Portchester

Portchester is a locality and suburb 6 km (4 mi) northwest of Portsmouth, England. It is part of the borough of Fareham in Hampshire. Once a small village, Portchester is now a busy part of the expanding conurbation between Portsmouth and Southampton on the A27 main thoroughfare. Its population according to the 2011 United Kingdom census was 17,789 residents.

Portchester is derived from its former Latin name Portus Adurni and the Old English suffix ceaster ("fort; fortified town"), itself derived from the Latin word “castrum.”

The fort of Portus Adurni is considered the best-preserved Roman fort north of the Alps.[2] It is sometimes identified as the Caer Peris[3] listed by the 9th-century History of the Britons as among the 28 cities of Britain.[4][5] The medieval Portchester Castle was built within the Roman fort.

As well as the castle, its parish church St Mary's [6] is listed as a Grade I protected building.[7][8] There are also many historic houses in Castle Street. This suburb is well placed for waterfront leisure activities, only a short distance from the UK's 3rd-largest marina at Port Solent, from the historic city of Portsmouth, and from the market town of Fareham.

Opened in 1958, it is on the lower slopes of Portsdown Hill. It is owned by a Joint Committee representing the City of Portsmouth and the Boroughs of Fareham, Havant and Gosport. It has two chapels, the North (added 1969) and South (original).[17] Those cremated there include two World War I Victoria Cross recipients, Norman Augustus Finch and James Ockendon who both died in 1966.[18]

Portchester has a Non-League football club A.F.C. Portchester, which plays at Wicor Recreation Ground.

Portchester railway station is managed and operated by South Western Railway with frequent Southern Railway services. Services run along the coast to Southampton, Fareham, Portsmouth, Havant, Chichester and Brighton. London services to London Waterloo (via Fareham) and London Victoria (via Barnham) also stop at the station.

First Hampshire & Dorset services to Portsmouth, Havant, Fareham, Titchfield, Locks Heath and Warsash.

The A27 road cuts through the centre of Portchester running east/west between Fareham and Cosham on the northern outskirts of Portsmouth. Access to the M27 motorway is via Junction 11 at Fareham or Junction 12 at Port Solent.