Fair Oaks

Coordinates: 50°58′04″N 1°19′40″W / 50.9679°N 1.3278°W / 50.9679; -1.3278

Fair Oak
Fair Oak War Memorial showing the present 'fair oak' behind .
Fair Oak  Fair Oak shown within Hampshire
Population	9,900 (parish)[1]
OS grid reference	SU494188
Parish	Fair Oak & Horton Heath
District	Eastleigh
Shire county	Hampshire
Region	South East
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Eastleigh
Postcode district	SO50
Dialling code	023
Police	Hampshire
Fire	Hampshire
Ambulance	South Central
EU Parliament	South East England
UK Parliament	Eastleigh
Website	Fair Oak and Horton Heath Parish Council
List of places: UK • England • Hampshire

Fair Oak, Hampshire is a small village on the outskirts of Eastleigh, and near Southampton and Winchester. Its parish incorporates the neighbouring village of Horton Heath, which lies to the south.

History

Fair Oak takes its name from a tree in the Square which was felled and replaced in 1843.^[2] The village has a history of sand quarrying, with some of the newer parts built over old restored quarries.^[3] The central church of St Thomas was originally built in 1863 to serve as a chapel of ease for Fair Oak cemetery. At this time the village was part of the parish of Bishopstoke with its church of St Mary; the present parish was created in 1871.

The village

The church, which has been designated a beacon church for the Winchester diocese, has links with Kware, a suburb of Nairobi in Kenya, via a hospital and school mission. This mission called Handshake to Kware is a registered charity and is supported by the local schools and businesses. The village has also played host to a series of annual Christian outreach programmes in recent years. It is home to two scout groups, the 7th and 8th Eastleigh.

Fair Oak has a village hall and four pubs: 'The George', 'The Cricketers', 'The New Clock Inn', and 'The Fox'.

Education

There are three schools - infant, junior, and a secondary school called Wyvern Technology College, which is host to a large gym for public use. It is home to a football team in the Southampton tyro league. There is also a Christian school called 'The King's School'.

Stoke Park Wood

Stoke Park Wood to the north-west of the village (a remnant of the Forest of Bere) lies partly in Fair Oak and partly in the neighbouring parish of Bishopstoke. With many bridlepaths running between the two villages via the woods, it is possible to walk from one village to another without setting foot on any other public highway. The woods cover some 207 hectares (510 acres) and are primarily of evergreen trees; the sandy soil and long grass is home to wildlife including dormice, grey squirrels, pine martens, deer and adders.

Geology

Fair Oak lies on the London Clay deposits of the Hampshire Basin, to the northern edge of a small syncline separated from the main basin by the Portsdown anticline. The London Clay in this area, towards the top of the sequence, is fairly sandy and includes lenticular sand deposits.^[4] The sand pits on the east of the village are in the Whitecliff Sand. At Knowle Hill and south towards Horton Heath the London Clay is overlain by the clays and sands of Wittering Formation of the Bracklesham Group, with a small outlier capping Pylehill to the north.^[3]

References

1. ^ "Parish Headcounts, Area: Fair Oak & Horton Heath CP". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 2001. http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=795072&c=Fair+Oak&d=16&e=15&g=450127&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1205855576156&enc=1&dsFamilyId=779. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 
2. ^ "Fair Oak". HampshireTreasures Volume 13 Eastleigh. Hampshire County Council. 2006-03-29. http://www.hants.gov.uk/hampshiretreasures/entries/v13p039e09.html. Retrieved 2008-03-18. 
3. ^ ^{a b} British Geological Survey (1987), Southampton. England and Wales Sheet 315. Solid and Drift Geology, 1:50,000 Series geological map, Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN 0-75180754-0
4. ^ Edwards, R.A. & Freshney, E.C. (1987), Geology of the country around Southampton. Mem. British Geological Survey, Sheet 315 (England & Wales), Keyworth, Nottingham: British Geological Survey, ISBN 0118843966

External links

• Fair Oak and Horton Heath Parish Council
• The Eastleigh Photograph Archive
• Fair Oak & Horton Heath Local Community Magazine
• Stoke Park Woods Video