page_title: Southampton Common
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: Southampton Common / History / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Photo of Cemetery lake on southampton common on a sunny day. Photo taken looking towards the island from the south
context_page_description: Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of the largest populations in Britain of the nationally rare great crested newt. The Common is used for a wide variety of community events, Flower Festival, Race for life Cancer Research UK and formerly 'Power in the Park' hosted by Power FM.
  An area of 223-acre is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest.
context_section_description: In 1814 the town clerk managed to get permission to build a house on the common on the site of the former brickmaker's house. This house, known as Hawthorn cottage, was sold in 1851 to and again in 1887 and continued to be occupied until 1942.
  A racecourse was built in on the common in 1822 but falling attendances, with the various structures on the course having to be sold off in 1848 to meet the costs, it ceased to be used.
  In 1843 10 acres (4.0 ha) of the common was split off by the Southampton Corporation to be used a cemetery. The power to do this was  provided by the Southampton Cemetery Act 1843 which allowed up to 15 acres (6.1 ha) to be taken. The Cemetery opened in 1846 and is now known as Southampton Old Cemetery. A further 5 acres (2.0 ha) was taken from the common  and added to the cemetery in 1863. In 1884 an act of parliament was obtained to transfer another 12 acres (4.9 ha) to the cemetery.
  The common became a public park in 1844 as the result of the council using the powers of the Marsh Improvement Act of 1844.
  The racecourse on the common was rebuilt in 1860 and races continued to be held until 1881. In the mid 1860s a cricket pitch was constructed within the racecourse with upgrades taking place in 1874. In the same year the council gave permission for a golf course to be constructed on the common.
  The first show was held on the common in 1873 in the form of the Royal Counties Agricultural Society show. From then on large shows either from the Royal Counties Agricultural Society or the Bath and West of England Society took place every few years.
  The first non-reservoir pond on the common appeared sometime between 1800 and 1846 and was just beyond what was then the Cemetery's north east corner. This pond disappeared with the 1884 expansion of the cemetery. Separately, a few years before the expansion, a disused gravel pit had filled with water to the point it became a rough pond. In 1881 it was decided to form this pond into cemetery lake essentially by tidying it up and making more controllable connections to the streams on the common.
  In 1888 the council decided to construct a second lake known as the ornamental lake in part as a job creation scheme. The lake was constructed in a crescent shape divided into two levels with a dam with a waterfall separating the two.
  In 1892 a small hospital was built on the common for cholera and smallpox cases. It was soon judged unsuitable and was removed by the end of the year. The council instead purchased City of Adelaide to use as a hospital ship.
caption: Southampton Common Cemetery lake
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