Wessex Lane Halls
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Wessex Lane Halls are a halls of residence complex owned by the University of Southampton. They are situated in the Swaythling distrct of Southampton, approximately 1 mile northeast of the main University campus.
The Wessex Lane Hall Complex consists of the Montefiore Halls of Residence, Connaught Hall and South Stoneham House. There are over 1800 undergraduate and postgraduate students living in Wessex Lane.
The complex is served by excellent transport links, with regular Uni-link buses heading north to Southampton Airport (and Eastleigh at peak times) and into Southampton town centre, and hourly trains from nearby Swaythling railway station.
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[edit] Montefiore Houses
Around 1925 Mrs Montefiore, wife of Claude Montefiore (who since 1913 had been President of what was then called the University College), bought and gave a piece of land opposite South Stoneham House for a playing field, upon which her husband paid for a pavilion to be constructed.
Montefiore House (often referred to as 'Monte') as a hall of residence was opened in 1963, built on the grounds of the sports field. These original structures are now known as Montefiore A and B, and house approximately three hundred first year students in study bedrooms on individual corridor flats, with shared kitchens and other facilities.
Over the new few decades two other developments took place which replaced the old playing fields with the largest student residential centre in Southampton. Montefiore 2 was built in 1977 and consists of selt-contained flats housing 400 students in flats of seven rooms each with their own study bedroom.
Montefiore 3, the largest of the Monte groupings, was opened in September 1994 and houses some 600 students grouped in flats of seven each occupying a study bedroom with en-suite facilities. This addition made Monte the largest hall of residence in Europe (in terms of the number of students that can be accommodated) at the time.
Recently Montefiore 4 was added which brings an additional 150 en-suite rooms to the Complex.
[edit] Connaught Hall
Connaught Hall is constructed as two interconnected quadrangles. The Old Quad, built in 1931, is of traditional design in the neo-Georgian style and contains study bedrooms grouped around staircases and most of the communal JCR facilities. The New Quad was added to this in 1964 and contains the reception area and main building, the Galley Restaurant and the majority of study bedrooms. The Hall is set in attractive wooded grounds overlooking Monks Brook.
[edit] South Stoneham House
In 1920 the then University College, Southampton, opened two new halls of residence: South Stoneham House for men, and South Hill (situated some two miles northwest of Wessex Lane) for women. South Stoneham House was originally the manor house of the parish of South Stoneham, which stretched along the River Itchen from Portswood to Eastleigh. The house itself was constructed in 1708 and has been attributed to Nicholas Hawksmoor. Its gardens were laid out in a style heavily influenced by Capability Brown. Very little of this original landscaping still exists. Tradition prevailed in these halls with students expected to wear gowns for dinner and also lectures, and there were still curfews and set bedtimes.
By 1924, there was distinct pressure on space in the halls of residence, and it was clear that more rooms were needed. The existing halls were full and so South Stoneham and South Hill were extended by covering their outbuildings.
During the Second World War, the Highfield location of the College meant it was directly in the war zone itself. With Southampton being attacked, the halls of residence were also under siege: at South Stoneham windows were blown in by bombs. For much of this time, the College operated a School of Navigation, based in the communal rooms of Stoneham House.
In 1967 a concrete tower extension was added to the hall, incorporating a bar and dining hall area, both now out of use. The extension was designed as a stop-gap measure until the full development of the Montefiore and Gen Eyre sites could be pushed through, with an anticipated lifespan of just 15 years. Four decades on and the tower has only recently been removed from the University's housing stock. South Stoneham currently has 180 rooms over its 16 floors, although the tower section is closed. As in Connaught residents are catered for and eat in Connaught's Galley Restaurant. Residents share small kitchen and bathroom facilities. Much controversy has surrounded the continuous use of South Stoneham Tower and in 1997 a large wooden collar was added to the base of the tower to prevent crumbling concrete falling onto staff and students below. As the tower was originally built using jack building techniques (i.e. the top story was constructed first, jacked up, and the next story added below) and made extensive use of asbestos, its decomission and deconstruction has provided a technical stumbling block to redevelopment of the South Soneham site. Physical disassembly would be hugely expensive, while explosives cannot be used due to the proximity of private houses and the Grade 2 listed South Stoneham Hall.
