Baffins Adjoining the eastern
green belt, this extends into the heart of the Baffins neighbourhood which has a large pond and the grounds of
Portsmouth College.
Buckland Buckland is a central neighbourhood at the heart of the island, directly north of Kingston and north-east of Landport.
Copnor Copnor is an area on the eastern side of Portsea Island. As
Copenore, it was one of the three villages listed as being on Portsea Island in the Domesday book. In the late 19th and early 20th century the rapid expansion of Portsmouth saw the original village engulfed. The west of the district is now a predominantly residential area of 1930s housing, while the east is an industrial and commercial area. It was originally intended to have a railway station, which would be the intermediate station between Havant and Portsmouth Town stations when the line opened. However, this never materialised, in spite of the large gap between stations, and the existence of a signalled level crossing for many years (now a bridge). A "Station Road" was laid out, and still exists, however construction on the station never began.
Eastney Fronting the beach along the southern shore is the promenade road of Eastney, which is punctuated by three forts: small Eastney Fort West (dismantled); Eastney Fort East; and large
Fort Cumberland, which occupies a modest peninsula. Eastney is the most south-eastern area of Portsea Island and forms part of the entrance into
Langstone Harbour. Eastney offers a marina (confusingly named as "Southsea Marina") and a foot-passenger ferry service across Langstone Harbour to neighbouring
Hayling Island. Eastney Lake, a natural tidal inlet of Langstone Harbour is located on the northern side of the Eastney peninsula, with Milton on the opposite northern side of Eastney Lake. A small enclosed lagoon nicknamed 'The Glory Hole' is located on the southern side of Eastney Lake, and is refilled with Langstone Harbour's salt-water on high spring tides. Eastney Lake is also known by locals as 'Eastney Creek' or 'The Creek'.
Fratton Fratton is a
residential and light industrial area of
Portsmouth. It consists mostly of
Victorian terraced houses, and is typical of the residential areas in the city. There is also a modest shopping centre on Fratton Road,
The Bridge Centre, built on the site of a large former
Co-op department store, now dominated by a large
Asda supermarket, which reflects the working-class naval and industrial heritage of the Fratton district, with localised rather than centralised low-budget shops and cafés.
Fratton railway station is one of four stations remaining on Portsea Island and forms part of the
Portsmouth Direct line. To the east of Fratton railway station there is
Fratton Traincare Depot, a train maintenance depot. The large former Fratton railway goods yard was cleared in the late 1990s and early 2000s, making way for a retail park.
His Majesty's Naval Base, Portsmouth Hilsea Hilsea is the north-western district of the city, with a mixture of residential and industrial/retail/distribution areas. It is home to one of Portsmouth's main sports and leisure facilities, the Mountbatten Centre and
Trafalgar School. Among its small
green belt to the north and west is
Portsmouth rugby football club.
Anchorage Park is a 1980s housing development which occupies the north-eastern portion of Hilsea. Anchorage Park was formerly the location of
Portsmouth Airport, Hilsea which was closed in 1973.
Kingston This small central, typical, terraced district of the city has a few high-rise developments and is entirely residential.
Landport Residential parts of Landport are separated from its trade and distribution premises alongside its Albert Johnson Quay by the M275/A3 where the roads change designation. In the westernmost street of this residential side is a large old
listed horse trough and row of listed four homes, the
Charles Dickens Birthplace Museum in his birthplace home, and Mile End Chapel (a studio). A section of the original main Portsmouth to London
A3 road between Commercial Road, Landport and Kingston Crescent is locally known as Mile End Road area. Landport is also home to the former Mile End House School, which was a boys'
preparatory school founded by George Lewin Oliver, who later became a founding director of
Portsmouth Football Club on 5 April 1898 and club chairman on 27 July 1912.
Mile End See Landport Mile End began as a small 18th century settlement built on the London to Portsmouth
A3 road, a
mile to the north of the main
Landport Gate entrance to the walled town of Portsmouth (now
Old Portsmouth). Mile End was consumed within the rapid urban development of the growing Landport and Buckland areas during the 19th and 20th centuries. Much like neighbouring Rudmore, Mile End's proximity to Portsmouth's naval dockyard during World War II caused extensive damage and redevelopment of the Mile End area post-war. However, remnants of old Mile End still survive to the present day along a narrow area of Portsea Island's west shoreline; Mile End Road is the official name of a section of the A3 road to the north of Commercial Road which extends northwards through Mile End (alongside the
M275 motorway) towards the Rudmore Roundabout intersection with Kingston Crescent in North End. To the west of Mile End Road is the Mile End Industrial Estate. Novelist
Charles Dickens was born at 1 Mile End Terrace, Mile End on 7 February 1812, which has since been renamed 393 Old Commercial Road, Landport. and the professor
William Garnett was born in Portsea on 30 December 1850. The Portsea area was formerly an expanse of common land located between the original walled town of Portsmouth and the nearby
dockyard.
