Warsash is a village in southern Hampshire, England, situated at the mouth of the River Hamble, west of the area known as Locks Heath. Boating plays an important part in the village's economy, and the village has a sailing club. It is also home to the Warsash Maritime Academy, part of Southampton Solent University, which provides training for Merchant Navy Officers from around the world. The Locks Heath, Warsash and Whiteley urban area had a combined population of 43,359 according to 2011 Census. This also includes Park Gate and Swanwick and forms a subdivision of the South Hampshire built up area. Warsash is in the borough of Fareham, and is part of the Fareham parliamentary constituency. The village lies in the Hook-with-Warsash parish, with the hamlet of Hook. History Before the 19th century what is now known as Warsash was a number of separate hamlets; Warsash itself; Hook to the south at the mouth of the River Hamble; Newtown between Hook and Warsash and Chilling on Southampton Water. Hook was of earlier importance, as a 'dockyard' during the Hundred Years' War. At the end of this war Hook's importance declined, and for the next 300 years it, Chilling and Warsash continued as hamlets making livings from fishing and smuggling. Newtown had in addition a number of salterns. Towards the end of the 18th century the land around Hook had been acquired by the Hornby family to form the Hook Estate This new estate was bordered to the north by the existing Warsash House estate. In 1807 the shipbuilder George Parsons, who had lost the lease of his former shipyard up-river at Bursledon, began construction of a shipyard at Warsash at a site where the present Shore Road was later built; all the buildings at the former Bursledon site, including a graving shed and a mould-loft, were dismantled and re-erected at Warsash In partnership with his son John Parsons and grandson John Rubie, Parsons then built a number of vessels during the following four years, including four ships for the Royal Navy - the 18-gun brig-sloop HMS Peruvian in 1808, the 36-gun frigates HMS Theban and HMS Hotspur in 1809 and 1810 , and the 38-gun frigate HMS Nymphe in 1812. Following George's death in 1812, his son and grandson built a further ship for the Navy - the 36-gun frigate HMS Laurel. In the 19th century Warsash started to expand