Leigh Park

Leigh Park is a large suburb on the northern side of Havant, developed after the Second World War as a housing estate to rehouse families from bomb-damaged Portsmouth. Portsmouth City Council bought the land from the Fitzwygram family in 1944; building began in 1947 and the first residents moved in during 1949. At its peak it was described as one of the largest council estates in Europe, and it remains home to a population of roughly 27,500.

## Shopping and Community

The estate's commercial heart is the Greywell shopping precinct and Park Parade, which opened in the mid-1950s (the first shops opened in Stone Square in 1952, with the main Park Parade / Greywell shopping centre following in 1955). Today the precincts hold a range of everyday shops, takeaways, cafes and community services, and there are neighbourhood centres nearby.

## Staunton Country Park

On Leigh Park's northern edge lies Staunton Country Park, the surviving parkland of the Regency Leigh Park estate created by the horticulturist and politician Sir George Staunton. Its ornamental lake, follies, walled garden, glasshouses and farm animals make it one of the most popular free-to-enter green spaces in the borough. The estate's stables, walled garden and coach house survived the building of the housing estate.

## Getting Around

Leigh Park is well served by bus routes into Havant town centre and Portsmouth, and sits close to the A3(M). The nearest railway station is Havant, a short bus ride to the south.