Northam is a suburb of
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 ...
in
Hampshire
Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...
. On the West bank of the
River Itchen, it shares borders with
St Mary's,
Bitterne
Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England.
Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mean ...
and
Bevois Valley
Bevois Valley ( ) is an inner city area of Southampton, England, within Bevois Electoral Ward, and includes areas called Bevois Town and Bevois Mount. The area lies south of and adjoins Portswood and is within easy walking distance of the city ...
. 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
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. T ...
, which links Northam with
Bitterne
Bitterne is an eastern suburb and ward of Southampton, England.
Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the bittern, but probably from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words ''byht'' and ''ærn'' together mean ...
via
Bitterne Manor
Bitterne Manor is a suburb of Southampton surrounding the manor house of the same name. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen, Hampshire, River Itchen, across Cobden Bridge from St Denys.
History
Bitterne Manor is the site of ...
. Although
St Mary's Stadium
St Mary's Stadium is an all-seater football stadium in Southampton, England, which has been the home stadium of Premier League club Southampton F.C. since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest football stadium ...
takes its name from the neighbouring St Mary's, the stadium itself is in Northam, and home to
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 in ...
History
In 1549 it was decided that the inhabitants of Northam had no rights of common over
Southampton Common
Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of th ...
.
A map of the area from 1560 shows a building on the site of what is now the
Old Farmhouse pub.
An engraving in the brickwork dates part of the buildings to 1611.
Northam shipyard was established in 1693 after John Winter purchased the Manor of Northam for that purpose.
The first
Northam Road Bridge was built in 1796. The original bridge was made of wood. During Victorian times, much of Southampton's industry was based around the banks of the
Itchen
From 1840 Northam was home to the Northam iron works owned (along with Millbrook foundry) by
Summers and Day.
The first ship was launched from the yard 14 October 1840.
Named ''Pride of the waters'' (later ''Ruby'') the ship was noted at the time to be the first ship to be constructed from iron in the various shipyards of the river Itchen.
Shortly afterwards (by 1842) John Rubie opened a third shipyard just downstream of the Summers and Day yard.
Steamship companies (such as the
White Star Line
The White Star Line was a British shipping company. Founded out of the remains of a defunct packet company, it gradually rose up to become one of the most prominent shipping lines in the world, providing passenger and cargo services between t ...
and the
Cunard Line
Cunard () is a British shipping and cruise line based at Carnival House at Southampton, England, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. Since 2011, Cunard and its three ships have been registered in Hamilton, Berm ...
) were major employers in the district in the early 20th century. Over 350 Northam residents died aboard
RMS ''Titanic'' when it foundered off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912; 125 students at one school alone were orphaned.
In the early to mid 20th century the road bridge was rebuilt and strengthened, reopening in 1954. In 1957 Southampton city council began the construction of a housing estate that including the 16 floor Millbank House tower.
The tower was opened 1 November 1960 by the Mayor of Southampton and was re-clad in 1988 in aluminium.
At the same time the balconies were enclosed.
Construction of the wider estate finished in 1965.
In 1965, further work was undertaken on the A3024, the dual carriageway which runs through Northam, to coincide with the opening of the
M27 motorway
The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs between Cadnam and Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983, providing the largest two urban areas in Hampshire (Southampton and Portsmouth) with a direct mot ...
.
Railways and tramways
The
London & Southampton Railway reached Northam in 1839.
For few months the line terminated at a temporary station at Northam until the Southampton Terminus station was completed.
In order to continue to
Southampton Terminus railway station
Southampton Terminus railway station served the Port of Southampton and Southampton City Centre, England from 1839 until 1966. The station was authorised on 25 July 1834 and built as the terminus of the London and Southampton Railway, which la ...
the line had to cross Northam road.
Originally a level crossing was constructed but after a dispute with the Northam bridge company the railway agreed to build a bridge to carry the road over the railway.
Construction of the bridge in brick began some time before 1840.
In 1858 new junction was added connecting the line to what is now
Southampton Central railway station
Southampton Central railway station is a main line station serving the city of Southampton in Hampshire, southern England. It is on the South West Main Line and also serves the Wessex Main Line and the West Coastway Line. The station is appr ...
.
This required the extension of the bridge which was done by added a cast iron section
The junction was altered in 1902 to reduce the sharpness of the curve which had previously limited trains to 7MPH.
The sharpness of the curve was further reduced in 1980 when the number of lines down to Southampton Docks was reduced from two to one.
The first part of the Northam Quay tramway was built around the start of the 1840s.
The first line connected Northam Quay to the site of the coke overns.
