Littledown

Infobox UK place
official_name= Littledown
latitude= 50.744
longitude= -1.825
map_type= Dorset
os_grid_reference= SZ123938
unitary_england= Bournemouth
lieutenancy_england= Dorset
region= South West England
country= England
population=
post_town= BOURNEMOUTH
postcode_area= BH
postcode_district= BH7
dial_code= 01202
constituency_westminster= Bournemouth East
london_distance=
website=

Littledown is a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset. Originally it was a small settlement to the south of the much more important Holdenhurst Village, and for centuries it existed as a huddle of farm buildings clinging on to the edge of the heathland.

For many years Littledown had remained an isolated farming community with areas of open fields on the northern edge of Bournemouth, with Mr Joseph Edward Cooper-Dean living in Littledown House. Eventually the only descendants were two spinster sisters who sold Littledown House, with the surrounding farmland, to Bournemouth Council in the early 1980s. There was a lot of discussion as to what the Council would do with the area but eventually much of the land was sold off for housing. A large section was set by for a park and a sports centre.Citation
title = BH Life
place= Bournemouth
publisher = Bournemouth Borough Council
year = 2006
location =
volume =
edition = May/June 2006
url = http://www.bournemouth.gov.uk/Library/PDF/Living/Bournemouth%20Journal/BJ7%20May-June.pdf
doi =
id = ]

Most of the built environment that now makes up Littledown was subsequently developed in the 1980s. Notable buildings include the Chaseside Campus of JPMorgan, the Royal Bournemouth Hospital, Bournemouth County Court and the Littledown Leisure Centre. In Riverside Avenue there is a mid-20th century home for retired nurses, and even older is Littledown House, which dates back to the late 18th century.

Littledown House, a listed building, located in the grounds of the JPMorgan campus, has been restored to the elegance it would have displayed in the late 18th century, when it would have been a classic Jane Austen type mansion. With all the new buildings that now cover Littledown, it can be difficult to imagine it as farmland, but drivers on the A338 Spur Road can look out for a set of warning lights near to the back of the hospital site. When the Spur Road was first built, it cut off the Cooper Dean land at Littledown from their farms at Holdenhurst. One of the concessions to the family was that the road was built with a cattle crossing. No one seems to recall it ever being used, however the old agreement remains in force.

References