Harefield is a suburb and Electoral Ward near Bitterne in Southampton, England. Harefield Ward consists of a small council housing estate built around 1952/3 on the estate of Harefield House and additional private housing.
Harefield Ward had a population of 14,448 at the 2021 Census, and is adjacent to Bitterne Park, Peartree, Sholing and Bitterne wards.
History
Harefield House was a country house of Elizabethan style built in 1834 for Sir Edward Butler, chairman of the Southampton and Salisbury Railway Company. The location is now the grounds of Harefield Infant and Junior Schools on Yeovil Chase. Edwin Jones, the Southampton draper whose store ultimately became part of Debenhams bought the house in 1887. Harefield House is often mistakenly reported as burning down in 1915, this misconception is printed in the book Memories of Bitterne by Irene Pilson and seems to have stuck. The house actually burnt down on May 6, 1917, as reported in the Southern Daily Echo at the time. The Jones family sold the estate in 1917 and there was some building in the 1920s but it was not developed in earnest until after the Second World War.
The area was part of the civil parish of West End when it was established in 1894, but was transferred into Southampton in 1954.
The street names on the western edge of the estate are all named after Somerset place names by the private housing developers active in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The later council housing extended these streets and added more to the west that are named after Hampshire villages.
The development of the housing estate included two public houses (the Exford Arms and the Hare and Hounds), two shopping parades, two primary schools (Harefield and Moorhill, each consisting of infant and junior schools), and Moorhill Secondary School (named after Moorhill House, which stood just outside the estate in West End). The Moorhill schools and the Exford Avenue shopping parade were constructed in 1964–65. Until then there was a Post Office in a Nissen hut opposite the Exford Arms. The Hare and Hounds was open between 1963 and 2016 before being demolished in early 2018.
Moorhill Secondary School was renamed as Woodlands Community School in 1984 and subsequently demolished and rebuilt in 2003. It is now known as Woodlands Community College.
Election results
+ Southampton City Council Elections - Thursday, 5th May, 2022 Election Candidate Party Votes % Outcome Val Laurent Conservative 1645 50% Elected Paul Robert Kenny Labour 1201 37% Not Elected Chris Bluemel Green Party 208 6% Not Elected Ben Curd Liberal Democrats 161 5% Not Elected Levi Joshua Wellman Trade Unionists and Socialist Coalition 50 2% Not Elected
+ Southampton City Council - Thursday, 2nd May, 2019 Election Candidate Party Votes % Outcome Daniel Raymond Fitzhenry Conservative 1646 47% Elected Alan Lloyd Labour 1088 315 Not Elected Christopher Francis Bluemel Green Party 291 8% Not Elected Peter Alexander Virgo Integrity Southampton 236 7% Not Elected John Robert Charles Dennis Liberal Democrats 221 6% Not Elected
Transport links Harefield has had several different local bus services over the years. It now only has the number 13 First Bus service that goes to Bitterne, Woolston, and the City Centre with no bus service on Sundays.
Public Art Harefield is also known for its public art, including the Mosaic Way; a trail of permanent mosaics that were created by local residents and installed in 2021
References