Fareham ( ) is a market town at the north-west tip of Portsmouth Harbour, between the cities of Portsmouth and Southampton in south east Hampshire, England. It gives its name to the Borough of Fareham. It was historically an important manufacturer of bricks, used to build the Royal Albert Hall, and grower of strawberries and other seasonal fruits.
History
The town has a documented history dating back to the Norman era, when a part of William's army marched up from Fareham Creek before continuing to the Saxon capital of England, Winchester. Originally known as Ferneham (hence the name of the entertainment venue Ferneham Hall), it was listed in the Domesday Book as having 90 households. The ford of Fareham Creek (at the top of Portsmouth Harbour) was the location of the Bishop of Winchester's mills; the foundations were subsumed in the A27 near the railway viaduct. Commercial activity continued at the port until the 1970s and continues on a smaller scale.
In the 1960s Fareham experienced major residential development. By the 1970s the town had expanded to almost encompass the surrounding villages of Funtley, Titchfield, Catisfield and Portchester. In the late 1990s a settlement called Whiteley, straddling the boundaries of Fareham Borough and the City of Winchester, was developed to the north of Junction 9 of the M27 motorway. It is predominantly residential but includes the extensive Solent Business Park.
In 1995 Cams Hall, a derelict Palladian mansion, was restored for office use, and the surrounding Cams Estate was developed as a golf course and modern technology park.
Since 1997 Fareham has been the home of the United Kingdom's Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC), at the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC), and responsible for coordinating all Maritime & Coastguard Agency Search and Rescue (SAR) helicopters.
An urban renewal initiative began in 1999, renovating the town centre and historic buildings to include a new entertainment and shopping complex. It featured a major iron sculpture park installed in 2001 to celebrate the work of influential Lancastrian iron pioneer, Henry Cort, who lived in neighbouring Gosport but who had an iron rolling mill in Funtley (or Fontley), on the outskirts of Fareham.
Arts and culture
Fareham was home to Ferneham Hall, a multi purpose venue with a capacity of over 700. The hall opened in 1982 and closed in 2020.
The Ashcroft Arts Centre, on Osborn Road, has a 150-seat theatre, a gallery, a dance/music studio and a fully licensed bar. It offers a varied programme of events including films, theatre, comedy and workshops.
The pedestrianised area of West Street, in the town centre, is home to a permanent exhibition of the work of 12 blacksmith artists celebrating the achievements of Henry Cort, the 18th century 'man of iron' who pioneered the iron refining process at Funtley near Fareham. The puddled wrought iron sculptures are themed on Fareham's market town history and the exhibition is the largest of its type in Britain.
Education
In 2017 Fareham College was rated by OFSTED as "Outstanding".
Sport and Leisure
Fareham has a Non-League football club, Fareham Town F.C.
Transport
Road
The M27 motorway passes around the northern edge of the town, and is the main traffic artery into and out of the area. It provides rapid access to Portsmouth and Southampton, and from there to London via the M3 and A3(M).
The A27 was the original route along the south coast before the building of the M27, and runs from Brighton to Southampton, passing through the centre of Fareham. The A32 passes through Fareham at the Quay Street roundabout, a notorious bottleneck, on its way from Gosport to Wickham and through the Meon Valley to Alton.
Fareham was named the most car-dependent town in the UK by the Office for National Statistics in July 2014 with 538.7 cars registered to addresses in the town for every 1,000 residents.
Rail
Fareham railway station is on the West Coastway Line, with regular services to Portsmouth, Southampton, Brighton, Cardiff and London. Passenger services also ran south to Gosport until 1953, and north along the Meon Valley to Alton until 1955.
Bus
Bus transport in the town is provided by First Hampshire & Dorset, which runs nearly all bus routes. Stagecoach South service 69 does run as far north as Winchester. The bus station is adjacent to Sacred Heart Catholic Church, and replaced an older station that was demolished in the late 1980s.