Hythe, Hampshire
Encyclopedia
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet with the population ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand , Though often located in rural areas, the term urban village is also applied to certain urban neighbourhoods, such as the West Village in Manhattan, New...
near Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. It is located by the shore of Southampton Water
Southampton Water
Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point. Along its salt marsh-fringed western shores lie the New Forest villages of Hythe and "the waterside", Dibden Bay, and the Esso oil refinery at Fawley...
, and has a ferry service
Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry
Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry together provide a transport link between the English port city of Southampton and the Hampshire village of Hythe on the opposite side of Southampton Water...
connecting it to Southampton. Hythe has a small shopping area, a pier, and a marina for yachts.
Overview
Hythe has a small shopping area clustered around its High Street, which includes a supermarketSupermarket
A supermarket, a form of grocery store, is a self-service store offering a wide variety of food and household merchandise, organized into departments...
, a public library
Public library
A public library is a library that is accessible by the public and is generally funded from public sources and operated by civil servants. There are five fundamental characteristics shared by public libraries...
, several charity shop
Charity shop
A charity shop, thrift shop, thrift store, hospice shop , resale shop or op shop is a retail establishment run by a charitable organization to raise money.Charity shops are a type of social enterprise...
s, and a number of small independent shops. The pier railway and ferry service
Hythe Pier, Railway and Ferry
Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry together provide a transport link between the English port city of Southampton and the Hampshire village of Hythe on the opposite side of Southampton Water...
across Southampton Water
Southampton Water
Southampton Water is a tidal estuary north of the Solent and the Isle of Wight in England. The city of Southampton lies at its most northerly point. Along its salt marsh-fringed western shores lie the New Forest villages of Hythe and "the waterside", Dibden Bay, and the Esso oil refinery at Fawley...
to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
operates at half-hourly intervals throughout the day, and is the oldest working pier
Pier
A pier is a raised structure, including bridge and building supports and walkways, over water, typically supported by widely spread piles or pillars...
train in the world.
Hythe's position makes it a good vantage point for viewing liners
Ocean liner
An ocean liner is a ship designed to transport people from one seaport to another along regular long-distance maritime routes according to a schedule. Liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes .Cargo vessels running to a schedule are sometimes referred to as...
arriving and departing at the port of Southampton, which attracts many ship-watchers to the area. Hythe also has a marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
of relatively recent foundation, at which a large number of yacht
Yacht
A yacht is a recreational boat or ship. The term originated from the Dutch Jacht meaning "hunt". It was originally defined as a light fast sailing vessel used by the Dutch navy to pursue pirates and other transgressors around and into the shallow waters of the Low Countries...
s and boats are moored. A number of large and expensive houses are situated around the marina, overlooking the waterside.
Ewart Court on Jones Lane in Hythe is home to Hythe and Dibden Cricket Club. The club was formed in 1948 with the amalgamation of The Hythe Club and The Dibden Purlieu Club. The Hythe club was originally formed in 1860.
Hythe was home to the US Army between 1968 and 2006 at RAF Hythe. Following its closure, RAF Hythe was bought by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), who turned the site into a marine business park, Hythe Marine Park. Every year, usually around August, this marina hosts the R.N.L.I. Great Waterside Raft Race, where teams race rafts in the Solent Estuary to raise money in support of the Hythe R.N.L.I. branch.
Hythe is twinned with Mauves-sur-Loire
Mauves-sur-Loire
Mauves-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.It is twinned with Hythe in England.-See also:*Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
History
The name Hythe means landing-place or haven. Hythe is recorded in a Parliamentary roll from 1293. The Hythe ferryHythe Pier, Railway and Ferry
Hythe Pier, the Hythe Pier Railway and the Hythe Ferry together provide a transport link between the English port city of Southampton and the Hampshire village of Hythe on the opposite side of Southampton Water...
("Hitheferye") to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
is marked on a map by Christopher Saxton
Christopher Saxton
Christopher Saxton was an English cartographer, probably born in the parish of Dewsbury, in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England around 1540....
of 1575, and on a map by John Harrison in 1788. Hythe was part of the parish of Fawley
Fawley, Hampshire
Fawley is a village and civil parish in Hampshire, England. It is situated in the New Forest on the western shore of the Solent, approximately 7 miles south of Southampton. Fawley is also the site of an oil refinery, operated by Exxon-Mobil, which is the largest facility of its kind in the United...
