Monks Hill leads to Westbourne Common, which has been the site of sports events and a variety of outdoor gatherings for 150 years.
The land was granted in 1859 to Admiral Sir Provo William Percy Wallis, a colourful character who lived at Funtington and served in the Royal Navy from Napoleonic times.
Did you know?
Admiral Sir Provo Wallis enjoyed what could have been the longest career in naval history. In 1870 the Admiralty introduced a new retirement scheme which included a provision to retain on the active list officers who had commanded a ship during the Napoleonic Wars. As a consequence, Wallis received full pay until his death at the age of 100.
Among the conditions imposed were that the Common (ringed in red below) was at all times to be used as a place for exercise and recreation, with the surface to be repaired and maintained by the owner.
Through inheritance, the land passed to a number of people before being bought by the Parish Council in 1948 for £40, still relatively cheap at £1,400 in today’s money.
Did you know?
In 1973, Westbourne council registered the land as a charity to protect it from future housing or other development, a good strategic move given the amount of new housing that has threatened many other neighbouring Parishes over the last few years!
The common features an excellent children’s play area with lots of fun and interesting play equipment that sees local families there most times of the year. There’s convenient parking right next to the playground too.
Immediately next to the Common is Valley Farm, once the site of Westbourne’s own nine-hole golf course, a bold venture envisioned in the 1920s.
The idea sprang from friends of Henry Rowe, who had enjoyed playing a private five-hole course which he had developed on fields opposite his home at Monks Farm. Why not, they thought, turn it into a proper course and put Westbourne on the golfing map?
By the autumn of 1923, all was ready. The professionals at Hayling Island and Rowlands Castle played over the course at the official opening and, according to the Hampshire Telegraph, “expressed their satisfaction”.
Westbourne Golf Club started with great expectations and 60 members, including 12 women. The Cricketers Arms at Commonside was used as a headquarters, and there were plans to erect a clubhouse.
Nothing came of it, however, and at the outset of the second world war the course was eventually ploughed up for agricultural use.