Open Spaces in Compton & Shawford

The Parish Council was asked to identify publicly accessible open spaces within the parish under the following six headings: Allotments, Equipped children’s play areas, Informal green space, Natural green space, Parks and recreation grounds, outdoor sports.

Note that while some areas containing footpaths have been included explicitly, there are many other footpaths through and skirting the parish, including historic trails such as the Monarch's Way, the Clarendon Way and the Itchen Way.

Usage notes: You can view the various open space areas by selecting different overlays in the green box on the map below.

Note: The borders of the various areas are as accurate as we could readily make them with the tools available. They should be treated as indicative and not as definitive.
At certain zoom levels, roads are shown wider than their true scale. In particular, this has the side effect that the Hockley Viaduct outline can appear to overlay the road. If you zoom in, its location is shown more accurately.

Scroll down to see details about the open spaces in the table below the map.

Map of Open Space areas

Click on a name below the map to zoom in on that place

Shawford Down
Sparrowgrove Woods
Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field
Memorial Playing Field and children's play area
The Knoll
Bushfield Camp
Butterfly Reserve
South Winchester Park and Ride
Compton Lock
Yew Tree woods
Southdown path
Hockley Viaduct

Compton & Shawford Open Space Areas

Scrollable list of Open Space Areas in Compton & Shawford.
Note that while some areas containing footpaths have been included explicitly, there are many other footpaths through and skirting the parish, including historic trails such as the Monarch's Way, the Clarendon Way and the Itchen Way.

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	Area	Category	Owner /managed by (if known)	Comments	Link (there may be other relevant links)

	Area	Category	Owner /managed by (if known)	Comments	Link (there may be other relevant links)
1	Memorial Playing Field	Outdoor sports	Compton & Shawford Parish Council	The Memorial Playing Field was acquired after the Second World War thanks to the generosity of a local landowner. It is leased to the Compton & Shawford Sports Club and used for football, cricket and tennis with a multi-use games area due for completion in December 2013	CSPC Sport & Leisure
2	MPF Play Area	Equipped children’s play area	Compton & Shawford Parish Council	The children's play area was formally fenced off and new equipment installed in 2001	July 2001 PC meeting report
3	QE II Playing Field	Outdoor sports	Compton & Shawford Parish Council	Purchased from the City Council in the 1980 for the benefit of local residents and made part of the Jubilee Fields In Trust scheme on 2013. The small football pitch is well used by local young people and by some who come from outside the parish.	New goalposts in Compton Street playground
4	QE II Play Area	Equipped children’s play area	Compton & Shawford Parish Council	New Open-Space-funded play equipment was installed in 2002 and has been updated several times since.	Queen Elizabeth II Playing Field Opening
5	Shawford Down	Natural green space	HCC Countryside Services	A Natural England Local Nature Reserve. It was fenced a few years ago to allow HCC Countryside Services to use highland cattle as an environmentally-friendly way to keep the grass under control. The highland cattle were much appreciated by many residents and visitors.	natural England website
6	Bushfield Camp	Informal green space	The Church Commissioners	This large 43 hectare area forms an important open space lying mostly within the parish of Compton & Shawford. The Parish Council took the view that the area occupied during the war by Bushfield Camp is a brownfield site and so did not support the move by the Bushfield Down Supporters Group to seek Village Green status for the whole area. 20 hectares are identified as an employment site under the Winchester City Council Local Plan, with the undeveloped part of the site to be reserved for public recreational purposes.	WCC - Bushfield Camp
7	Sparrowgrove	Natural green space	Sparrowgrove and Oakwood Copse Conservation Trust (SOCCT)	Sparrowgrove (and Oakwood Copse in the adjoining parish of Otterbourne) were sold off by Southern Water after its privatisation. Local residents formed SOCCT with the specific objective of acquiring these two important woodlands and preserving them for public enjoyment.	SOCCT
8	The Knoll	Informal green space	HCC Countryside Services	The Knoll was formed after the rearrangement of land following the construction of the M3 around Winchester. Highland cattle were grazed there for a while.
9	Compton Lock	Natural green space		Compton Lock and the open areas of Twyford Mead on the eastern bank of the Itchen Navigation are an important recreational asset for residents of our parish and in particular Shawford. While most of the recreational area lies within Twyford parish, the wooded pathway to Compton Lock from the end of Bridge Lane is an asset within our parish that needs to be preserved.	Twyford PC website
10	Yew Tree Woods	Natural green space	HCC?	This wooded area with paths passing ancient yew trees – together with the footpaths leading to and from it – are an area much valued by walkers and an important pedestrian link between the village of Compton and the settlement of Compton Down.	Ancient Yew walk description
11	Yew Hill Butterfly Reserve	Natural green space		Most, if not all of the reserve lies outside the civil parish of Compton and Shawford. It is however, surrounded on three sides by the civil parish and, surprisingly, completely contained within the ecclesiastical parish of Compton. It is an important habitat for chalk land butterflies. There are excellent views down the valley of Compton village and in the distance Twyford church can be seen.	Butterfly Conservation website
12	Hockley Viaduct	Parks and recreation grounds	Winchester City Council/ SUSTRANS	The refurbishment of the viaduct and its opening in February 2013 as part of NCN route 23 have confirmed the viaduct's position as an important recreational feature of the parish	WCC writeup of Cycle Route 23
13	Southdown path to station	Bridleway		During October 2011, a party of residents together with British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) opened up the track at the foot of Shawford Down which follows the railway south and meanders up to the bottom of Southdown Road. This route is now fully accessible and offers great views across the water meadows. Following representation from the Parish Council, in 2019 this path was defined by Hampshire County Council as a public bridleway, path number Compton & Shawford 506.	CS PC 2012 Annual Report
14	Winchester South Park and Ride Cycle Track	Parks and recreation grounds	Winchester City Council	Officially opened by Cllr Rob Humby, Deputy Leader and Portfolio Holder for Sport at Winchester City Council, at a special event on Sunday 17 November 2013	WCC Press release

Showing 1 to 14 of 14 entries

Open Spaces in Compton & Shawford

Map of Open Space areas

Compton & Shawford Open Space Areas

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