Winchester
§ This page gives an overview of the Winchester local authority district, bringing together key facts, maps, and data to help you quickly understand the area. One of 361 district profiles on Baseview.
Overview ⁞ Winchester, set in the Itchen Valley, is a historic cathedral city surrounded by countryside. Winchester Cathedral, one of Europe’s largest Gothic cathedrals, dominates the city, while medieval streets, the Great Hall with King Arthur’s Round Table, and riverside walks highlight its heritage. The South Downs National Park surrounds much of the district, with rolling hills, chalk streams, and picturesque villages. The blend of historic city, river landscapes, and scenic countryside defines Winchester’s geography.
The administrative boundary of Winchester can be viewed on OpenStreetMap: District Boundary of Winchester.
Key Facts about Winchester
What region is Winchester in? Winchester is in the South East of England, a region within the UK.
What county is Winchester in? Winchester is located in the county of Hampshire.
Is Winchester a city? Yes, Winchester is a city. Winchester holds official city status as one of the 76 designated cities in the UK.
Who governs Winchester? The local authority for this district is: Winchester City Council - responsible for district-level services. Since Hampshire is a two-tier area, county-level services are handled by: Hampshire County Council.
▶ Official website of Winchester City Council 🔗 winchester.gov.uk
Which police force covers Winchester? Policing in Winchester is provided by Hampshire Constabulary 🔗 hampshire.police.uk, which serves 14 local authority districts: Basingstoke and Deane ⁞ East Hampshire ⁞ Eastleigh ⁞ Fareham ⁞ Gosport ⁞ Hart ⁞ Havant ⁞ Isle of Wight ⁞ New Forest ⁞ Portsmouth ⁞ Rushmoor ⁞ Southampton ⁞ Test Valley ⁞ Winchester.
Constituencies in Winchester
A constituency is a specific geographical area that elects one Member of Parliament (MP) to represent them in the House of Commons. The United Kingdom is divided into 650 parliamentary constituencies. We have this list page for easy browsing of all UK parliamentary constituencies: List of Constituencies.
Wards in Winchester
Winchester is divided into 16 wards, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Alresford and Itchen Valley
- Badger Farm and Oliver's Battery
- Bishop's Waltham
- Central Meon Valley
- Colden Common and Twyford
- Denmead
- Southwick and Wickham
- St Barnabas
- St Bartholomew
- St Luke
- St Michael
- St Paul
- The Worthys
- Upper Meon Valley
- Whiteley and Shedfield
- Wonston and Micheldever
In the UK, a ward is a subdivision of a local authority area, used mainly for electoral and statistical purposes. Defined by the ONS, wards represent the primary unit for local elections, each returning one or more councillors to the local council. Wards are also used as a key geography for presenting population and census data.
Parishes in Winchester
Winchester is part-parished: 48 civil parishes (listed A-Z below) alongside 3 unparished areas.
- Badger Farm
- Beauworth
- Bighton
- Bishops Sutton
- Bishops Waltham
- Boarhunt
- Bramdean and Hinton Ampner
- Cheriton
- Chilcomb
- Colden Common
- Compton and Shawford
- Corhampton and Meonstoke
- Crawley
- Curdridge
- Denmead
- Droxford
- Durley
- Exton
- Hambledon
- Headbourne Worthy
- Hursley
- Itchen Stoke and Ovington
- Itchen Valley
- Kilmiston
- Kings Worthy
- Littleton and Harestock
- Micheldever
- New Alresford
- Newlands
- Northington
- Old Alresford
- Olivers Battery
- Otterbourne
- Owslebury
- Shedfield
- Soberton
- South Wonston
- Southwick and Widley
- Sparsholt
- Swanmore
- Tichborne
- Twyford
- Upham
- Warnford
- West Meon
- Whiteley
- Wickham and Knowle
- Wonston
A civil parish is the lowest tier of local government in England, used for villages, small towns, and suburbs. They have their own local authority, either a parish council or a parish meeting, which provides local services like managing parks, allotments, and streetlights, and represents the community's views to larger councils.
Built-up Areas in Winchester
Winchester covers 57 built-up areas, listed below in alphabetical order.
- Bishop's Sutton
- Bishop's Waltham
- Botley *
- Bramdean
- Chandler's Ford *
- Cheriton
- Colden Common
- Compton (Winchester)
- Crawley (Winchester)
- Curbridge (Winchester)
- Curdridge
- Denmead
- Droxford
- Durley *
- Eastleigh *
- Easton (Winchester)
- Fareham *
- Fisher's Pond
- Gundleton
- Hambledon (Winchester)
- Horndean *
- Horton Heath *
- Hursley
- Itchen Abbas
- Kings Worthy
- Knowle *
- Littleton (Winchester)
- Locks Heath *
- Meonstoke and Corhampton
- Micheldever
- New Alresford
- North Boarhunt
- Old Alresford
- Otterbourne
- Owslebury
- Portsmouth *
- Segensworth
- Shawford
- Shedfield
- Shirrell Heath
- Soberton
- Soberton Heath
- Soldridge *
- South Wonston
- Southwick (Winchester)
- Sparsholt (Winchester)
- Sutton Scotney *
- Swanmore
- Twyford (Winchester)
- Upham *
- Waltham Chase
- Waterlooville *
- West Meon
- Westley
- Whiteley *
- Wickham
- Winchester
In the UK, a Built-up Area (BUA) is a continuous urban area of at least 20 hectares (0.2 km²), defined by the ONS as land where buildings are generally no more than 200 metres apart, such as towns, cities, or large villages. (Note: A BUA name marked with an asterisk (*) indicates that the area is situated partly in the district of Winchester.)
Winchester compared with other districts in the UK
This section shows how Winchester compares with other local authority districts in the UK, using a variety of measures and rankings.
Winchester has 16 electoral wards.
Winchester has a population of 135,632 (2024 mid-year estimate by ONS)
More local statistics and data for Winchester can be found on the ONS statistics for Winchester.