Archaeological evidence shows Saxon activity around Bitterne Manor and the area within the old Roman walls may have been the Burh of Hampton [2]
The manor house has existed from Norman times and possibly earlier, and was built from the stones of Clausentum.[3] The house was used by the Bishop of Winchester, who travelled from manor to manor with his court throughout each year. The manor house also operated as a farm, and was surrounded by parkland.[3]Bitterne Park today, though, is a built-up area.
With its easy access to the River Itchen and the navigation to Winchester, Bitterne Manor was used by the bishops as a distribution centre for wine and salt, which was panned in the river.[3]
Arrangements were made to determine the exact boundaries between the manor and the Abbey lands at Hound and Netley in January 1246. This boundary remained in place until the mid 19th century, and was used in part as the subsequent boundary between the Itchen Urban District Council and Bitterne Parish Council.[4]
The scarcity of farm labourers resulting from the Black Death of 1348 led to higher running costs in manors across the country, and it became more profitable to let the house to tenants and sublet the farmland to tenant farmers. Bitterne Manor was tenant-occupied from the late 15th Century to the early 19th Century.[3]
William Camden visited the manor in around 1586, describing it as "an ancient castle ... at every tide [it] is encompassed for three parts of it by water a great breadth."[4]
The Bishop of Winchester sold the lease to the manor to a Mr. Simpson in 1802.[3] The new owner did not wish to use the manor as a farm, and so in 1804–05 the farmhouse was demolished and a new manor house constructed. The defensive ditch that the Romans had constructed was filled in.[3] The Northam Bridge was also built around this time, opening initially as a toll bridge. This allowed the growing Southampton to expand, leading to the urbanisation of the Bitterne Manor area.[3]
James Stuart Hall purchased Bitterne Manor in August 1818. On his death in 1822, the Manor was willed to his wife Jesse (Hunter) Stuart Hall and, on her death in 1847, to her sister Jane (Hunter) Eastmont. It later passed to her daughter Agnes Eastmont, who married Sir Steuert MacNaghten; thus, the property came into the MacNaghten Family.[citation needed]
The manor, including approximately 50 acres (200,000m2) of surrounding property, was purchased by Sir Steuert MacNaghten around 1863,[5] and was used as the private residence of his family until his death in 1895. Following the death of Steuert MacNaghten, most of the land surrounding the manor house was sold to the Southampton Corporation for residential development. The MacNaghten family re-acquired the manor house and a few acres of grounds in 1902, and continued to use it as the family residence. Upon the death of Steuert MacNaghten's widow, Amy Katherine MacNaghten, in 1906, the manor house passed to their children. One of these, Lettice MacNaghten, purchased full title from her siblings and continued to live in the house, often taking in paying guests, who at one stage in the 1930s included the family of novelist Nicolas Freeling.[6] The house was severely damaged by German bombing raids on Southampton during World War II. Lettice then abandoned the house, took refuge with her sister-in-law in Guildford, and refused to return to it in its damaged condition. The damaged manor house was vandalised and ultimately sold to an architect, who converted it into flats.
A scientific excavation of the site was carried out between 1951 and 1954 by the Ministry of Works, the results published in 1958 by Her Majesty's Stationery Office. The house is grade II listed, having first been listed on 14 July 1953.[7]
Today, the manor house and its grounds are privately owned and split into fourteen apartments. Some of the surrounding grounds, consisting of grassland, woodland and a natural foreshore to the River Itchen, are maintained by the council as a public open space.
Geography
River Itchen, Bitterne Manor
The area is bounded on the north, west and south by the River Itchen, and on the east by the railway line linking Southampton to Portsmouth. Northam Bridge crosses the river to the neighbouring suburb of Northam, whilst beyond the railway line is the suburb of Bitterne. The A3024 dual carriageway runs through the area, one of the primary commuter routes in and out of Southampton from the East.
Apart from the grounds of the manor house, the area immediately around the dual carriageway is mostly taken up by residential housing and Bitterne Manor Primary School. On the fringes of the suburb, where it meets the river, a number of industrial units can be found. There are also some small nature reserves lining the river banks. Chessel Bay has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.
Related Research Articles
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Southampton, Itchen is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Darren Paffey from the Labour Party (UK). Before then, it had been held since 2015 by Royston Smith GM of the Conservative Party, who had announced his retirement from frontline politics in 2023 and did not seek re-election in 2024.
Hedge End is a town and civil parish in Hampshire, England. Situated to the east of the City of Southampton, it adjoins the districts of West End and Botley. Hedge End lies within the Borough of Eastleigh and is part of the Southampton Urban Area. The original hamlet developed on Botley Common after 1250 when it was granted to the men of Botley as common pasture. In 1267, royal charters allowed Botley to hold an annual fair and a weekly market on the common which eventually became a market town.
