The Havant Heritage Trail development was a joint project between Havant Rotary Club in celebration of 50 years of Rotary in
Havant,  Bosmere 100 and Havant Borough Council.

The Heritage Trail was opened by Havant Mayor John Smith on the 1st August 2008 Afterwards, those present at the ceremony walked part of the route with the Mayor and Mike Valentine, who led the project (and put up most of the plaques).

The trail consist of 34 plaques placed on buildings of historic interest in and around the town. The plaques were paid for by a donation from Havant Rotary members.

Copies of the Heritage trail guide can be obtained from Havant Museum, Havant Borough Council and Tourist information centres.

Havant Rotary President Graham Smith said " We feel that the heritage trail is a fitting project with which to commemorate our club's 50th birthday. The history of Havant is important and we hope in this small way we can contribute to a better understanding of the town's heritage. Congratulations to Mike Valentine who led this project on behalf of the club and installed all of the plaques personally".

The Heritage Trail

1.  The Crossroads
Since the earliest settlements in Havant, the community has built up around the crossing of two ancient tracks. The north south track was an ancient route to Langstone Harbour. The East West Track was a pre-Roman coast road.

2. St Faiths Church
The present church was built in the 12th century and much restored in the 19th. During repairs in 1832 traces of Roman foundations were found beneath it.

This suggests that some form of worship may have taken place on this site for 2000 years. The chancel which is the oldest part of the church dates from the 13th century.

3.  The Robin Hood
The Robin Hood was created from the conversion of two early 19th century cottages. To the rear of the building there once stood a former malthouse.

4.  Homewell Spring
This is the only one of Havant’s springs that is still open to view. It is almost certainly the Haman Funta from which the town takes it’s name.

5. The Parchment Factory
These buildings were formally the old parchment factory. The Homewell Spring proved ideal for the production of high quality parchment.

6.  Homewell House
Taking it’s name  from the famous spring close by, Homewell House , built in the 1830s owes it’s origins to the Homewell Brewery that formerly adjoined the property.

7. The Old House At Home
The 16th century timber framed building is a fine example of a Tudor building with overhanging upper floor, small windows and stout oak beams.

8. Malthouse and John Moore’s Wall
A malthouse was where barley was turned into malt for use in the local breweries. Brewing was a major industry in Havant until the first world war. The wall attached to the back of the building bears the name John Moore who in 1832 was a well known stonemason.

9. Hall Place
Hall place was built in1796 and replaced an older building. The yellow (or buff) bricks of which it is built were brought into the area from Dorset as a prestigious building material The exterior and interior of the house are largely unaltered.

10. Gloyne’s Brewery
Small independent brewery worked for nearly 80 years by the Gloyne family of maltsters and brewers, until it’s closure in 1898. The brew-house and malthouse still survive intact.

11. The White Hart
The White Hart was built in 1889 to replace two earlier public houses. It is a fine example of both corner and public house architecture.

12. Bear Hotel
The Bear is an 18th century coaching inn which provided  a regular stopping point for stage coaches on both the south coast run and the London route.

13. Barclays Passage
This passageway is believed to be part of the original North South track which ran south to Langstone and over the causeway to Hayling Island. The wall has a plaque of unknown origin dated 1672.

14. Magnolia House
This is an excellent example of the Georgian houses which made East Street one of the most desirable parts of town to live. Notice the impressive porch and doorway, which is relatively unchanged since the house was first constructed.

15. The Twittens
An old local name signifying a town footpath. These ancient tracks were often referred to by old inhabitants as ‘Back Lanes.’ Twitten means Betwixt and Between in country dialect.

16. The Old Town Hall
The Old Town Hall was built in 1870 by a group of prominent local people, including William Stone of Leigh Park House. The  hall served as a focal point for community activities. From 1909 it was used as a Drill Hall by Havant volunteers before eventually being purchased by Havant and Waterloo Urban District Council in 1921.