, although it became a separate ecclesiastical parish in 1841. The current church, of Saint John the Baptist, was erected in 1874. It is of red brick with Bath Stone
Bath Stone
Bath Stone is an Oolitic Limestone comprising granular fragments of calcium carbonate. Originally obtained from the Combe Down and Bathampton Down Mines under Combe Down, Somerset, England, its warm, honey colouring gives the World Heritage City of Bath, England its distinctive appearance...
dressings. There were at one time stocks in the village.
At the beginning of the 20th century Hythe was a "little fishing village"; with an hourly steamboat
Steamboat
A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels...
service to Southampton, and with the clubhouse of Hythe Yacht Club at the end of the pier. Hythe remained part of the civil parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Fawley until 1913, when it became part of the parish of Dibden
Dibden
Dibden is a small village in Hampshire, England. It dates back to the Middle Ages but is nowadays dominated by the nearby settlements of Hythe and Dibden Purlieu...
. Hythe was a village up to the 1950s, but the expansion of Fawley Refinery lead to a demand for more houses for workers, and Hythe and Dibden Purlieu
Dibden Purlieu
Dibden Purlieu is a village situated on the edge of the New Forest in Hampshire, UK. The village merges with the nearby town of Hythe.The approximate population is around 4000 people. The regular Blue Star bus service provides Purlieu's quickest link with the city of Southampton...
were allowed to expand into a small town. In 1983, following the growth of Hythe, the parish of Dibden was renamed to Hythe and Dibden, to reflect the importance of Hythe as a new focal point of the Parish.
During World War II, Hythe was used as a port for the “little ships” of the Royal Navy, the Motor Torpedo Boats and the RAF Air/Sea Rescue Boats. In 1960, The Hovercraft Development Company and Sir Christopher Cockerell
Christopher Cockerell
Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE FRS was an English engineer, inventor of the hovercraft.-Life:Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum, having previously been the secretary of William Morris. Christopher Cockerell was...
, its founder, moved to Hythe.
Notable residents
Sir Christopher CockerellChristopher Cockerell
Sir Christopher Sydney Cockerell CBE FRS was an English engineer, inventor of the hovercraft.-Life:Cockerell was born in Cambridge, where his father, Sir Sydney Cockerell, was curator of the Fitzwilliam Museum, having previously been the secretary of William Morris. Christopher Cockerell was...
, the inventor of the hovercraft
Hovercraft
A hovercraft is a craft capable of traveling over surfaces while supported by a cushion of slow moving, high-pressure air which is ejected against the surface below and contained within a "skirt." Although supported by air, a hovercraft is not considered an aircraft.Hovercraft are used throughout...
, lived and died in Hythe.
T. E. Lawrence
T. E. Lawrence
Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Edward Lawrence, CB, DSO , known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, was a British Army officer renowned especially for his liaison role during the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkish rule of 1916–18...
, Lawrence of Arabia, lived in the village from 1931 to 1932. He was then known as T. E. Shaw, and turned up in Hythe in 1931, seconded by the RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
to the British Power Boats factory in Shore Road. He lodged in Myrtle Cottage at the junction of St John Street and Shore Road and left in 1932.
William Scammell
William Scammell
-Life:He was born into a working-class family, but failed the 11-plus exam. His brother is Michael Scammell. He took a succession of menial jobs before becoming a ship's photographer on the RMS Queen Elizabeth and RMS Queen Mary....
, a leading English poet, critic and biographer of Keith Douglas
Keith Douglas
Keith Castellain Douglas , was an English poet noted for his war poetry during World War II and his wry memoir of the Western Desert Campaign, Alamein to Zem Zem. He was killed during the invasion of Normandy.-Poetry:...
, was born in Hythe in 1939. A commemorative plaque, provided by the Parish Council, can be seen on the house in Alexandra Road, where he was born and lived until 1953. He died in 2000, aged 60.
David Ellery
David Ellery
David Ellery is a television producer, director and writer, author and ship historian based in Hampshire.He has written and produced/ directed a variety of stand-alone documentaries and four series' for television and is credited with more than 150 published magazine articles and several books...
, the author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and ship historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
, is based at Hythe.
Bruce Parry
Bruce Parry
Bruce Parry is a Former Royal Marines Officer and Instructor who is now a TV presenter and adventurer, known particularly for the documentary programme series Tribe , co-produced by the BBC and the Discovery Channel...
, the adventurer and TV presenter of shows such as Amazon with Bruce Parry, was born 17 March 1969, in Hythe, Hampshire, England.