Petersfield

Coordinates: 51°00′14″N 0°56′04″W / 51.00377°N 0.93453°W / 51.00377; -0.93453

Petersfield is a market town and civil parish in the East Hampshire district of Hampshire, England. It is 17 miles (27 km) north of Portsmouth, via the A3 road. The town has its own railway station on the Portsmouth Direct Line, the mainline rail link connecting Portsmouth and London. Situated on the northern slopes of the South Downs, Petersfield lies wholly within the South Downs National Park.

The town is on the crossroads of well-used north–south (formerly the A3 road which now bypasses the town) and east–west routes (today the A272 road) and it grew as a coach stop on the Portsmouth to London route. Petersfield is twinned with Barentin in France, and Warendorf in Germany.

History

Petersfield Heath's burial mounds may be up to 4,000 years old; their distribution is mainly to the east and south east of the Heath. These are considered to be one of the more important lowland barrow groups in this country. The barrows indicate that the area of the Heath was occupied by people who may have come to regard this area as sacred to their religion. As yet no trace has been confirmed for the dwellings of these people as the structures would have been wooden but Petersfield Museum hosts a community project to throw more light on this period of history.

Petersfield (disambiguation)

Petersfield can refer to any of the following places:

Petersfield (UK Parliament constituency)

Petersfield was an English Parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Petersfield in Hampshire. It existed for several hundred years until its abolition for the 1983 general election.

Until 1832, it returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Thereafter, its representation was reduced to one member until its abolition in 1983.

Members of Parliament

MPs for Petersfield borough (1547-1885)

MPs 1547–1660

MPs 1660–1832

MPs 1832–1885

MPs for Petersfield county constituency (1885–1983)

Elections

Elections in the 1910s

Elections in the 1920s

Elections in the 1930s

General Election 1939/40: Another General Election was required to take place before the end of 1940. The political parties had been making preparations for an election to take place and by the Autumn of 1939, the following candidates had been selected;