is a market town in the
English county of
Hampshire , situated on the northern border of the
South Downs . The town was founded at the end of the
11th Century . It grew as a coach stop on the
Portsmouth to
London route, and today is situated on both the main rail and road link between the two cities. Petersfield is twinned with
Barentin in France, and
Warendorf in Germany.
The artist
Flora Twort , the agriculturalist
John Worlidge , the actor
Alec Guinness , and the cricketer
John Small all lived in Petersfield at some point.
Petersfield holds regular markets twice weekly, as well as monthly farmer's markets and 'French Markets' with stalls from Petersfield's twin town Barentin.
Petersfield boasts the world's first
Teddy Bear Museum . There are also several other museums in the town including the
Flora Twort Gallery , based in her old studio, and the
Petersfield Museum , which is concerned with the history of the town and is situated in the town's old Courthouse. Exhibitions are sometimes also held at The Festival Hall, St. Peter's Church, and The Physic Garden.
Petersfield's
Market Square holds regular markets throughout the week, and there are also monthly
Farmers' Market s. On top of this, stallholders and farmers from Petersfield's
French twin town
Barentin visit Petersfield and hold a ''French market'', selling items they sell on a typical French market.
The town's market square has a
Statue of
King William III (William of Orange). The
King is carved sitting astride his horse, and the statue is raised up on an engraved plinth. This is the only statue of William in a town square in the
United Kingdom outside
Northern Ireland . It is believed to be based on an ancient roman statue of Emperor Marcus Aurelius.
Petersfield is surrounded on all sides by countryside and so has a great deal of scenery and foot/bridle paths.
Close to the town and situated on the South Downs is
Queen Elizabeth Country Park , which incorporates
Butser Hill (the highest point on the downs), and has a wide variety of scenery from chalk hills to pine forest.
Within the town is , a large area of
Heathland with a lake which offers boating and fishing amongst its activities.
In the High Steet is the , which is a recreation of a 17th century herb garden. It is open to the public nearly every day of the year.
Petersfield's shows many plays and concerts during the year, and there are plans to construct a small cinema in the building.
Petersfield offers a good range of Public Houses and Bars to suit all tastes, from historic coach stops to trendy modern bars, one nightclub and coffee houses.
Petersfield also has one
Nightclub , ''Vertigo''. This building was once used as the Savoy cinema many years ago. There are plans to completely redevelop the site with a more modern building.
Petersfield has a wealth of clubs and teams for most sports. Several players have gone on to lead successful professional sporting careers, such as footballer
Maik Taylor and rugby player
Tim Rodber .
There are various sports venues, such as the ''Taro Centre'', a leisure centre containing swimming pools,
squash courts , a gymnasium and other facilities. The town also has tennis courts, an open air pool, and many playing fields and local golf courses.
The
East Hampshire District Council offices are in Petersfield.
Petersfield is part of the
Parliamentary Constituency of
East Hampshire . Its
Member Of Parliament is
Michael Mates , a member of the
Conservative Party .
The County Councillors are Samantha Payne and Michael Cartwright.
EHDC has opposed the formation of the
South Downs National Park , which would removed planning and other functions from them, despite popular support for the scheme.
Petersfield is located on the mainline rail link (the
Portsmouth Direct Line ) between
Portsmouth and
London . It is served by
Petersfield Railway Station .
The main road (the
A3 ) link between Portsmouth and London used to go through Petersfield, before the bypass was built round the north side of the town. Another major road, (the
A272 ) runs between Petersfield and
Winchester , Hampshire's County Town.
The
Public School school
Churcher's College is located in Petersfield.
Bedales School is another public school, located in the neighbouring village of Steep. The local state secondary school is
The Petersfield School , usually referred to as 'TPS'. Primary schools in the area include
Sheet Primary School and Herne Primary School. There are also a number of schools in the surrounding areas of Petersfield, which feed into the Petersfield secondary schools. These schools include Langrish Primary school, East Meon Primary School, West Meon Primary School, Steep Primary School and Buriton Primary School.
Petersfield has two weekly newspapers,
Petersfield Post and
Petersfield Herald . Delta FM is the local radio station.
Main Employment is in shops and offices in the town centre and farms in nearby villages, whilst there is a large number of commuters to London and Portsmouth. Light industry tends to be concentrated in the Bedford Road estate on the West side of Petersfield. Here is a list of some organizations with a significant presence in Petersfield:
The
Henry Willis organ factory has been pulled down and all production moved to Liverpool.
The
Estee Lauder (cosmetics company) factory relocated to
Fareham in 2005.
Petersfield is located at (51.0000, -0.9333)
1 .
Petersfield is situated on the northern border of the South Downs, and Butser Hill, the highest point on the downs is only 3 miles from the town.
Being situated in a dip, with Butser Hill and Harting Hill to the South, and Stoner Hill to the North, the weather in Petersfield can be quite different from the weather over the hill. In particular, there tends to be more fog than on the other side.
