Here you will find informal information on activity’s in and around the Village, The Hospital of St Cross and from time to time Winchester. If you would like to put an event on the event’s page, please go to contact’s page and fill in the detail’s.
Apartment Housing
The large size of a number of houses has led to some flat conversions, a process that is preferable to demolition, especially where a large garden and the front of the house can be kept as existing. A large 3-storey block of thirty flats of banal design has been built in Norman Road; these back onto a commercial garage and there is unfortunately no room for a tree screen between the two. Fifty-four dreary-looking flats have been built near The Grange; these have the merit of being screened from the road by trees. There are twelve flats on the corner of Stanmore Lane and a further ten in Cripstead Lane. The shop at St Cross has recently re-opened. In the past complaints were made about advertising on and around the building, but this is something that must surely be accepted for a shop in this position.
Other Land Uses
On St Cross Road there is The Bell public house; there is a primary school, St Faith's, in St Faith's Road, and St Faith's church hall in Back Street. These and St Cross Church form the social nucleus of the village. In Gamier Road there is the sewage pumping station; built in 1875, this is an industrial building of some distinction but unfortunately it has lost its chimney; it has now been converted for office use, and one of the pump wheels now makes a distinctive external exhibit. A refuse reclamation depot is at the back; the City Council aim to move it to a more spacious site, which would reduce the present traffic congestion on Gamier Road. There is a builders' yard between the main road and the Hospital, and a petrol station and car dealer further north on St Cross Road. The latter has been smartened up, but the site has potential for residential development. The small commercial garage in Cripstead Lane is very much in scale with the neighbourhood and is to be encouraged.
Change of Use
On the corner of Cripstead Lane and St Cross Road the White Horse public house has been sympathetically converted to residential use, with a new hanging sign showing a white horse as a background to domestic activities. Opposite the one-time pub the then wine shop is now a house with a new house built on its previous parking area; this might have looked better if a simpler design had been chosen.
Routes, Traffic & Car Parking
St Cross Road is the main route from the south for local traffic coming to Winchester. At present this traffic disturbs what could be a picturesque village. Further development of the Park-&-Ride to the south of the City to provide enough space for shoppers and visitors as well as commuters may help, but it is unlikely that this traffic will ever be sufficiently reduced to create a quiet village centre.
At present parking is in short supply to the east of St Cross Road; on the western side there is limited short stay space in Mead Road for tourists visiting the Hospital.
The footpath from the city to Farley Mount and Salisbury, the Clarendon Way, passes along the water meadows to the Hospital then up Mead Road to the railway and thence into Whiteshute Lane, an ancient trackway cut deep into the ground by years of heavy use.
A in-depth detailed view of St Cross Village Winchester
There is a marked cycle route from Twyford to the city centre. This passes under the M3, along Five Bridges Road (a bridle way) and along St Cross Road to Kingsgate Road, but on the St Cross Road section the cyclists are tangled with the traffic on a busy road as they always have been. Plans for a long distance cycle route through Winchester are being discussed; this might pass along a widened footpath from The College's New Hall past the pumping station and to the east of the Hospital to Five Bridges Road, and this could disturb the quiet walk from the City to St Cross. An alternative route would be from Domum Road along the widened footpath between the embankment and Palmer Field to the Tun Bridge and thence alongside the canal to Five Bridges Road.
Important Viewpoints & Spaces
The land between Clausentum Road and the river to the canal is wetland; behind Back Street there are allotments, and the remaining land to the north, east and south of the Hospital is pasture and two cricket grounds with pavilions. The footpath from the city through this land to Shawford and Twyford provides some recreational facility for people within and outside the district, although to the south of the Hospital the footpath is often very muddy.
St Faith's graveyard is a small open space, perhaps not fully appreciated. It has a number of conifer trees and is used as an unofficial children's play area; falling tombstones could be a danger. The church on this site was lost early in the 16th century, since when the parishioners have worshipped at St Cross.
It is hoped to start a village News Page to let you know what’s been happing in and around the Village. This may take a bit of time to get started. Most item’s will be from the local paper and the Parish Mag.
Ask at the Porter’s Lodge, as you arrive at St Cross Hospital, and you will receive your wayfarer’s dole a horn of beer and a morsel of bread. This is a charming way to begin your visit.
