Paulsgrove is an area of northern Portsmouth, Hampshire, England. Initially a small independent hamlet for many centuries, it was admitted to the city limits in 1920 and grew rapidly after the end of the Second World War. History Paulsgrove existed as a small hamlet on the old Portsmouth to Southampton road for many years. During the early twentieth century Paulsgrove Racecourse was built north of the village on the slopes of Portsdown Hill and a railway halt built to cater for raceday traffic. The area was incorporated into the city of Portsmouth in 1920. Towards the end of World War II it became clear that to the City Council that a massive programme of house building was needed to replace those homes destroyed by bombing. As part of this programme, land in Paulsgrove was purchased and building began in 1945. The initial housing was prefabricated but later houses were built more conventionally. In August 2000, Paulsgrove made the national and international news as mobs of local residents attacked residences of suspected and convicted child sex offenders and other sex offenders. These disturbances came shortly after the News of the World put pressure on the government to give parents the right to know if their children are living close to a convicted sex offender, in response to the murder of Sarah Payne. Paulsgrove Lake, a navigable water channel to the south of Paulsgrove in Portsmouth Harbour was named after Paulsgrove. However, an eastern section of Paulsgrove Lake was reclaimed during the 1970s and later developed into the Port Solent residential estate and marina basin, which opened on 29 July 1988. The population of the Paulsgrove Ward at the 2011 Census was 14,010. Roads Southampton Road was built in 1958, replacing Medina Road as the main route between Portsmouth and Fareham. A strip of open land was left throughout the estate during its construction in the 1950s to make way for the subsequent M27 motorway. Churches St Michael and All Angels, the parish church of Paulsgrove was established as a mission centre in 1947, whilst work commenced on building a new parish church. St. Michael and All Angels was formerly constituted as an ecclesiastical parish of the Church of England in the Diocese of Portsmouth when the new parish church was consecrated in July 1957. The parish stands in the Anglo-Catholic tradition of the Church of England. There have been seven Vicars