Parkstone

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 50.71
longitude= -1.95
official_name= Parkstone
population = 9,593
shire_district= Borough of Poole
shire_county = Dorset
region= South West England
constituency_westminster= Poole
post_town= POOLE
postcode_district = BH12/BH14
postcode_area= BH
dial_code= 01202
os_grid_reference= SZ0391

Parkstone is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it is known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of the lower-lying area of Lower Parkstone - "The Village" - which includes areas adjacent to Poole Harbour.

Because of the proximity to the shoreline, and the more residential nature of Lower Parkstone, it is the more sought-after district, and originally included Lilliput and the Sandbanks Peninsula (now part of Canford Cliffs) within its official bounds. Lower Parkstone is centred on Ashley Cross, the original location of Parkstone Grammar School, near to the Parish Church of St. Peter. Despite the residential reputation, Parkstone was the site of several industrial undertakings, the largest being George Jennings South Western Pottery, a manufacturer of salt-glaze drainage and sanitary pipes, which had its own steam locomotive, that ran on a private branch line from Parkstone Station. Much of this area was agricultural until the 1920s and 1930s.

Upper Parkstone includes large areas of smaller artisan housing, and the shopping street of Ashley Road and the parish church of St. John are its central focus. There are larger properties, however, and the views from this higher part of the suburb across Poole Harbour to the Purbeck Hills are spectacular. Many photographs taken over the years from the Seaview viewpoint (overlooking much of Poole centre and Harbour) exist as postcards, and can be used to chart the changes to the area.

History

Much of Upper Parkstone was built up during the Victorian era and is typical for an area of this time, with most of the main shops being along the main road (Ashley Road) together with a few pubs and churches, and most houses being in adjacent roads. A lot of roads are named after important people or events of their time such as Albert Road, Victoria Road and Jubilee Road etc.

The area expanded into other areas such as Branksome and Rossmore and later Alderney, which are sometimes considered to be part of Parkstone. Although most houses are owner-occupied, council houses were also built in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Trinidad and Bourne Estates are typical examples of post-war housing estates although there are very few council flats in Parkstone as much of the area retains its suburban character.

Today Ashley Road is mostly made up of commercial premises, and small blocks of flats have been built in the last 20 years, although further away from the main road the area has changed little. There are a few older cottage-style houses that can be found as reminders of when the area was agricultural, including several pairs of 'Lady Wimborne' houses - yellow brick cottages with steep gables built by the Canford Estate, which can be found in the areas in which the estate owned property, from Longham to Lilliput.

Ashley Road is the main 'corridor' between Bournemouth and Poole and benefits from much through business. Waitrose has now moved into the old Safeway site, abandoning its smaller Westbourne store.

In Lower Parkstone, Ashley Cross retains much character from being a village despite commercial buildings moving out from Poole town centre. Commercial Road is the main thoroughfare here, providing another through route - and bus route - from Poole to Bournemouth. The station is in Lower Parkstone, near Parkstone Park.

Education

Parkstone has a large number of schools for all ages. The North Road and Constitution Hill campuses of The Bournemouth and Poole College also have Parkstone addresses, though they are nearer to Poole.

In Lower Parkstone the schools are:
*Courthill First School and Lilliput First School feeding into Baden Powell and St Peter's Middle School; pupils then go on to Poole High School, Poole Grammar School or Parkstone Grammar School

In Upper Parkstone the schools are:
*Heatherlands First School and Sylvan First School which feed into Branksome Heath Middle School. Sylvan First School is for 4-8 year olds and was built in 1952 as in infant school.
*Manorside Combined School, St Aldhelm's Combined School and Talbot Combined School which all feed into Rossmore Community College.
*St Joseph's Combined School is a Roman Catholic school which feeds into St Edward's School, Poole.
*Winchelsea Special School is next to Manorside in Alderney and The Victoria School for children with disabilities is in Branksome.

In Upper Parkstone the schools that have now closed were:
*Trinidad First School for children aged 4-8 years old who progressed to Alderney Middle School. The school opened in 1952 to replace Martin Road School and merged with Alderney in 2004 to become Manorside Combined School. The first school moved to the Alderney site and the old school site was redeveloped as housing.

Private schools are:
* Buckholm Towers School
* Uplands School

Areas of Parkstone

These are areas of Poole which are also considered to be in Parkstone:
*Alderney
*Ashley Cross
*Branksome
*Lilliput
*Newtown
*Penn Hill
*Rossmore
*Sea View
*Wallisdown

References

*cite book
last = Hawkes
first = Andrew
authorlink =
title = Memories of Old Poole: Parkstone
publisher = Andrew Hawkes
date = 1979
id = ISBN 0-9506404-3-3
* [http://www.viewpointresidents.org] Viewpoint Residents Association, includes photographs of the area.