australian Aboriginal kinship group* Native Hawaiian realm ruled by a Mo'i or Ali'i...
. One moiety was in the possession of the Stanley family from 1693 onwards, the other moiety passed to Lady Mary Talbot, and thence after 1772 into Drummond family. The Cadland estate, which stretched down the coast of Southampton Water
Southampton Water
Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point. Along its salt marsh-fringed western shores lie the New Forest villages of Hythe and "the waterside", Dibden Bay, and the Esso oil refinery at Fawley...
for nearly eight miles, was the residence of the Drummond family, who owned most of the land in the parish. Cadland house was built in 1773, but was greatly enlarged in 1836; it burnt down in 1916 but was rebuilt in 1935. It was subsequently demolished with the growth of Fawley oil refinery which is built over much of the old Cadlands estate.
Three other estates in the parish are those of Ower, Stanswood, and Stone, all of which are recorded 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...
of 1086, and still exist as farms in the south of the parish. With a size of 37 households, Stanswood was in fact the largest settlement in the area in 1086.
Fawley oil refinery and chemical works
Oil refinery
An oil refinery or petroleum refinery is an industrial process plant where crude oil is processed and refined into more useful petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel fuel, asphalt base, heating oil, kerosene, and liquefied petroleum gas...
was first established at Fawley in 1921 by the Atlantic Gulf and West Indies Company. The site was chosen because a large amount of land was available for development, as the area was not heavily populated, and because of Fawley's position on the Solent
Solent
The Solent is a strait separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England.The Solent is a major shipping route for passengers, freight and military vessels. It is an important recreational area for water sports, particularly yachting, hosting the Cowes Week sailing event annually...
. This provided access to the large amount of water used in the refining process, and also made it possible for crude oil to be brought to the site in ocean tankers by sea. Proximity 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...
was also a factor, as at the outset much of the plant's output was used to supply liners using Southampton docks.
The refinery is now owned by Esso
Esso
Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...
, which acquired the site in 1925. It was rebuilt and extended in 1951 and is now the largest oil refinery in the United Kingdom with a capacity of 326,000 barrels a day. The site also houses a chemical facility operated by Exxon Mobil and Nalco
Nalco Holding Company
Nalco Holding Company supplies water treatment and process improvement services, chemicals and equipment programs for industrial and institutional markets. These products and services are marketed in some cases to prevent corrosion, contamination and the buildup of harmful deposits...
. As in earlier years, crude oil is brought to the site in tankers, making use of the docks which extend for 1.5 kilometres and are the largest independently owned docks facility in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
. Over 3,000 people (including many contractors) are employed at the site.