Over the following decades the tramway was connected to other industrial sites in the area as well as the mainline railway.
The area regained a railway station when
Northam railway station was opened on 1 December 1872.
The London & South Western Railway opened a large
motive power depot
The motive power depot (MPD) or locomotive depot, or traction maintenance depot (TMD), is the place where locomotives are usually housed, repaired and maintained when not being used. They were originally known as "running sheds", "engine shed ...
at Northam in 1840, which remained the principal locomotive servicing facility in the area until 1903 when it was replaced by a new depot at
Eastleigh
Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the 2011 census.
The town lies on the River Itchen, o ...
.
The area previously occupied by the shed then became a goods yard.
Work to replace the bridges that took Northam road over the railway began in 1907 and the new bridge opened in 1908.
The New bridge was of steel construction supported by girder lattices
Northam station closed on 3 September 1966 and was demolished by the end of the decade.
Northam Quay tramway closed in 1984.
In 2001,
South West Trains
Stagecoach South Western Trains Limited, trading as South West Trains (SWT), was an English train operating company owned by Stagecoach Group, Stagecoach, which operated the South Western franchise between February 1996 and August 2017.
SWT op ...
chose Northam as the location for the maintenance facility for its new
Siemens Desiro
The Siemens Desiro (, , ) is a family of diesel or electric multiple unit passenger trains developed by Siemens Mobility, a division of the German Siemens AG conglomerate. The main variants are the Desiro Classic, Desiro ML, Desiro UK and the la ...
fleet of trains on the site of the former goods yard.
[ The ]Northam Carriage Servicing Depot
Northam Traincare Facility, also known as Northam Carriage Servicing Depot, is an electric traction maintenance depot in the suburb of Northam in Southampton, England. The depot is situated on the South West Main Line and is south of St Denys ...
was constructed by Turner & Townsend
Turner & Townsend (officially Turner & Townsend Partners LLP) is a multinational professional services company headquartered in Leeds, United Kingdom specialising in programme management, project management, cost management and consulting across ...
and opened in 2003.
Places of worship
The Augustine Centre
Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afric ...
was originally a Church of England
The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
church, and subsequently home to Northam Pentecostal Church. The church was built as St Augustine between 1881 and 1884 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 ...
. It was purchased by Riverside Family Church
Riverside may refer to:
Places Australia
* Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania
Canada
* Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon
* Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta
* Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural mun ...
in the early 1980s and given its new name. The building is a Grade II listed building
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
.Southampton City Council: Listed buildings in Southampton
Accessed 13 September 2007.
Northam Primitive Methodist Church was opened in 1874.
The church held its first wedding in September 1911 and it expanded to include a Sunday school in the late 1920s.
By 2022 the church was no longer in use and proposals were being made to turn it into housing.
Television Centre, Southampton
![Meridian studios Southampton](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/42/Meridian_studios_Southampton.jpg)
Northam was home to
Television Centre, Southampton
Television Centre, Southampton was home to the three ITV (TV network), ITV contractors for the South and South East region: Southern Television, Southern, Television South, TVS, and Meridian Broadcasting, Meridian. It was also known as The South ...
, run by
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
franchises
Meridian Broadcasting
ITV Meridian (previously Meridian Broadcasting) is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station was launched at 12:00 am on 1 January 1993, replacing previous broadcaster Television South, and is owned an ...
,
TVS (Television South) and
Southern Television
Southern Television was the ITV broadcasting licence holder for the South and South-East of England from 30 August 1958 to 31 December 1981. The company was launched as 'Southern Television Limited' and the title 'Southern Television' was con ...
, before Meridian moved their operations to
Whiteley
Whiteley is a community in the county of Hampshire, England, near Fareham. The development straddles the boundary between two council districts: the Borough of Fareham to the south and east, and the city of Winchester to the north and west.
L ...
. As well as the regional news magazine programme ''Meridian Tonight'', the studios were originally home to the very first series of the popular game show ''
Catchphrase
A catchphrase (alternatively spelled catch phrase) is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through word of mouth and a variety of mass ...
'' (before it moved to
Maidstone Studios
The Maidstone Studios, formerly called TVS Television Centre, is the UK's largest independent television studio complex, and is based at Vinters Park in Maidstone, Kent, UK. It has been home to a varied selection of independent British televisi ...
) and handled transmission of Meridian, Anglia and HTV West. The first attempt to redevelop the site failed in 2009 when the developer went into administration.
In 2014, Inland Homes announced plans to develop the site as a residential area.
[ ]
References
External links
Riverside Family Church
{{Authority control
Areas of Southampton