St Mary's is an inner city area of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It consists of two areas separated by Six Dials junction. The northern section of the district is bounded by St Mary's Road and some streets to the west and the area to the east is Nicholstown-Newtown. The northern section is home to the fire station. The majority of St Mary's is in the southern portion, to the east of St Mary Street. This is where St Mary's church is located, from which the suburb's name originates. The southern section is also home to the Golden Grove area. It is bordered on the east by the rail lines (the other side of these lines is the district of Chapel). It gives its name to

St Mary's Stadium St Mary's Stadium is a seated but also safe-standing football stadium in Southampton, Hampshire, England, which has been the home stadium of club Southampton since 2001. The stadium has a capacity of 32,384 and is currently the largest footbal ...

, where

Southampton Football Club Southampton Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Southampton, Hampshire, England. The club competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Their home ground since 2001 has been St M ...

play, although the

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

itself is in the neighbouring suburb of Northam.

History

The area was originally home to much of the saxon town of

Hamwic 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 pr ...

. It reverted to farmland in the 11th century and continued to be used in that role until the 18th century. After World war 2 council estates were built in the area including the 1960s built Golden Grove estate.

Church

St Mary's Church serves many Christians in the area. The church has peels of bells which ring on Monday nights, which inspired the writing of the song

The bells of St. Mary's ''The Bells of St. Mary's'' is a 1945 American musical comedy-drama film, produced and directed by Leo McCarey and starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman. Written by Dudley Nichols and based on a story by McCarey, the film is about a priest a ...

later sung by Bing Crosby. The football club now known as

were founded at St Mary's Church, on 21 November 1885 by members of the St Mary's Church of England Young Men's Association. The club was originally known as St. Mary's Young Men's Association F.C. (usually abbreviated to "St. Mary's Y.M.A.") and then became simply St. Mary's F.C. in 1887–88, before adopting the name Southampton St. Mary's when the club joined the Southern League in 1894. After winning the Southern League title in 1896–97, the club became a limited company and was renamed Southampton F.C.

Culture

The area is home to The Joiners in St Mary Street, one of Southampton's music venues and known for hosting acts such as

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment Coldplay Coldplay are a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1997. They consist of vocalist and pianist Chris Martin, guitarist Jonny Buckland, bassist Guy Berryman, drummer and percussionist Will Champion, and manager Phil Harvey (band m ...

and

Muse In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...

. In June 2013 it was named Britain's Best Small Venue by

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

. There are two radio stations that broadcast from St Mary's, 103.9 Voice FM provides an eclectic mix of programming.

Unity 101 Unity 101 (previously known as Unity 24) is a community radio station based in Southampton, England, a voluntary organisation catering to the Asian and ethnic minority communities in the area. The station was previously only on the air for one ...

is a community radio catering to the Asian and ethnic minority communities.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary's, Southampton Areas of Southampton

History

Church

Culture

See also

References