Southwick, Hampshire

Southwick is a village in the English county of Hampshire, situated north of Portsmouth, and is occupied entirely by tenants in the style of the Middle Ages, where the entirety is wholly owned by the Southwick Estate with no private ownership.

Southwick was initially the site of Southwick Priory, in the twelfth century. On the dissolution of the monasteries during the Reformation the estate, including the village, was granted to John White. In 1813 a new manor house, Southwick House, was completed. This house was gutted by fire in 1838, but was renovated by 1841. The house and part of the estate was requisitioned by the government during World War II and has been used by various parts of the armed forces ever since.

Southwick is rare in that the village is still owned by the Southwick Estate with no private ownership. The most obvious sign of this is that all the houses, except manor houses, have dark red-painted front doors - a condition laid down in the tenancy agreements.

The Defence Police College is situated at nearby Southwick Park.

It has two pubs, "The Red Lion" and "The Golden Lion". The former is a restaurant of some repute, while the latter has the recently renovated Southwick Brewhouse behind it.