Swaythling - Geography

Geography

Swaythling is now very much urbanised, with much of the area used for residential housing. High Road, which was the village's high street, has waned in popularity recently with several established businesses, such as Dunning's grocery store, having shut down. The popularity of the shopping area in neighbouring Portswood, out-of-town supermarket developments at Chandler's Ford and Hedge End, and the building of the Thomas Lewis Way bypass to the city centre are all possible causes of this demise. High Road today is dominated by take-away food outlets and a couple of newsagents. The Old Black Cat (The Hampton Park Hotel) pub was turned into a McDonald's restaurant in the late 1990s.

The stream that gave the area its name is largely hidden from view as it runs through Swaythling, although it can still be seen next to the Fleming Arms pub (now owned by Gales Brewery, the Fleming Arms used to be a Beefeater restaurant until a fire led to the sale of the property). The Shell petrol station serving Thomas Lewis Way stands on the site of a cinema that fronted onto High Road.