| Fareham | |
|---|---|
 Fareham Creek | |
  Fareham Location withinHampshire | |
| Population | 42,210 (2011 Census) |
| OS grid reference | SU578048 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FAREHAM |
| Postcode district | PO14 – PO17 |
| Dialling code | 01329, 01489, 023 |
| Police | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| Fire | Hampshire and Isle of Wight |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°51′N1°11′W / 50.85°N 1.18°W /50.85; -1.18 | |
Fareham (/ˈfɛərəm/FAIR-əm) is amarket town at the north-west tip ofPortsmouth Harbour, between the cities ofPortsmouth andSouthampton in south eastHampshire,England. It gives its name to theBorough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufacturer of bricks, used to build theRoyal Albert Hall, and grower of strawberries and other seasonal fruits. In 2011 it had a population of 42,210.
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The town has a documented history dating back to theNorman era, when a part of William's army marched up from Fareham Creek before continuing to the Saxon capital of England, Winchester.[1] Originally known asFerneham (hence the name of the former entertainment venue Ferneham Hall, now Fareham Live[2]), it was listed in theDomesday Book as having 90 households.[3] The ford of Fareham Creek (at the top ofPortsmouth Harbour) was the location of theBishop of Winchester'smills; the foundations were subsumed in the A27 near the railway viaduct. Commercial activity continued at the port until the 1970s and continues on a smaller scale.
In the 1960s Fareham experienced major residential development. By the 1970s the town had expanded to almost encompass the surrounding villages ofFuntley,Titchfield,Catisfield andPortchester. In the late 1990s a settlement calledWhiteley, straddling the boundaries of Fareham Borough and theCity of Winchester, was developed to the north of Junction 9 of theM27 motorway. It is predominantly residential but includes the extensiveSolent Business Park.
In 1995Cams Hall, a derelictPalladian mansion, was restored for office use, and the surroundingCams Estate was developed as a golf course and modern technology park.
Since 1997 Fareham has been the home of the United Kingdom'sAeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC), at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC), and responsible for coordinating allMaritime & Coastguard AgencySearch and Rescue (SAR) helicopters.
An urban renewal initiative began in 1999, renovating the town centre and historic buildings to include a new entertainment and shopping complex. It featured a major iron sculpture park[4] installed in 2001 to celebrate the work of influential Lancastrian iron pioneer,Henry Cort, who lived in neighbouringGosport but who had an iron rolling mill in Funtley (or Fontley), on the outskirts of Fareham.
Fareham was home to Ferneham Hall, a multi purpose venue with a capacity of over 700. The hall opened in 1982 and closed in 2020 to allow for renovation.[5] Work on the remodel began in 2022, including rebranding the centre toFareham Live.[6]
TheAshcroft Arts Centre, on Osborn Road, has a 150-seat theatre, a gallery, a dance/music studio and a fully licensed bar. It offers a varied programme of events including films, theatre, comedy and workshops.[7]
The pedestrianised area of West Street, in the town centre, is home to a permanent exhibition of the work of 12blacksmith artists celebrating the achievements ofHenry Cort, the 18th century 'man of iron' who pioneered the iron refining process atFuntley near Fareham. The puddled wrought iron sculptures are themed on Fareham's market town history and the exhibition is the largest of its type in Britain.[8]
In 2017Fareham College was rated by OFSTED as "Outstanding".[9]
Fareham has aNon-League football club,Fareham Town F.C.
TheM27 motorway passes around the northern edge of the town, and is the main trafficartery into and out of the area. It provides rapid access toPortsmouth andSouthampton, and from there toLondon via theM3 andA3(M).
TheA27 was the original route along the south coast before the building of the M27, and runs fromBrighton toSouthampton, passing through the centre of Fareham. TheA32 passes through Fareham at the Quay Street roundabout, a notorious bottleneck, on its way fromGosport toWickham and through theMeon Valley toAlton.
Fareham was named the most car-dependent town in the UK by the Office for National Statistics in July 2014 with 538.7 cars registered to addresses in the town for every 1,000 residents.[10]
Fareham railway station is on theWest Coastway Line, with regular services toPortsmouth,Southampton,Brighton,Cardiff andLondon. Passenger services also ran south toGosport until 1953, and north along the Meon Valley to Alton until 1955.[11]
Bus transport in the town is provided byFirst Hampshire & Dorset, which runs nearly all bus routes.Stagecoach South service 69 does run as far north asWinchester. Thebus station is adjacent to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and replaced an older station that was demolished in the late 1980s.[citation needed]
Fareham is home to the local ITV franchise, covering the South and South-East of England, calledITV Meridian, based atWhiteley, with the BBC region beingBBC South, based inSouthampton. All BBC and ITV Services are available in Fareham, with transmissions from theRowridge Transmitter on theIsle of Wight, although signals from theHannington andMidhurst transmitting stations can be picked up from certain areas of the town. Also, the town is served by a local television station, namedThat's Solent, it was launched as part of a UK wide roll out of local Freeview channels, being broadcast from the Rowridge Transmitter.
The local commercial radio station isGreatest Hits Radio South on 105.2FM, alsoHeart South is based in the town, on 97.5FM, plusCapital South on 103.2FM, other radio stations based elsewhere serve Fareham, withEasy Radio South Coast on 107.4FM,BBC Radio Solent on 96.1FM andNation Radio South Coast (formerly SAM FM) on 106.0FM, and Portsmouth based non-profit community radio station Express FM on 93.7FM.
The town has two daily local newspapers, theSouthern Daily Echo andPortsmouth News, together with a free weekly newspaper, from the same publisher,Johnston Press, calledFareham View.
The currentMember of Parliament for theFareham and Waterlooville constituency isSuella Braverman, first elected as MP for Fareham in the2015 UK General Election. Braverman is notable for being the shortest servingHome Secretary in British history during theTruss ministry, but was again reappointed as Home Secretary byRishi Sunak on 25 October 2022.[12][13]
Fareham is a part of the slightly largerBorough of Fareham local government district, with some local services provided by anon-metropolitan district council calledFareham Borough Council. Following the most recent elections to the council, the council'sadministration is currently made up ofcouncillors from theConservative Party which as of 2022 have a total of 12 councillors. The second largest party and therefore opposition on the council is theLiberal Democrats with 3 councillors.
Some local services are provided by the largerHampshire County Council, with Fareham residents also able to participate in this Hampshire-wide (exceptPortsmouth andSouthampton) election.
Welborne is a proposed new town to the north of the M27 at Fareham,[14] intended to include 6,000 houses with businesses and community facilities.
The Planning Inspectorate Hearings into Welborne took place in 2014.[15] Building is yet to start, with the completion date for the first houses now scheduled for 2023/24. On 6 June 2022 thePlanning Inspectorate reported back on its examination of the 2037 Fareham Local Plan, and in the post-hearing letter noted that they considered completion of the first Welborne houses by 2023/24 to be "overly ambitious" and that "the site should be pushed back a year in the trajectory".[16]
Fareham istwinned with:
Actor Tom Oliver is known to millions of viewers as wheeler-dealer Lou Carpenter in Aussie soap, Neighbours. Although the 62-year-old actor has made his name in a show produced in the Antipodes, he was born in London and grew up in Fareham, Hampshire.
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