Town Quay is a quay and pier in

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 ...

, England.

History

A quay is first recorded on the site in 1411, known as Watergate Quay. This quay fell out of use in the 18th century and in 1803 was demolished and replaced with a new structure, used for goods and passenger services. Overcrowding made it unsuitable for passenger services, resulting in most of them relocating when the Royal Pier opened in 1833. Between 1829 and 1860, the memorial column raised to local landowner and MP, William Chamberlayne, was located at the quay. A horse-drawn tramway, completed on the last day of 1847, connected Southampton Terminus railway station to the quay. This tramway was directly connected to the railway in 1871. In 1876, upgrades to the tramway allowed a switch from horses to light locomotives. For many years the quay was worked by several of the diminutive LSWR C14 class locomotives, numbers 741, 743, 744 and 745, as well as an assortment of other small locomotives. During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

the quay was used for military traffic, mainly barges, traveling across the English Channel while the railway lines to the pier were used as sidings by the main

Southampton Docks The Port of Southampton is a passenger and cargo port in the central part of the south coast of England. The modern era in the history of the Port of Southampton began when the first dock was inaugurated in 1843. The port has been owned and op ...

. Construction and improvements in other parts of Southampton's docks in the 1930s resulted in much of the goods traffic moving away and the quay shifted to handling mainly passenger traffic. The last major freight traffic was Scandinavian timber, imported by Montague Meyer, but increasing charges by British Rail in the late 1960s brought about a switch to road transport. Harbour Board Office

The railway ceased being used on 4 May 1970, although the lines remained in place for a further nine years. Most of the warehouses on the quay were subsequently demolished, being replaced by offices and the Red Funnel ferry terminals. A marina has been constructed on the east side of the pier, inshore of the high-speed ferry pontoons. One of the last survivors of the original buildings, the Grade II

listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...

Harbour Board offices, is now used as a casino having formerly been used, until 2015, as a gentleman's club; another survivor, the former Geddes Warehouse, also listed Grade II, has been converted into a boutique hotel and restaurant. The

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian ...

Seaway House, next door to the warehouse, houses a restaurant and is also Grade II listed. To complete the heritage area, a pair of K6 telephone kiosks on the corner of Seaway House are also Grade II listed.

Present day

Currently the pier section is used by the Hythe Ferry and the Red Funnel Red Jet high speed service to West Cowes. Red Funnel's vehicle ferries to

East Cowes East Cowes is a town and civil parish in the north of the Isle of Wight, on the east bank of the River Medina, next to its west bank neighbour Cowes. The two towns are connected by the Cowes Floating Bridge, a chain ferry operated by the Isle ...

operate from the water frontage of the quay to the west of the pier, having moved there after the closing of Royal Pier at the end of 1979. The QuayConnect bus service, free to ferry passengers, connects the terminals to the town centre and

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 ...

. The buildings on the pier provide office space for a variety of high tech and marine companies, and other commercial enterprises.

References

External links

* {{Piers in the United Kingdom Piers in Hampshire Transport in Southampton Southampton