In the 1960s, Fareham wanted to grow fast. While there was a green belt zone around the north side of the town, it excluded the Maylings Farm estate, which was ripe to be filled in with houses, shops and a primary school.
The original Maylings Farm was at the junction of Maylings Farm Road and Miller Drive, near the Jolly Miller pub. The open fields were used to store cattle which would be taken to the market. A circus was held here in 1954.
Buildings which existed before it was all filled in included East Glory Cottage at the exit to Highlands Road, Maylings House and Maylings Cottage in the north-west corner, Maylands to the north, and the large Uplands property in the north-east corner which became a nursery and then a carehome. There was a driveway broadly following Maylings Farm Road, with Brickfield Cottage half-way along.
Two streams ran across the fields, meeting in the middle and heading under the railway station. Allotments gardens and the recreation ground were at the south end.
The first sign of development which is shown on the map is Leigh Road, which appeared in the 1950s, from Gordon Road to the start of the bend. There were a number of tracks branching off, including one called The Drive, which went under the railway to Puxol Farm. This became the street with the same name, which was extended twice. Beaufort Avenue opened in 1960 but flooded seven times in its first six months; this was mostly due to issues with how the unfinished half of the street had been left. More buildings were advertised for sale in 1961, calling themselves 'Maylings Farm' and 'Park Lane estate'.
The 1965 map shows a gap in the middle of Maylings Farm Road: the section along Morshead Crescent was added a few years later. Its properties initially all had names. The east end of Somervell Drive, Irvine Close, west end of Miller Drive and Saville Gardens were later additions too.
Originally many of these roads were surfaced with concrete, which was unusual for Fareham, and may point towards the different construction dates (or contracts). For example the older half of Leigh Road was surfaced with tarmac, and the newer half was concrete. Other concrete streets included Arundel Drive, that end of Beaufort Avenue, Mallory Crescent and Norton Drive.
The estate is designated U489. It has always been a popular short-cut for cyclists as it avoids the major roads and saves the authorities from investing in cycling infrastructure (and dealing with the complaints that would come with it). In particular, Maylings Farm Road will become an important cycling route if Welborne 'Garden' Village ever gets built, as part of the theory that people will want to cycle around all the diverted motorway traffic.