The Parish 1914 – Weeke Within

Changes to Weeke

As the arrival of wealthy residents gradually changed the appearance of the northern part of Weeke in the late 19th Century, a different type of development was taking place ‘down the hill’ in that area of the parish closest to the city centre. Here, streets of mainly terraced houses sprang up to cater for the working and lower middle-class population.

Before 1850, much of what was to become Weeke Within was covered in allotments, market gardens, orchards and grazing areas. Some early development did take place around Oram’s Arbour. For example, the New Winchester Union Workhouse was built in 1837, followed by the first houses on Clifton Road. However, the major expansion of the area took place during the second half of the 19th Century. Two main reasons lay behind this:

Reasons for Development

1. The railway
The arrival of the railway in 1840 began the process of change by encouraging light industry and commerce. The railway also cut the parish in half. As a result, the area around the station grew in a slightly different way, with more shops, small businesses and hotels.

2. Sale of land
From the late 1850s the Church sold off land to the west of the Winchester for development. This was partly to ease overcrowding in the city where the population was growing rapidly. By 1911 the population of Weeke was 4,600, the largest of any parish in the city. Of those, 4,492 lived in Weeke Within.

Development of the Area around the Railway

The construction of the railway meant new roads had to be built and old ones modified. Among the most important was a new route to Stockbridge and Salisbury. This was named Lower Stockbridge Road (Stockbridge Road today) and included a ‘tunnel’ through the railway embankment.

Development in the station area catered for the needs of travellers. Shops, pubs and hotels sprang up, including the Carfax Hotel, the Eagle Hotel, the Cowdray Hotel, the Railway Tavern, the Criterion, the Gladstone Arms and the Albion. Today, all but the Albion have disappeared.

Terraced housing began to appear along Lower Stockbridge Road by 1870. Further development followed in Newburgh Street, Gladstone Street and Ashley Terrace (now demolished). Sussex Street, which was then much narrower, had a mix of pubs, hotels, shops and housing. Commercial premises also sprang up on both sides of the Andover Road in the area of the station.

Development of Fulflood Area

On the other side of the railway line, Fulflood (which is named after a spring which rises between the top of Greenhill Road and Byron Avenue) also grew rapidly in the 40 years before the Great War. The first roads and houses had been built by the early 1870s. These were on the south side of Stockbridge Road and included Elm Road, Avenue Road and Western Road. The homes here were mainly terraced. Work on properties in Greenhill Road started in the 1880s and the 1890s saw development on Lower Stockbridge Road (Stockbridge Road today), on the Fulflood side of the railway bridge.

Housing continued to creep up Stockbridge Road and by 1909 had reached just beyond Hatherley Road. In the 1890s and early 1900s, Fairfield Road, Cranworth Road, Brassey Road, Owens Road and Boscobel Road were developed, again with mainly terraced housing. With so much building going on Fulflood must have resembled a permanent building site!

The names of several roads changed over the years. Western Road, for example, extended round the corner from the Fulflood Arms towards Greenhill Road until it was renamed Cheriton Road in 1914. St Paul’s Terrace and Upper Stockbridge Road became St Paul’s Hill in 1918.

Houses were also frequently renumbered. This was partly a result of the way in which some of the older roads developed. Houses in Western Road, for example, were not all built at the same time but over a number of years. This can be seen in the different styles and sizes of properties. It meant that houses had to be renumbered as new properties were built to ‘fill in the gaps’.

Schools in Fulflood

The growing suburb needed schools, leisure facilities and new places of worship. Work on St Paul’s Church began in 1870 and was completed in 1910. A Mission Hall was built in Brassey Road which today is a private home – No.41A. The church and the Mission Hall both had social groups, including a number that catered for children, such as Sunday schools.

Western Church of England School, built at the upper end of Elm Road, was two schools in one. The infants section took boys and girls aged 5-7 while the girls elementary section took pupils from 7-13. The old school building survives and has been converted into apartments. Several of the men featured in this book went to Western School. A number then moved on to St Thomas Elementary Boys’ School in Mews Lane (off Romsey Road) as Weeke had no boys’ elementary school.

The girls brightest and fortunate enough could get grants to go to Winchester County Girls School, now The Westgate School. This opened in 1911 and charged fees. It aimed to educate girls up to 16 or 17. In January 1915 the school was taken over by the Army to billet troops caught outdoors in the bitter winter weather. The first caretaker at the school was Jesse Dobson. His son, Francis, was killed in the Great War and his name appears on the Fulflood and Weeke memorials.

Brighter boys went on to Peter Symonds Grammar School which opened in 1899. It was also a fee-paying school.

Retail in Fulflood

Shops often just sprang up as it was easy to turn a front room into a general store. For example, 52, Western Road was an off-licence, while a shop stood on the corner of Cranworth Road and Stockbridge Road. Fridges had not been invented so fresh milk had to be bought from dairies. One stood at the corner of Western Road and Stockbridge Road (Solutions Dental Clinic today) and another at the corner of Western Road and Avenue Road. Avenue Road also had a grocer at No.22, which is up the steps leading to North View. The shop sold sweets to Western School children through the railings opposite – a tradition carried on well into the 20th Century.

A number of workshop-style businesses provided local jobs. These included the stonemasons Vokes & Beck at what is now 108, Stockbridge Road. Basil Vokes, the son of the owner, was killed in France in 1917 and his story is told in this book.

Public Houses in Fulflood

By 1914, several pubs had opened in Fulflood, including The Railway, the Fulflood Arms and The Roebuck, all of which survive today. The Roebuck, on Stockbridge Road, is the oldest and opened as The Three Horse Shoes in 1830. The pub owned land on the opposite side of Stockbridge Road which was the site of an annual sheep fair in the second half of the 19th Century (hence the name Fairfield Road). From 1902 to 1914 it was also home to Winchester Football Club, with the pub being used as the changing rooms. Two pubs have since closed – the Old Red Deer, on the corner of Elm Road and Stockbridge Road (the building survives), and The Volunteer, on the corner of North View and Middle Road (today a private residential house).

Occupations in Fulflood

By 1914, Weeke Within on both sides of the railway was thriving. Much of the male population had skilled jobs – builders, carpenters, plasterers, shoemakers, plumbers, bricklayers, printers, tailors, bakers and gardeners all lived here. Other men worked as shopkeepers, clerks and waiters. Still more worked in the expanding public sector as prison warders, policemen, postmen and soldiers and sailors. In the larger properties on Stockbridge Road, Fairfield Road and Hatherley Road lived businessmen, teachers and even a correspondent for The Times newspaper.

Single women often worked as dressmakers or as domestic servants, but they could also run a dairy or shop. Very few married women worked. They had the job of running homes without the labour-saving devices we take for granted. Several widows ran boarding houses, and a few worked as laundresses.

Support for the Great War in Fulflood

The start of the Great War was a period of great change in the parish. People responded by supporting the war effort in different ways – by billeting soldiers, giving to war charities, enrolling as nurses, working as ambulance drivers or helping out at the clubs which provided soldiers with refreshments and entertainment. Most people believed it was their duty to do these things. They also believed that Britain had gone to war for a just cause. This helps to explain why most of the Weeke parish men who fought in the Great War were volunteers rather than conscripts.

Families had to live with the strain of knowing that their menfolk might be killed in battle. From the start of the war losses were very high. As a result, mourning for family, for friends and for neighbours became normal. For many, it cast a shadow for years to come. Some never fully came to terms with their loss.

Activities: Organise a walk around the parish and see how many of the landmarks mentioned here you can find.