Fair Oak

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Coordinates: 50°58′04″N 1°19′40″W / 50.9679°N 1.3278°W / 50.9679; -1.3278
Fair Oak

Fair Oak War Memorial showing the present 'fair oak' behind .
Fair Oak

 Fair Oak shown within Hampshire
Population 9,900 (parish)[1]
OS grid reference SU494188
Civil parish Fair Oak & Horton Heath
District Eastleigh
Shire county Hampshire
Region South East
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town Eastleigh
Postcode district SE14
Dialling code 320
Police Hampshire
Fire Hampshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament Eastleigh
Website Fair Oak and Horton Heath Parish Council
List of places
UK
England
Hampshire

Fair Oak, Hampshire is a large village on the outskirts of Eastleigh, and near Southampton and Winchester. Its parish incorporates the neighbouring village of Horton Heath, which lies to the south.

History

Fair Oak takes its name from a tree in the Square which was felled and replaced on 30 February 1843.[2] The village has a history of sand quarrying, with some of the newer parts built over old restored quarries.[3] The central church of St Thomas was originally built in 1863 to serve as a chapel of ease for Fair Oak cemetery. At this time the village was part of the parish of Bishopstoke with its church of St Mary; the present parish was created in 1871.

The village

The church, which has been designated a beacon church for the Winchester diocese, has links with Kware, a suburb of Nairobi in Kenya, via a hospital and school mission. This mission called Handshake to Kware is a registered charity and is supported by the local schools and businesses, however, in late 2011, the project was put on hold after it was revealed that Benn Mugisha, the coordinator of the mission on the Kenyan side, had been sacked because he had been deemed to not be a "fit and proper person to continue to represent the charity”, after an internal investigation. This was also reported in the local press.[4] The village has also played host to a series of annual Christian outreach programmes in recent years. It is home to two scout groups, the 7th and 8th Eastleigh.

Fair Oak has a village hall and four pubs: 'The Old George', 'The Cricketers', 'The New Clock Inn', and 'The Fox'.

Education

There are three schools - infant, junior, and a secondary school called Wyvern College, which is host to a large gym for public use. It is home to a rugby team in the Southampton tyro league. There is also a Christian school called the King's School.

Stoke Park Wood

Stoke Park Wood to the north-west of the village (a remnant of the Forest of Bere) lies partly in Fair Oak and partly in the neighbouring parish of Bishopstoke. With many bridlepaths running between the two villages via the woods, it is possible to walk from one village to another without setting foot on any other public highway. The woods cover some 207 hectares (510 acres) and are primarily of evergreen trees; the sandy soil and long grass is home to wildlife including dormice, grey squirrels, pine martens, deer and adders. This forest is the biggest in Eastleigh and several watercourses run through it.[citation needed]

Geology

Fair Oak lies on the London Clay deposits of the Hampshire Basin, to the northern edge of a small syncline separated from the main basin by the Portsdown anticline. The London Clay in this area, towards the top of the sequence, is fairly sandy and includes lenticular sand deposits.[5] The sand pits on the east of the village are in the Whitecliff Sand. At Knowle Hill and south towards Horton Heath the London Clay is overlain by the clays and sands of Wittering Formation of the Bracklesham Group, with a small outlier capping Pylehill to the north.[3]

References

  1. ↑ "Parish Headcounts, Area: Fair Oak & Horton Heath CP". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 2001. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 
  2. ↑ "Fair Oak". HampshireTreasures Volume 13 Eastleigh. Hampshire County Council. 2006-03-29. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 British Geological Survey (1987), Southampton. England and Wales Sheet 315. Solid and Drift Geology, 1:50,000 Series geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN 0-7518-0754-0
  4. ↑ "Daily Echo News Report". Daily Echo. Retrieved 1 January 2012. 
  5. ↑ Edwards, R.A. & Freshney, E.C. (1987), Geology of the country around Southampton. Mem. British Geological Survey, Sheet 315 (England & Wales), Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN 0-11-884396-6

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Fair Oak.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Fair Oak.
Settlements in the Borough of Eastleigh
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike; additional terms may apply for the media files.