Facts About Lee-on-the-Solent
Key facts, figures and things you might not know
Lee-on-the-Solent is a small seaside town on the south coast of Hampshire, England, with a population of approximately 11,000. Here are the key facts and figures, along with some things that even locals might not know.
The town was founded as a seaside resort in 1884 by Charles Edmund Newton Robinson and his father Sir John Robinson, who acquired the Lee Farm estate and transformed it into a planned Victorian resort. Before that, it was simply known as Lee, a small coastal hamlet with little to distinguish it.
Lee-on-the-Solent falls within the Gosport borough of Hampshire. Its postcode district is PO13, and it sits within the Gosport parliamentary constituency. The town is governed locally by Gosport Borough Council and Hampshire County Council.
The coordinates are approximately 50.801 degrees north, 1.202 degrees west. The town faces south across the Solent toward the Isle of Wight, with views of Ryde and the Downs visible on clear days. The Solent at this point is roughly three miles wide.
HMS Daedalus, the Royal Navy air station, operated from the western end of town from 1917 to 1996. During the Second World War, it was the busiest airfield on the south coast, playing a critical role in D-Day operations in June 1944. The site is now being redeveloped as a mixed-use community with housing, employment, and the retained Solent Airport.
The Hovercraft Museum at Daedalus houses the world's largest collection of hovercraft, including the SR.N4, the giant cross-Channel craft that operated between Dover and Calais.
Lee-on-the-Solent's pier was built in 1885 and opened in 1888. It extended 637 feet into the Solent. The pier was damaged during the Second World War and progressively deteriorated. The seaward section was demolished, and only a truncated stub remains.
The Lee-on-the-Solent Railway operated from 1894 to 1931 for passenger services, with the branch line connecting to the main network at Fort Brockhurst. The railway was one of the shortest-lived in Hampshire.
The Lee Tower, an Art Deco entertainment complex opened in 1935, was demolished in 1971. Lee Tower Memorial Gardens now mark the site. The tower was a local landmark and its loss is still mourned by older residents.
The town has over 70 independent businesses on its High Street, an unusually high number for a settlement of this size. The Bookshop has traded from the same premises since 1928.
Lee-on-the-Solent's name is sometimes shortened to Lee or Lee-on-Solent. The hyphenated form is the standard usage in formal contexts.