Rowland's Castle

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Rowland's Castle
Rowland's Castle shown within Hampshire
Population	2,770 ^[1]
OS grid reference	SU733106
Parish	Rowland's Castle
District	East Hampshire
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Constituent country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Waterlooville
Postcode district	PO9 6
Dialling code	023
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
European Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	East Hampshire
List of places: UK • England • Hampshire

Coordinates: 50°53′26″N 0°57′31″W / 50.8906, -0.9585

Rowlands Castle green

Rowland's Castle (or Rowlands Castle; the apostrophe is sometimes disputed) is a small village in the district of East Hampshire, Hampshire, England.

1 The village
2 Location
3 History
4 Geology
5 References
6 External links

[edit] The village

It is a largely a quiet residential village, with four pubs and a few small shops, including a hardware store and local convenience store. The village takes its name from a Motte-and-bailey castle, the remains of which are situated to the south of Redhill Road and west of the railway line, east of the current centre of the village.

Former Van Morrison guitarist Herbie Armstrong operates The Fountain Inn in the centre of the village next to the Village Green. His weekly live music evenings attract music lovers from across the region, and have been known to include some famous faces; Mick Hucknall on one occasion.

In 1994 Stage 5 of the Tour de France (that stage taking place in south east England), passed through Rowland's Castle, attracting large crowds during one of the busiest days in the village's history.

[edit] Location

Rowland's Castle is 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Havant. The village lies in the area of the former Forest of Bere on the eastern boundary of Hampshire. To the east in the parish of Stoughton, West Sussex is Stansted Park.

Rowland's Castle is served by a railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line to London Waterloo or Portsmouth. There is just one bus route. It is route 27 which is operated by Emsworth and District.

The village is crossed by three long-distance footpaths, the Monarch's Way, Sussex Border Path and Staunton Way.

[edit] History

The Romans made pottery, brick and tiles at Rowland's Castle because suitable clay was available. A castle was built at some time between 1066 and 1199 and is first documented under the name ROLOKECASTEL in 1381.^[2] It was in good repair in the twelfth century, when Henry II spent several days there in hunting and amusement,^[3] but was abandoned by the 15th century. The site was damaged by the railway and quarrying in the 19th century and now only the earthworks and a few small areas of wall remain.

[edit] Geology

Rowland's Castle lies on the northern edge of the Neogene deposits of the Hampshire Basin. The north of the village lies on the chalk of the southern South Downs. In the south is the Reading Formation which gave rise to the former local brick industry.^[4]

[edit] References

^ Parish Headcounts, Area: Rowland's Castle CP. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics (2001). Retrieved on 2008-04-03.
^ Hanks, P. Hodges F., Mills, A.D. & Room A. (2002), The Oxford Names Companion, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-860561-7
^ Rowlands Castle. Hampshire County Council. Retrieved on 2007-07-01.
^ British Geological Survey (1998), England and Wales Sheet 316 Fareham, 1:50,000 series geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN 0-7518-3168-9