The Itchen Way is a 31.80-mile (51.18 km) long-distance footpath following the River Itchen in Hampshire, England, from its source near Hinton Ampner House to its mouth at Woolston. The walk finishes at Sholing railway station. The route has been promoted by the Eastleigh Group of the Ramblers with grant aid from Hampshire County Council and Eastleigh Borough Council. The route was altered and improved in 2008.
Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England.
Northam is a suburb of Southampton in Hampshire. On the West bank of the River Itchen, it shares borders with St Mary's, Bitterne and Bevois Valley. Beside the border with St Mary's is the Chapel area, which has been home to some recent apartment building developments in Northam. The A3024 road runs through the suburb and crosses the Northam Bridge, which links Northam with Bitterne via Bitterne Manor. Although St Mary's Stadium takes its name from the neighbouring St Mary's, the stadium itself is in Northam, and home to Southampton F.C.
Bitterne Park is a suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England, on the Eastern bank of the River Itchen, built on sloping parkland which once formed part of Bitterne Manor.
St Denys is a partially riverside district of Southampton, England, centred 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north north-east of the city centre facing variously Bitterne Park and quay across the River Itchen estuary. The river is here spanned in the mid-east extreme of the district by Cobden Bridge, one of five within the city's broad boundaries, six including the railway bridge 100 m south. It is separated from the city centre by the districts sometimes known as Bevois Valley and New Town, in turn and to the south a riverside boardwalk allows pedestrian and bicycle access to the Mount Pleasant Industrial Estate and Northam.
Sholing, previously Scholing, is a district on the eastern side of the city of Southampton in Southern England. It is located between the districts of Bitterne, Thornhill and Woolston.
Midanbury is a small suburb of Southampton, England, bordering Bitterne, Bitterne Park and Townhill Park.
Mansbridge is a suburb on the northern perimeter of Southampton, England. The area is named after the Mans Bridge which spans the River Itchen. For a considerable time, this was the southernmost crossing point of the river, before the construction of Woodmill in Swaythling. The bridge itself still stands and is a Grade II listed structure but is closed to road traffic, having been replaced by a larger and more modern road bridge to carry the A27.
Southampton is a city in Hampshire, England. The area has been settled since the Stone Age. Its history has been affected by its geographical location, on a major estuary on the English Channel coast with an unusual double high-tide, and by its proximity to Winchester and London; the ancient and modern capitals of England. Having been an important regional centre for centuries, Southampton was awarded city status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1964.
The Northam Bridge is a road bridge across the River Itchen in Southampton, England, linking the suburbs of Northam and Bitterne Manor. The current bridge was the first major prestressed concrete road bridge to be built in the United Kingdom. The bridge carries the A3024 road as a dual carriageway, with two lanes on each carriageway.
National Cycle Route 23 is a route of the United Kingdom National Cycle Network, running from Reading to Sandown. The partially signed route passes through Basingstoke, Eastleigh and Southampton; once across the Solent, it continues through Cowes and Newport.
The Woolston Floating Bridge was a cable ferry that crossed the River Itchen in England between hards at Woolston and Southampton from 23 November 1836 until 11 June 1977. It was taken out of service after the new Itchen Bridge was opened.
Peartree Green is an open space on high ground on the east bank of the River Itchen in Southampton, in the ceremonial county of Hampshire, England. A 16/17th century building, Peartree House, still stands, though is today concealed by private housing. The house and the green take their name from a pear tree that grew near the parish church. Some of the original open space has been built on, but a large proportion remains as a recreational area. It contains a church and the remains of a boarding school. It overlooks the River Itchen to St Mary's Church in Southampton.
Clausentum was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. The site is believed to be located in Bitterne Manor, which is now a suburb of Southampton.
South Stoneham was a manor in South Stoneham parish. It was also a hundred, Poor law union, sanitary district then rural district covering a larger area of south Hampshire, England close to Southampton. In 1911 the parish had a population of 1934.
Peartree House is a Grade II listed building in the Peartree Green area of Southampton, England. The oldest part of the property was built for Francis Mylles, M.P. for Winchester, using stone from the Roman settlement at Clausentum. The most notable former resident of the property was Lieutenant-General Henry Shrapnel who invented the weapon named after him. The property is now owned by Peartree House Rehabilitation & Community Service where it is used as a specialist rehabilitation centre for clients with acquired brain injuries.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Southampton, Hampshire, England.
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