Bitterne

Infobox UK place
country = England
map_type = Southampton
official_name= Bitterne
latitude = 50.9133
longitude = -1.3616
population = 13,177Cite web | url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=6073261&c=bitterne&d=14&e=15&g=411921&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1215205898645&enc=1 | title=Bitterne (Ward) — Key Figures for 2001 Census: Key Statistics | publisher=Office for National Statistics | date=2001 | accessdate=2008-07-04]
area_total_km2 = 2.47
unitary_england= Southampton
lieutenancy_england= Hampshire
post_town= SOUTHAMPTON
postcode_area= SO
dial_code= 023
constituency_westminster=Southampton Itchen
region = South East England
postcode_district = SO18
static_

static_image_caption = The pedestrianised area of Bitterne Road is a popular shopping precinct. This is the old junction of the Hedge End and Portsmouth Roads looking East.

Bitterne is an eastern suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England.

Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly-named bird, the Bittern (as some believe) but from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words "byht" and "ærn" together mean "house near a bend",cite book|last=Mills|first=A.D.|title=Dictionary of English Place-Names|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=Oxford|date=1998|edition=2nd edition|isbn=0-19-280074-4] most likely a reference to Bitterne Manor House. A reference from the late 11th century spells the name "Byterne".

Bitterne Ward comprises the suburbs of Bitterne and Thornhill, and had a population of 14,384 as of the 2001 Census. The ward borders Sholing Ward and Harefield Ward to the west and north.

History

The focal point of Bitterne today is the former location of Bitterne Village (and is still occasionally referred to by that name), but the village is predated by the settlement at Bitterne Manor, the site of the original Roman settlement of Clausentum, the forerunner of today's City of Southampton. [cite web | url=http://sccwww1.southampton.gov.uk/archaeology/roman.asp | title=Roman Southampton | accessdate=2008-07-04 | publisher=Southampton City Council]

Bitterne is not mentioned in the Domesday Book but first appears in a late 11th century entry in the Bishop of Winchester's register as "Byterne". This is, however, a reference to Bitterne Manor, not to the settlement known as Bitterne today.

In 1665, the population of Bitterne was estimated to be 75 inhabitants, across 15 houses, which included Bitterne Manor House and another stately home, Peartree House.cite book | last = Holt | first = John | authorlink = | coauthors = Anne Cole | title = A bend in the River | publisher = Bitterne Local History Society | date = February 1992 | location = Southampton | pages = | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = ]

A new estate was built in 1760, known then as Bitterne Grove and today housing St Mary's College. A number of workers' cottages were erected to support the estate, and the farming activities at Bitterne Manor and Townhill Park; the cottages were in the Mousehole area of Bitterne.. In the 1790s, frequent royal visits to Southampton encouraged a spate of land-buying in the area, and further estates were added to the Bitterne area, including Ridgeway, Sydney Farm and Midanbury Lodge. Townhill Park House was also built around this time, and Chessel House was built in 1796 by David Lance. Aware that access to his land was poor, Lance encouraged the building of a bridge over the River Itchen linking Bitterne Manor to Northam, and another bridge over the River Hamble at Bursledon, with road linking the bridges meeting another new road, to Botley, at the location known as the centre of today's Bitterne. Construction of this new road and the bridges was completed in 1801. Although this new junction on an important communications route would eventually stimulate the growth of Bitterne Village, an account of 1826 mentions only the estate houses and not any hamlet or collection of cottages.

By the 20th Century, Bitterne Village was swallowed up by fast expanding Southampton. During the 1950s, Bitterne underwent extensive renovation, with the destruction of Victorian cottage housing areas to be replaced with flats and estates on the old farm land. The Angel pub went to be replaced by Sainsbury's, the Methodist church by Lloyds Bank. However the village church is today a thriving community organisation, serving the Methodists too.

Local Area

On August 22nd 1962, a new Tenpin Bowling Centre was opened, then 'Excel Bowl' now AMF Bowling - Bitterne Bowl and the area began to thrive with an influx of new businesses. During the 1980s, work was carried out to bypass the bottleneck of the main high street by looping the A3024 from the top of Lances Hill eastwards through some of the poorer housing to a new junction with the Hedge End road demolishing the old post office, and the old high street was pedestrianised.

At the foot of Lances Hill (At Bitterne Road west, next to its similarly known pub "The Station") a mile west of the old village Bitterne railway station connects the district with Southampton and Portsmouth, with one train per hour at peak periods in each direction.

References

External links

* [http://www.catholicsoton.org.uk/bitterne Christ the King and St Colman (Roman Catholic) church]

Around Southampton