Millbrook is a suburb and former

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

. As the area developed, several settlements grew within the parish, some of them becoming parishes in their own right, thus reducing the extent of the Millbrook parish. As well as the Millbrook of today, the original Millbrook parish included

Freemantle Freemantle is a suburb and electoral ward in Southampton, England. There are similarly named places in Hampshire: notably Henry II's hunting lodge in Kingsclere; a suburb of Hannington, Hampshire, Hannington; and Freemantle Common in Bitterne. ...

Regents Park Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks of London. It occupies of high ground in north-west Inner London, administratively split between the City of Westminster and the Borough of Camden (and historically betwe ...

, and Redbridge. Some of these areas are still referred to as being part of Millbrook. The brook that Millbrook was named after is now known as Tanner's Brook.

History

On the 28 November 1830 in the context of the Swing riots there was a non violent protest in Millbrook and

Shirley Shirley may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Shirley'' (novel), an 1849 novel by Charlotte Brontë * ''Shirley'' (1922 film), a British silent film * ''Shirley'' (2020 film), an American film * ''Shirley'' (album), a 1961 album by Shirley Bas ...

by laborers demanding increased wages. Millbrook railway station was opened in 1861, and the parish formerly had open baths and a ferry to

Marchwood Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, England, United Kingdom. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and directly east of the New Forest. The population of the village in the 20 ...

. The Church of the Holy Trinity was built between 1873 and 1880 to a design by

Henry Woodyer Henry Woodyer (1816–1896) was an English architect, a pupil of William Butterfield and a disciple of A. W. N. Pugin and the Ecclesiologists. Life Woodyer was born in Guildford, Surrey, England, in 1816, the son of a successful, highly resp ...

John Ralfs John Ralfs (13 September 1807 – 14 July 1890) was an English botanist. Born in Millbrook, near Southampton, he was the second son of Samuel Ralfs, a yeoman of an old family in Hampshire. He has been commemorated in the names of many plant gr ...

, the notable 19th-century botanist, was born here, as were footballers Kevin Gibbens and

Phil Warner Philip Warner (born 2 February 1979) is an English retired semi-professional footballer, who played as a utility player in the Premier League for Southampton and in the Football League for Cambridge United and Brentford. After his release from ...

who both played for

Southampton F.C. Southampton Football Club () is an English professional football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, which competes in the . Their home ground since 2001 has been St Mary's Stadium, before which they were based at The Dell. The club play i ...

, along with comedian Mike Osman. On 16 May 1925, Lucy Hodder and the English artist

Harry Epworth Allen Harry Epworth Allen (27 November 1894 – 25 March 1958)Batsford, J. (2005) – facsimile of birth certificate, p. 186 was an English painter. He was one of the twentieth century's most distinctive interpreters of landscape. Early life H. E. ...

were married at Holy Trinity Church.Batsford, J. ''Harry Epworth Allen (1894-1958): Catalogue of His Works'' (2005), The Horizon Press and Derwent-Wye, - facsimile of marriage certificate, p. 187 The old village was almost entirely destroyed by the widening of Millbrook Road. In 1965 Milbrook towers the then tallest building in the city was built in the estate to a design by Ryder and Yates. In 1969 the Church of the Holy Trinity was given grade II listed status. In August 2022 the Church of the Holy Trinity was put up for sale during to falling congregation numbers.

Millbrook today

Holy Trinity Church, Millbrook - geograph

Millbrook as a district is split by the A35 dual carriageway, Tebourba Way. In general, on the west are

council estate Public housing in the United Kingdom, also known as council estates, council housing, or social housing, provided the majority of rented accommodation until 2011 when the number of households in private rental housing surpassed the number in so ...

s, and on the east are private housing, including

and Freemantle. The estates consist of Millbrook Park, Mansel Park, Wimpson Estate, Redbridge Estate, Maybush, Brownhill and the Channel Islands Estate. There is also an industrial area close to Southampton container port, which shares a boundary with Millbrook. The main A33 road route into the city centre from the west passes through Millbrook, effectively creating the boundary between the industrialised part of Millbrook (to the south) and the residential areas (to the north). Millbrook is home to the

Western Community Hospital The Western Community Hospital is a health facility in William Macleod Way in the Shirley / Millbrook area of Southampton, Hampshire, England. It is managed by the Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust. History The facility has its origins in tw ...

and a large

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

supermarket. There is also a small

retail park A retail park is a type of shopping centre found on the fringes of most large towns and cities in the United Kingdom and other European countries. They form a key aspect of European retail geographies, alongside indoor shopping centres, standalo ...

with a bowling alley and two hardware stores. Along Millbrook point road, there is Goals soccer centre, a 12-pitch five-a-side football ground. There is a lot of green park land in Millbrook, hence its full title of Millbrook Park Estate, this includes Green Park, Mansel Park, Test Park, Millbrook Recreation Ground, as well as numerous school playing fields. A huge green belt cuts through the main estate, from Millbrook roundabout, to the Top Shops on Windermere Avenue.

References

External links

{{Districts of Southampton Wards of Southampton