Southwick is a village in the English

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...

 county of 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...

, situated north of 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...

, and is occupied entirely by tenants in the style of the Middle Ages

Middle Ages

The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

, where the entirety is wholly owned by the Southwick Estate. Oddly, there is one exception to this and that is Church Lodge which is in private ownership.

Southwick was initially the site of Southwick Priory

Southwick Priory

Southwick Priory was a priory of Augustinian canons originally founded in Portchester Castle and later transferred to Southwick, Hampshire, England.-Foundation:...

, in the 12th century. On 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...

 during the Reformation

English Reformation

The English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....

 the estate, including the village, was granted to John White. In 1813 a new manor house, Southwick House

Southwick House

Southwick House is a manor house of the Southwick Estate located just to the north of Portsmouth in Hampshire, England. The house was built in 1800 in the late Georgian style, to replace Southwick Park house. The house is distinct for its two-story foyer lit from a cupola, and a series of...

, was completed. This house was gutted by fire in 1838, but was renovated by 1841. The house and part of the estate was requisitioned by the government during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and has been used by various parts of the armed forces ever since.

Southwick is rare in that the village is still entirely owned by the Southwick Estate (except for Church Lodge). The most obvious sign of this is that all the houses, except manor houses, have dark red-painted front doors - a condition laid down in the tenancy agreements. The only exceptions to this are the White House, the residence of the vicar and Church Lodge. Church Lodge is the only privately owned house in the old village and is shown in the fourth picture below.
The Defence College of Policing and Guarding is situated at nearby Southwick Park.

As of 16 October 2011 the FirstGroup bus services providing travel to the village residents has been withdrawn.