|
Date: |
|
Description: | North Hill forms part of the crossroads at the top of Park Lane. In the past, North Hill was the main road out of Fareham for travellers to Wickham. A toll gate used to be sited at the crossroads at the top of the steep hill. Lined with just a few cottages, it was a very steep hill and presented a formidable obstacle to the old horse drawn coaches and early motor vehicles.
North Fareham was closely connected with the brick, tile and pottery industry which lasted until WW2. There were kilns along Wickham Road, Old Turnpike and North Hill and the clay pits were later infilled for buildings and Mr Sandy in his house, the Potteries, turned his into a garden. Fareham was famous for its Fareham Reds, used locally on Haslar Hospital, the Queen Alexandra Hospital and the forts as well as being exported and used in the Town Hall in Cape Town. Many bricks were also used in London for buildings such as the Royal Albert Hall and the old St Thomas' Hospital.
Unfortunately the seam of greensand which was found in the now Green Hollow Close ran out and a new form of firing had to be found. Some potters, like Mr Sandy produced fine pottery and terra cotta. The North Hill brickworks were known for their specialised work, but later they returned to making clay pots and drainpipes. The potteries also provided the potter in one of the Interludes which was on BBC Television many years ago. After WW2, the potteries transferred to Denmead. There are still potters cottages on North Hill and nearby roads.
At the bottom of North Hill near the entrance to Hellyer's Farm was Mitchener's Pond, a former clay pit. It had a permanent water supply and was popular for skating in cold winters. It disappeared when the M27 was built in the 1970's.
References:
1. James, Alice. 1989. Fareham between the wars, p. 69-72.
2. Emery, John. 1985. Fareham in old picture postcards, p. 37.
Copy photograph of a photograph. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Rights holder: | Hampshire Library and Information Service - Hampshire County Council | Subjects: | work hill fashion tilemaking building Old Turnpike Queen Alexandra Hospital brick street Mr Sandy house North Hill Royal Albert Hall Wickham Road Fareham Red Mitchenor's Pond kiln dress pottery Haslar Hospital Potteries pond bricklaying Kiln Road | Temporal: | start=1905-01-01; end=1909-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Creator: | Sidney Smith; (Copied by: Dine, Derek; Hampshire County Library;) | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
|
|