History at Westwood

Westwood has been close to human settlements for hundreds of years and many signs of its history can still be found hidden within it.

Westwood was formerly part of the huge estate in the ownership of the Cistercian monastery of Netley Abbey which was founded in 1239. The wood is linked to the monastery by the remains of ancient ditches and banks which are thought to be conduits for carrying water from a reservoir to the wells, fishponds and even toilets of the Abbey. There are four ditches in total in the woods and one of them is a scheduled ancient monument.

Some of Westwood was managed by farmers in the past as coppice woodland, when they would cut hazel stems from the wood each winter to make hurdles or charcoal, for example. Part of Westwood used to be called "Sturt's Coppice" in the 1800s; we would love to know who 'Sturt' was. In the late eighteenth century, most of Westwood belonged to Mr Cleverley who owned Grange farm (now the Mill House pub).

Several houses were built along the southern edge of Westwood during the Victorian era and some of the present day features of Westwood are a result of this. The main pond was originally an ornamental lake in the grounds of the now demolished Lake House, which took its name from the feature. Some of the plants that can be seen around the pond, such as bamboo and greater periwinkle, date from this period. Hilton House also stood in Westwood with a beautiful view over Southampton Water but has now been entirely reclaimed by the woods. A third house, Marina View, has now been converted to private flats.

The rest of the woods were managed by a gamekeeper on behalf of the Chamberlayne estate, probably for shooting, up until the second world war.

During the war, part of the woodland on the western side of Tickleford Gully was used as a "Z Battery" (an artillery emplacement) to defend the Spitfire factory at Woolston from bombing. The bases were set out to make best use of the natural cover of the woodland edge. The concrete bases for this emplacement are largely intact and are still easily seen amongst the undergrowth in many places.

From the end of the 19th century small scale gravel extraction seems to have been taking place and some of the paths in Westwood were created as roads during this period. Larger scale extraction started on the Mound in 1949. This was followed by refuse disposal which continued into the early 1990s.

After the restoration of the landfill site the ancient woodland and restored grassland were combined into one public open space. Hampshire County Council Countryside staff began to manage Westwood in 1986.