We are preparing guidelines on the protection of hards and slipways as public open space, following a resolution of the annual general meeting. Here Diane Andrewes of the Bursledon Rights of Way and Amenities Preservation Group explains why guidelines are needed.

Our group has become increasingly concerned over the years by the disappearance of public access points to the River Hamble in Hampshire, on the west bank of which Bursledon is situated. The group has fought to preserve rights of way to the river for pedestrians and is aware of the decreasing opportunities for local sailors to launch and maintain their small craft, following the proliferation of marinas and boatyards.


Reminder

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, there were a number of hards, quays and timber yards on the banks of the upper Hamble estuary. They are a reminder that this was once a busy commercial river. The loading and unloading of lighters required places where access could be gained to the river even at the lower stages of the tide. Hards fulfilled this function.

They were constructed by enclosing the area of the hard with wooden stakes supporting horizontal planking, which contained the gravel forming the substance of the hard(1). Some private hards may have been used for pleasure craft; the most vulnerable ones appear to be the firm, dry areas where boats can be safely grounded above the high tideline.

The terms ‘public hard’ and ‘public slipway’ are not clearly defined. One broad definition might be ‘sites where the general public may launch craft, through right, permission or custom, over the foreshore into tidal waters’(2).

There is no general right of public access over the foreshore, so the organisation which has built or maintains the public launch point will normally have a leasing arrangement with the Crown Estates (or other owner). Many hards are so old that ownership is uncertain. The precise rights of the public to launch are largely untested in law.

Bursledon’s most interesting hard features on old maps and photographs. It is important in Bursledon’s history. The old name of ‘Maynestoneshuthe’, before it was corrupted to Maidenstone Heath, probably indicated a hithe or landing place. There is still a gravel hard on the riverside at this point. Before Bursledon Bridge was built to ford the Hamble, a ferry plied between Maidenstone Heath hard and one on the opposite side of the river. On the Bursledon side, a Saxon drove road rises from it towards Winchester.


Village green

The Bursledon hard should have been claimed as a village green in the 1960s, since it was once customary to see hordes of anglers fishing from it. Now the land is fenced off, the owner lives abroad and the adjoining boatyard encroaches on it. How long will the hard remain?

The only protection we have managed so far is to persuade Hampshire County Council to add the hard to the Archaeology and Historic Buildings Record. This provides no statutory protection, but can be taken into account during consideration of a planning application.


Champion

Maidenstone Heath is one of the few remaining hards in Bursledon. Access to all are by roads or rights of way so public use is implied, but who is to champion the public right to use them and who is to maintain them and protect them from encroachment? Even where the county council is the landowner, there is no guarantee of maintenance. These are public open spaces, valuable to us, but also to developers. Several years ago a parish council hard in Hamble was lost to the village when an application to develop it privately was approved by the local planning authority.

One ray of hope is that Hampshire County Council, under its Older Urban Areas Regeneration Programme, is making improvements to points of access onto the river, where local people and visitors may enjoy the special qualities of the area. Bursledon Parish Council’s hard is being refurbished under this scheme.

We look forward to guidelines from the Open Spaces Society, to parish councils and groups like ours who wish to preserve hards as public open space but do not know where to start.

(1) ‘Hards, Quays and Landing Spaces on the Upper Hamble’, David Chun, Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Newsletter no 28, autumn 1997.
(2) ‘Public Launch Points on the Hampshire Coast: a position paper’, Hampshire County Council, 1994.
 

Bursledon Parish Council hard in 2000.                                  Photos: Diane Andrewes

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