Winchester, the ancient capital of England and the county town of Hampshire, has been an important site for human settlement since the Iron Age. When it became a breeding place for Swifts is unclear. Once they nested in holes in trees in ancient forests but those started to be cut down during the Roman Empire, so Swifts began to move into buildings to breed. The Romans were the first to build houses with the open eaves and gables that provide nest sites for Swifts. Venta Belgarum, as Roman Winchester was called, became one of the largest towns in Southern England, and as such, it is possible that Swifts might have bred in many of its houses.
For the first few decades of the 20th century, Winchester would have had a substantial number of breeding Swifts. But in this city as elsewhere, the increasing adoption of UPVC soffits and fascias from the 1970s onwards and the development of modern building techniques meant that growing numbers of houses no longer offered Swifts their traditional nest places. By the time Hampshire Swifts was set up in 2016 with the aim of conserving Swifts in the county, British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) survey data showed that in the UK Swifts declined by 51% between 1995 and 2015, while in the South-East of England – which includes Hampshire – they had declined by 55%. The decline has continued: the most recent BTO survey data show that Swifts declined by 66% in the UK between 1995 and 2022, while in the South-East of England they declined by 75%.
In 2018, we conducted a survey of Winchester to identify areas with breeding Swifts and to log the precise location of individual nest sites. This survey showed that there were still a substantial number of breeding Swifts in a small number of locations in a few areas of Winchester. The suburbs of Winchester where we found no evidence of breeding swifts – Badger Farm and Winnall - were either built entirely in the late 1970s and 1980s when the use of UPVC soffits and fascias was becoming standard in new homes, or consisted primarily of houses built in the 1950s and 1960s by the City Council, nearly all of which had been re-roofed or had their soffits and fascias replaced.
The centre of Winchester had the largest number of natural swift nests at the time of the 2018 survey. At least 80 nests were identified, many in the eaves of the large number of Georgian and Victorian houses in this area, and several under the roof tiles, gables and eaves of the magnificent late 17th century houses of Dome Alley in the Cathedral Close. Surveys in subsequent years have shown that many of these nest sites are still in use by Swifts but an increasing number have been lost as older houses are renovated, extended, or undergo roof or soffit replacement. As a result, several sites that could be relied upon for thrilling displays of screaming Swifts are now silent on fine summer evenings.
Three streets, just outside the Cathedral Close, are still hot spots for Swifts: Kingsgate Street, Canon Street and Culver Road. There are at least seven natural nest sites at the front of houses in Kingsgate Street and four at the front of Canon Street houses. It is likely that there are more such nest sites out of the public view at the back of the houses. What has undoubtedly boosted the Swift population in this area is the installation of swift nest boxes over the last few years. We have installed 16 nest boxes in Canon Street, 11 in Culver Road, and four on my house in the adjoining cul-de-sac, Culverwell Gardens. Inspired by this, one Culver Road resident built an internal swift box with a Perspex side so he can enjoy watching the Swifts who breed in his box from his attic. Last year, Swifts used five of the nest boxes in Canon Street and six of those in Culver Road. They provided weeks of spectacular aerial action and joy for me and other residents of this part of Winchester.
One of the oldest and largest swift colonies in central Winchester nests in the roof of the Grade I listed Chamber Court at Winchester College. Chamber Court was one of the first buildings to be completed at the College in the late 14th century. It was roofed with stone slates from the Isle of Purbeck. When we watched the Swifts returning to their nests here at dusk one evening in 2018, there were so many Swifts entering their nests under the stone slates or in gaps under the eaves of dormer windows, that we were unable to count them accurately. It was a magical and exhilarating sight. Although the buildings on three sides of the Chamber Court quadrangle appear to have identical stone slates, the Swifts only nest on the east side and a small section of the north side. Some of the other buildings in the College that were built at the same time at Chamber Court have needed roof repairs that necessitated removal and replacement of at least some of the original stone slates. We wondered whether similar roof repairs in Chamber Court had blocked access for the Swifts to all but two sections of its roof.
