Area Ten     (2)

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Phoebe Merrick

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Settlement Pattern

Fencing along Winchester Road

There are four vehicular access points to eastern Romsey from Winchester Road. Winchester Road does not have houses adjoining the street frontage in this area, but presents a mixture of large hedgerows and bare wooden fencing to the passer by, with glimpses of a few houses behind. Viney Avenue and Campion Drive provide the major access points.

There are no public buildings and the only non-residential buildings are a small parade of shops near the entrance to Viney Avenue and Woodley Grange nursing home. Thus the area is almost entirely residential. There is a wide variety of types of home, varying in both style and size, from small maisonette dwellings to substantial detached houses.

Shops in Viney Avenue

A V A R I E T Y O F G A R A G E S T Y L E S

Most of the houses are two storeys high, and there are some one-storey bungalows. Garages vary from those within the curtilage of the later houses, to terraces of garages separate from houses in parts of Viney Avenue Westering and St Blaize Road and on sloping ground behind Selsdon Avenue. These garage blocks are often in spaces enclosed by brick walls or fences. They suffer from poor lighting, difficult access, and the inconvenience of parking remote from the houses of their occupiers. Viney Avenue was developed as a council estate and comprises around 140 dwellings made up of flats, maisonettes, bungalows, and detached, semi-detached and terraced houses. Many of the people who live in Viney Avenue have strong local connections. Some Romsey families have lived in this area for around 50 years. The shops and their associated parking spaces are near the entrance to Viney Avenue. The road continues past these shops, down the hill and then loops round and back on itself thus forming the shape of the letter ‘p’. This means that most of the houses of Viney Avenue lie on a circular route situated behind the site of Harefield House. The buildings line the road except for a few on the outer side of the circle which are arranged around greens. There are two roads to the west of Viney Avenue, namely Harefield Court and Selsdon Avenue. Harefield Court is near Winchester Road and is a cul-de-sac of 16 semi-detached houses. They have open plan front gardens and their back gardens are larger than those of many other houses in the area. Selsdon Avenue is built on the slope of the valley of the Tadburn Lake. It contains 42 small houses which are arranged in five terraces situated on one side of the road.

At the beginning of 1994, the last remaining part of Harefield House was demolished and replaced with eight flats and nineteen other dwellings; although a small section of an original wall remains and forms the boundary of some of the gardens of Strongs Close.

Brickwoods Close

This development comprises Brickwoods Close, Faber Mews and Strongs Close, names chosen because they were associated with Romsey’s brewing history. The properties are grouped together in such a way that there is no through access for vehicles. Parking is provided within the development with garages, car ports, driveways and parking bays.

St Blaize Road and Westering open off the eastern side of Viney Avenue. The estates were built about 30 years ago. These two roads run down the side of the Tadburn Valley and are relatively straight.

They contain a mix of house sizes. Some of the houses are terraced which are often staggered. Few houses abut the main spine of either road: they mostly stand in small closes which are at right angles to the main thoroughfare, although there is a terrace of bungalows on the level ground near the start of St Blaize Road. Some houses face the primary roadway at the bottom of the hill. The use of green areas among the houses breaks up the building lines.

Bungalows in St Blaize Road

Close in St Blaize Road

Campion Drive and its adjoining closes lie on the slope to the east of Westering. Campion Drive acts as the spine road for the estate and it sweeps around Woodley Grange and Grange Mews. The arrangement of houses within the development avoids straight lines except where houses are terraced.

Curved nature of Campion Drive

There is a mix of house sizes, the largest ones being found near the entrance to the estate especially in Briar Way and Sorrel Close. The houses along Campion Drive itself and most of its closes are detached with three or four bedrooms, but Clover Way and Bramble Drive contain smaller terraced houses. Bramble Drive also has some back-to-back houses.

As with Westering and St Blaize Road, the number of small closes and informal arrangement of houses makes for neighbourliness and relative freedom from through traffic. The lack of straight lines in the street produces a pleasant sense of informality.

View between houses (Campion Drive)

The development feels open, and its location on the slope of the hill adds to this feeling. The houses are placed so that they look between those opposite them which arrangement increases the feeling of spaciousness.

Woodley Grange is a separate enclave off Winchester Road. The development consists of a converted coach house behind which is a nursing home, and three staggered terraces of small retirement homes, two of which are joined by an archway.

Woodley Grange

Terraced houses in Grange Mews

There are no garages but substantial parking areas between the groups of buildings. There is grassed open space with mature trees at the sides and behind the houses.

Little Woodley Farm complex consists of the old farmhouse and three modern houses, arranged in a rectangular pattern. The original house is side-on to Winchester Road whilst the newer houses face the road. There is a large area of brick paving leading to the two furthest houses.