The Common, as it was named, began developing as a new settlement at the end of the 17th century as a response to overcrowding within the walls of the
old town of Portsmouth. This development worried the governor of the dockyard, as he feared that the new buildings would provide cover for any forces attempting to attack. In 1703, he threatened to demolish any buildings within range of the cannons mounted on the dockyard walls. However, after a petition to
Queen Anne, royal consent for the development was granted in 1704. Part of ''The Common's
shoreline in Portsmouth Harbour became known as The Common Hard
, so-named as its sloped hard
clay shoreline was convenient for hauling boats into and from Portsmouth Harbour. In 1792 the name of the area was changed from The Common
to Portsea
(after Portsea Island''), and by then it had a mixed dockside population.
William Tucker, baptised there in 1784, was convicted of shoplifting from a Portsea tailor, William Wilday, in 1798 and transported to
New South Wales on the "death ship"
Hillsborough which took convicts and typhus with it from Portsmouth to the colony. Tucker escaped and made it all the way back to Britain in 1803, only to be taken to Portsmouth for re-embarkation to
Australia. He was later a
sealer, established the retail trade in
preserved Maori heads and settled in
Otago,
New Zealand, where he became that country's first art dealer before falling victim to his hosts in 1817 and being eaten. The novelist
Sarah Doudney was born in Portsea on 15 January 1841.
Hertha Ayrton, British engineer, mathematician, physicist and inventor, was born there in 1854. By the start of the 20th century, Portsmouth council had started to clear much of the
slum housing in Portsea. The city's first
council houses were built in the district in 1911. The 1920s and 1930s saw extensive redevelopment of the area, with many of the older slums being replaced by new council houses. The area's proximity to the dockyard resulted in its taking massive bomb damage during
World War II. After the war the area was redeveloped as all council housing, in a mixture of houses, maisonettes and tower blocks.
Portsea is also the name of a
religious parish of Portsea Island and the city of Portsmouth, Portsea's shoreline today still remains known as
The Hard and is home to
The Hard Interchange, a bus and coach terminus and
Portsmouth Harbour railway station, which is built on a pier to the south of
The Hard.
Rudmore Rudmore is the name of a former residential district on the western side of Portsea Island near to the naval base and the present-day
Portsmouth International Port. Rudmore was heavily bombed during World War II and was reduced to rubble. After the war, Rudmore was cleared to make way for the
M275 motorway spur and the intersection junction now known as the "Rudmore Roundabout".
Somerstown Somerstown is an inner city residential district of Portsmouth that was first founded in the early nineteenth century on land owned by a Mr. Somers, in whose name the district is now named. Somerstown is located to the south of Landport and to the north of Southsea.
Southsea map of lines around Portsmouth, showing the Southsea Railway Southsea occupies the southern end of Portsea Island, within a mile (1.6 km) of Portsmouth's city centre and Portsmouth Harbour. Originally named Croxton Town after the land owner, a Mr. Croxton, Southsea grew into a popular Victorian seaside resort in the nineteenth century. Southsea has a thriving commercial area with well-known high street chains, and numerous independent traders which includes restaurants, bars, charity shops, food retailers and furniture/household goods shops. From 1999, Southsea had its own separate town council, but was reintegrated back into Portsmouth City Council in 2010. From 1885, Southsea had its own railway branch line, named the
Southsea Railway. The Southsea Railway incorporated three stations at
Jessie Road Bridge Halt,
Albert Road Bridge Halt and a terminus station called
East Southsea at Granada Road. The railway line ran south off a branch line from
Fratton Station. The Southsea Railway was closed in 1914 due to economic competition from trams. Railway track and stations were subsequently removed and replaced with roads and housing. On a modern map of Portsmouth, the route of the Southsea Railway can still clearly be seen from the arrangement of the newer housing and roads which replaced it.
Stamshaw This residential area of terraced streets includes
Alexandra Park, and the
Mountbatten Sports Centre. To the north lie
Tipner and
Hilsea, and to the south are
Kingston,
Buckland and Commercial Road, the main retail area of the city. Stamshaw is bounded to its west by the
M275 motorway and
Whale Island, and to the east is
North End. The main thoroughfares of Stamshaw, Twyford Avenue and Stamshaw Road, are two axes of a one-way traffic system. An
eponymous infant and junior school serve it. Its park adjoining the feeder road terminating at the city centre (with motorway status) has large fields and an adventure playground.
Tipner This small north-west corner has the public parkland point,
Tipner Point, and is a mixture of road use, retail/distribution and residential. ==Mainland suburbs of Portsmouth==