Another building owned by Winchester College has the distinction of being the house with the largest number of natural Swift nests in the whole of the city. This is Du Boulays, one of the College’s boarding houses, which was built in 1862-3 in the Victorian Gothic style. It has multiple gables and wide eaves with many gaps and crevices that allow Swifts access to safe nest places. When we last surveyed here, we identified at least 12 nests on the side elevation of the building that faces a public road. Judging by the size of the screaming parties of Swifts seen circling over the rear of the house, there are there are likely to be more nests on the parts of the building that are hidden from public view.
When we surveyed Winchester in 2018, it was noteworthy that in two suburbs, Weeke and Stanmore, Swift nests were concentrated in very small areas. In Weeke, Swifts were only found nesting in a single road, Trussell Crescent. We identified 20 nests there, all on the rear of the Crescent and most accessed through holes left in the walls when pipework was removed. These holes lead across the brickwork cavity and presumably under the floor. How successful the Swifts have been in breeding in these potentially dangerous sites is uncertain, so we were grateful to Winchester City Council for funding 23 double swift boxes that we installed on the front of Trussell Crescent before the Swifts returned in 2023. Last summer we were delighted to see that Swifts had moved into at least six of the nest chambers in the new double boxes. Several of the children who live in Trussell Crescent were clearly pleased to have a swift box above the flats they live in and told me that they had seen Swifts going in and out of ‘our nest box’. I hope they can help with surveying in future!
Stanmore is another suburb of Winchester where Swifts nest within a very confined area. This is a large estate built as public housing, mostly between 1946 and the 1960s. During our 2018 survey, no breeding Swifts were found in Lower Stanmore, while in Upper Stanmore we identified at least 65 nest sites, almost all located in just three roads where several houses had up to four nests. Some of these nests were accessed via gaps in asbestos tiles on gable ends, but most nest entrances were at the front edge of the metal roof. Due probably to an oversight by roofers, no bird stops or eaves closures were fitted when these metal roofs were installed on houses in these three roads, so a substantial Swift colony developed.
When I surveyed Upper Stanmore again in 2023, large and spectacular Swift screaming parties were still noticeable but some of the houses that used to have up to four Swift nests now had none because of roof and soffit/fascia replacements. To preserve this Swift colony in Upper Stanmore and allow it to expand, there’s a great need for swift nest boxes on houses nearby. Over the next few months, I plan to deliver a flyer to houses in Upper Stanmore. This flyer - headed ‘Winchester’s Swifts Need Your Help’ - explains why Swifts are in trouble, makes the point that they are quiet neighbours that generally make no mess, and askspeople to contact us if they would like to help them by having a nest box installed.
The installation of multiple nest boxes in specific areas of Winchester over the last few years has resulted in marked increases in the number of breeding Swifts in those areas. In Highcliffe, for example, there were at least 25 pairs of Swifts all in natural nest sites when we surveyed there in 2018, but re-roofing work and soffit replacement was already leading to the destruction of many natural nest sites making it crucial to install nest boxes if Swifts were to have a readily available place to breed. Due partly to an agreement with the City Council that tenants would be offered a swift box when their house was re-roofed, and partly to the growing number of requests for swift boxes we received from house owners, by 2024, there were 123 swift boxes in Highcliffe. Last summer there were 43 pairs of Swifts in nest boxes and only five pairs in natural sites.
Another of our target areas for nest boxes has been Fulflood. This is an area made up largely of Victorian terraced houses, many of which used to have places for Swifts to nest under the eaves or in gables or at the edge of dormer windows. Several such natural nest sites still exist, but when houses are sold, these gaps and crevices are at risk of disappearing during renovation work. Fortunately, growing awareness of Swifts’ need for nest boxes, in part due to our delivery of flyers, has meant that Fulflood now has at least 58 swift nest boxes on its houses. Thanks to a Swift enthusiast on the staff at Peter Symonds College, six double nest boxes were installed there last summer to enable the small colony that still nests naturally on the original college building in Fulflood to expand. A lack of volunteer surveyors meant that we were unable to survey Fulflood thoroughly last summer, but what data we have confirms that the two roads with the most nest boxes – Elm Road and North View – had at least as many pairs of breeding Swifts in boxes as in 2022.
