Exploring North Stoneham Park

Avenue Park public park,
formerly known as The Further Avenue

Avenue Park is owned and managed by Eastleigh Borough Council's Countryside Service.

The public park takes its name from historic Avenue Park, one of the three main parkland areas of North Stoneham Park. (The other two areas were the Deer Park and the Rough Park.) At 5.5 hectares, present-day Avenue Park was formerly known as The Further Avenue. It may comprise only a fraction of great Avenue Park, but it preserves the area's parkland character, and forms a large public green space.

Avenue Park contains both the War Shrine, sited on Cricketers Hill, and also the site of the former Winchester Lodge (which was excavated in 2000).

Today the park is a haven for wildlife with its rich flower meadows, large old trees and water features. If you are lucky, you can see kingfishers and kestrels, and numerous other birds. The park is renowned for the profusion of mistletoe in its old trees - most visible in autumn and winter.

There is a footpath from the park, following the route of the former carriage-way, across open fields to North Stoneham church.

Eastleigh Countryside Service, as part of Eastleigh Borough Council, owns and manages over 800 acres of countryside. The service has more than 30 sites, ranging from the largest, Itchen Valley Country Park, at 440 acres to the smallest, Merlin Gardens Pond, at less than one acre.

• Countryside Sites in Eastleigh (external link)

 
Copyright © 2008-2009 Project Steering Group / Trustees of the Willis Fleming Historical Trust. All rights reserved.   Sitemap.