17. Havant Museum
The building was constructed in 1874 at the request of Mary Charge who wanted a house with a hall in which a choir or orchestra could perform. It has since been used  for numerous community functions and was bought by the Havant and Waterloo Urban District Council in 1946. In 1979 the building opened as Havant Museum.

18. The Hayling Billy Line
The branch railway to Hayling Island opened initially to Langstone in 1865 and was extended to South Hayling in 1867. The line closed  in 1963 and is now a leisure trail.

19. Old Post Office
The building was built in 1936 and has the royal cipher of Edward VIII, who was King of England for just eleven months in 1936, before abdicating to marry Mrs Simpson.

20. Gazebo and Garden
The Gazebo (gazing place) was built in 1779 by the Lellyett family, watchmakers, silversmiths and gunsmiths of Havant, and served as a pleasant
viewing point over the garden wall to what was the Fairfield and countryside beyond. It also overlooked Havant’s Manor House located at the
junction of Prince George Street and Fairfield Road.

21. Fairfield Terrace
An imaginative example of Victorian architecture. The name Fairfield comes from the annual fair, granted to the town by Henry VI in 1451. At the end of the terrace you will find a plaque commemorating Queen Victoria’s golden jubilee.

22. Church House (Formerly Pallant House)
This is an 18th century house, altered in the 19th century and it is probable  that parts of it are as early as the 17th century. The building was acquired by the church in 1919.

23. No 4 Prince George’s Street
This Georgian house was the home of the minister of the Dissenters Chapel. The house was built in the early part of the 18th century and is a fine example of a Georgian domestic building. (The Dissenters Chapel is at No 10 The Pallant)

24. The Dissenters Chapel
The chapel was built in 1718 during the reign of George I, as a place of divine worship. At this time religious and moral values were flourishing. Dissenters is a collective name given to the first religious groups established independent of the Church of England.

25. No 11 The Pallant
Built in the early 1800’s, this attractive house is in the old South Hampshire tradition of grey bricks with red borders, a parapet roof and bow windows. It is unusual in having the bow windows on both floors.

26. United Reformed Church
Built in 1891 as the Congregational Church to replace the free church in The Pallant. In 1972 the Congregational Church joined with the Presbyterian Church to become the United Reform Church.

27. The Perseverance
A good example of decorative faience brickwork, this mid Victorian public house has its origins in an earlier 19th century building.

28. The Railway Station
The first railway ran through Havant in 1847. In 1858 the ‘Battle of Havant’ occurred between two rival railway
companies. The London South –Western wished to link Portsmouth to London and the London Brighton and
South Coast refused  permission to cross the tracks of the already established Coastal line.
In 1859 consent was finally given.

29. Havant Park
Havant Park was created by the Havant Urban District Council. The Pavilion built in 1890 was paid for by the local business community. The park has provided a recreation area in Havant for over 100 years and was the venue for the annual sports day until the middle of the 20th century.

30. The Work House
Longcroft House has been built on the site of the Havant Work House which provided shelter for people who could not support themselves. C J Longcroft was the clerk to the guardians(who ran the workhouse) in the latter part of the 19th century.

31. The Glove Factory
This building was a valuable source of local employment for Havant, the leather working factory owned by Alfred Stent operated on this site, later turning to tanning and glove making before finally ceasing production in 1960. Alfred Stent & Sons produced gloves for Queen Elizabeth , the Queen Mother.

32. The Court House (Formerly The Black Dog)
Part of this building dates back to the Tudor period. One of the upstairs rooms was used as a magistrates court until the late 1800’s. It was also the meeting place for the Havant Board of Health, which was set up in 1852, to improve the health of the town.

33. La Bonne Baguette
Formerly a storehouse and loft to a brewery and malthouse that would have used the local spring water for brewing.

34. Davies The Chemist
This building is believed to have been a farmhouse and is significantly older than the Georgian fron would suggest, dating probably from the 1600’s. The red tiles on the front, called mathematical tiles, are designed to look like bricks.