Early history

A series of round barrows, dating from the Bronze Age (2000-600 BC), have been discovered in the Moorgreen area of the parish. There were five of these to the north of the former Moorgreen Hospital site.^[2] A hilltop fort from the Iron Age was built on the ridge above the village around 600-100BC.^[3] A shutter telegraph station operated from the site during the Napoleonic Wars, forming part of the line connecting London to Plymouth.^[3] It was this station that gave the name to the nearby Telegraph Woods.^[4]

The village was originally a hamlet which grew up around a track between Romsey and Portsmouth.^[3] The hamlet had a chapel by 1552 primarily for the use of the lords of the manor of Allington.^[3] When the track became a turnpike road in the early 19th century, the hamlet began to grow.^[3]

19th century

In 1838, a national school was opened to house 192 children.^[3] St James' Church was founded in the same year.^[5]

The hamlet was mostly within the tithing of Shamblehurst, with a small section at the northern end in the tithing of Allington, both within the parish of South Stoneham.^[6] The ecclesiastical parish of West End was established in 1840, two years after the construction of the original St James' Church.^[3] In 1846 a Bible Christian chapel was constructed in Chapel Road.^[3]

A poor house had existed at the eastern end of the village for some time, and in 1848 this was replaced by a red-brick workhouse. This eventually became Moorgreen Hospital.^[3]

An extra room was added to the national school in 1866. In 1871 an independent school for younger children was opened, having been built by Mrs Harriet Hazlefoot.

In 1890, the spire of St James' was struck by lightning and the building was replaced. The civil parish was established in 1894.^[3] A number of boundary changes have taken place since then.

Harriet Hazlefoot's school became the infants' department of the national school in 1894.

20th century

During the 20th century, the school moved again into a new (third) building and was renamed St James' Primary School. The second school building became Hilldene Community Centre, where a number of adult education courses and other activities take place.

In 1900, two further Methodist chapels were built, one in the Moorgreen area and one in Swaythling Road. In September 1904 the children of the national school were moved to a new location with the old school building becoming the parish hall.^[3]

The fire station was opened in May 1939 by Mrs Pearson of Oaklands in Allington Lane. The station was crewed by a mixture of National Fire Service and Auxiliary Fire Service personnel, and the station housed a Dennis New World fire engine.^[7]

In 1954, Harefield was transferred out of the civil parish and into Southampton.^[3]

The Roman Catholic church of St Brigid was opened in the village in 1961.^{[citation needed]}

The fire station was closed in 1996 and the building was transferred to the parish council to run as a community venue. West End Local History Society, established at the same time, set up its museum in the building.^[7]

21st century

Hampshire County Cricket Club's home ground, the Utilita Bowl cricket ground was built in 2000 along with an accompanying hotel and conference facilities and a 18-hole golf course. It has hosted several international cricket games and a number of well known musical acts such as Oasis, The Who, Neil Diamond, R.E.M. and Billy Joel.

RMS Titanic connection