Two of our major nest installation projects in Winchester over the last few years have been in some of its oldest and most beautiful buildings – Winchester Cathedral and the Hospital of St Cross. In the Cathedral, we installed 20 internal nest boxes in the bell tower in 2020. This site has proved extremely popular with Swifts, so much so that in 2024, 11 pairs bred, and five pairs made nests in preparation for breeding this year.
At the Hospital of St Cross, a medieval almshouse, there had been a large number of Swifts nesting on the buildings in the past, but wire netting put up along the eaves to stop Jackdaws entering the lofts had prevented Swifts from breeding too. In 2018, we installed 15 internal nest boxes in the Old Kitchen Wing. By the end of the 2023 swift season, there were 35 nest boxes in total and Swifts had bred in 11 of them and made nests in a further four boxes. By the end of the 2024 swift season, there were 38 nest boxes in total. On opening the boxes, we found that Swifts had bred in 11 of them and made nests in another four boxes in readiness for starting to breed next season.
Nearly all the natural swift nest sites in Winchester are in buildings that predate the Second World War. But there is one particularly striking exception. In Kings Head Yard, just off the High Street, there is a block of six flats called Mozzetta, completed in 2006. It has exposed steel struts and a jettied upper storey designed to emulate the timber-framed building it replaced. It attracted an enormous number of objections when it was at the planning stage, but it is very popular with Swifts: they have discovered that it provides high, safe places to rear their young. Six pairs of Swifts access their nests via gaps in the six steel ‘peaks’ of the roof. Mozzetta has become a wonderful place to experience Swift screaming parties.
If you live in or near Winchester and would like to help us survey the Swifts in part of the city next summer, we would love to hear from you. Even if you can only survey a few streets, the data you collect are still valuable.
Please contact us if you want advice on having Swift nest boxes installed on your house and perhaps on your neighbours’ houses too. Having a local Swift enthusiast who can spread the word about the importance of putting up swift boxes and who can encourage other people in their area to have a swift box installed is a very effective way of increasing the supply of Swift nesting sites in that area. We install a large number of swift boxes every year throughout the county and many of these installations come about because someone has passed on information about Swifts to their neighbours, sometimes in the form of a Hampshire Swifts flyer, or written a piece about Swifts’ need for nest boxes in their local newsletter or parish magazine. Spreading the word about Swifts is particularly important in areas where they have few places to breed. A few weeks ago, Lorna, a Swift enthusiast in the Teg Down area of Winchester discovered that a pair of Swifts had nested in one of the boxes she had put up. Teg Down is made up of mostly post-war detached and semi-detached houses and this was the first Swift nest in this area that we knew of. That Swift enthusiast has now delivered one of our flyers to houses in her street, and four nest boxes have already been ordered from us. All being well, this will be the start of a new Swift colony in Teg Down.
When we surveyed Winchester for breeding Swifts in 2018, all the nest sites identified were in natural sites. By the end of January 2025, we had installed 486 swift boxes in the city, mostly on homes, but also on schools, in church towers, the hospice and an almshouse. We also provided 152 swift boxes for houses owned by Winchester City Council where tenants had requested a swift box after roof and soffit/fascia replacement. As the number of swift boxes installed in Winchester has risen, the number of natural sites available to Swifts will have declined as houses are renovated and roofs replaced. It appears that Winchester’s Swifts are increasingly nesting in boxes rather than in natural sites. In 2024, of the 106 Swift nests recorded in Highcliffe, Fulflood, Trussell Crescent in Weeke, and parts of Central Winchester, 85 (80%) were in boxes and only 21 (20%) in natural sites. It was interesting to see that in Trussell Crescent, although many of the natural sites accessed via holes in the brickwork still appeared to be available, fewer Swifts were using them than in previous years and several pairs had chosen to move into the new - and probably safer and more comfortable - nest boxes.
Catharine Gale, Hampshire Swifts
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