North Stoneham is a settlement and ecclesiastical parish in south 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 was formerly an ancient estate and manor. Until the nineteenth century, it was a rural community comprising a number of scattered hamlets, including Middle Stoneham, North End, and Bassett Green

Bassett Green

Bassett Green is a suburb of Southampton, which has grown from the original small village of Basset. It remains part of the electoral ward of Bassett. The area is mainly residential, with a mixture of Herbert Collins-designed houses and recent council built estates known as the Flowers Estate and...

, and characterised by large areas of woodland.

History

For some centuries, the Willis Fleming family of North Stoneham Park were lords of the manor of North Stoneham, and the principal landowners in the parish. The estate was purchased by Sir Thomas Fleming

Thomas Fleming (judge)

Sir Thomas Fleming was an English member of Parliament and judge, whose most famous case was the trial of Guy Fawkes in relation to the Gunpowder Plot...

 in 1599 from Henry Wriothesley, a young Earl of Southampton

Earl of Southampton

Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William Fitzwilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542. The second creation came in 1547 in favour of the politician...

 who inherited the title and estate at the age of eight.
The church of St. Nicolas

St. Nicolas' Church, North Stoneham

St. Nicolas' Church is an Anglican parish church at North Stoneham, Hampshire which originated before the 15th century and is known for its "One Hand Clock" which dates from the early 17th century, and also for various memorials to the famous.-Location:...

 stands in Stoneham Lane, on the edge of the former park, while opposite is the former rectory, now an office complex for Mott MacDonald

Mott MacDonald

The Mott MacDonald Group is an employee-owned company management, engineering and development consultancy serving the public and private sectors world-wide...

.

The aviation pioneer, Edwin Moon

Edwin Moon

Squadron Leader Edwin Rowland Moon DSO* was an English aviation pioneer who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during the First World War. He was a prisoner of war and he was twice awarded a DSO.-Family:...

, selected the flat field at North Stoneham Farm for his first flight in 1910, on what is now Southampton Airport

Southampton Airport

Southampton Airport is the 20th largest airport in the UK, located north north-east of Southampton, in the Borough of Eastleigh within Hampshire, England....

.

North Stoneham and neighbouring South Stoneham are together sometimes referred to as 'the Stonehams'.

Stoneham War Shrine

The War Shrine was built In 1917 by John Willis Fleming in memory of the thirty-six local men killed in World War I

World War I

World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...

. (An identical shrine was built at Havenstreet

Havenstreet

Havenstreet is a village on the Isle of Wight, located about 2 miles southwest of Ryde.The Isle of Wight Steam Railway Museum is in Havenstreet, along with a station. Every year, the Isle of Wight Steam Railway runs a "Santa Express" train from Wootton to Havenstreet, which is a centre of...

, Isle of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

). In 2008, the project to restore the now derelict Shrine was awarded Heritage Lottery-funding.

Southampton stadium plan

In the early 1990s, Southampton

Southampton F.C.

Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 considered building a 25,000-seat stadium in the area to replace The Dell. However, by 1999 the plan had been abandoned in favour of a 32,000-seat stadium

St Mary's Stadium

St Mary's Stadium is the home of Southampton F.C., in the city of Southampton. It is a UEFA 4-star rated stadium and with a capacity of 32,689 is the largest football stadium in the south of England, outside of London.-History:...

 in the centre of 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...

, which opened in 2001.

External links

• The Fleming Estate in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
• The Restoration of Stoneham War Shrine.
• Currie, C. K. (1992). North Stoneham Park: its origin and development. Retrieved on 2009-02-07.
• The Willis Fleming Historical Trust
• North Stoneham Park
• North Stoneham House
• The Parish of North Stoneham with Bassett