Buckland, Portsmouth

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Buckland is a residential area of the city of Portsmouth in the English county of Hampshire.

Buckland, then known as Bocheland, was one of the three settlements on Portsea Island mentioned in the Domesday Book. The Manor of Bocheland was purchased by Jean de Gisors. De Gisors then founded Portsmouth on land at the southern end of the manor, in 1180.

The area was extensively bombed during the Second World War. Due to this, and the slum nature of much of what housing was left, large parts were demolished and replaced with social housing built in the 1950s and '60s.

Charles Dickens was born in Buckland in 1812. His father moved to Portsmouth to work at the Naval Base. He bought a terraced house in an area close to the base then called Newtown.The house of his birth is now a museum. It stands in Old Commercial Road which is to this day a very prestigious street containing many listed Georgian and Victorian terraced houses and town houses.

Kingston Road, which runs through the heart of Buckland, is home to a large selection of fast food outlets and restaurants.

The western part of Buckland adjoins the city's continental ferry port and commercial docks.

The southern part of the area consists of a very large Council Estate with many tower blocks and mid rise blocks of flats. Because Buckland was the birthplace of Charles Dickens, many of the blocks of flats were named after characters in his books. Examples of these include Barkis and Nickelby houses which are two twin tower blocks 18 stories high.

Copperfield and Pickwick houses are another twin set of tower blocks which are 11 stories high.

Mickawber house is a mid rise block.

The southern part of Buckland is quite deprived and has a very high population density.