 horndean is a village and civil parish in the east hampshire district of hampshire, england. it is  north of portsmouth. the nearest railway station is  southeast of the village at rowlands castle. the village has a population of c.12,600. it shares the semi-rural character of other settlements in the district. the village was probably best known as the home of gales brewery, which existed in the village from 1850. privately owned until november 2005, when it was bought by fuller, smith and turner, it was closed in april 2006. it was the largest local employer until the opening of the safeway, now morrisons, supermarket in 1994. ==history== horndean grew up in the early middle ages due to its convenient position as a staging post on the road from portsmouth to london (now the a3). in 1836 it became home to the hon. sir charles napier senior, father to the more famous sir charles napier, who purchased a property in the village called the grove but subsequently changed its name to merchistoun hall (named after his former home in falkirk, scotland). merchistoun hall is now a grade ii listed building and serves as the village's major community centre. horndean was bypassed by main line railways but was served by trams of the portsdown and horndean light railway until 1935 and thereafter by buses. a three-storey workhouse was built during victorian times to home the local poor. this stood on a site opposite the good intent public house (currently named the colonial). this building had served a number of purposes including a local swimming pool. this was its primary function during the 1970s, provided by the use of a large polythene lined 'tank' on its ground floor. using the pool was a fairly unpleasant experience by today's standards due to its small size, lack of poolside space and most of all - daylight. the first and secon
Monarch\'s_Way Villages_in_Hampshire