Eastleigh Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester in South Hampshire. It was originally developed as a railway town by the London and South-Western Railway. The town lies on the River Itchen, one of England's premier chalk streams for fly fishing, a designated site of Special Scientific Interest. The modern town of Eastleigh lies on the old Roman road, built in A.D.79 between Winchester "(Venta Belgarum)" and Bitterne "(Clausentum)". Roman remains discovered in the Eastleigh area, including a Roman lead coffin excavated in 1908, indicate that a settlement probably existed here in Roman times. A Saxon
Venta Silurum which was located on the Roman road between "Isca Augusta" (Caerleon) and "Glevum" (Gloucester) and close to the Severn estuary, was - in contrast with nearby "Isca" - essentially established for civilian administration rather than for military purposes. Initially Venta had a forum and basilica. By the early part of the 2nd century, during the reign of Hadrian, the "civitas" had begun construction work on a market place and developing centre of local government. Public baths and shops, including a blacksmiths, were built about the same time. Remains of farms and dwellings, some with courtyards, have also been excavated. A