Bitterne
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| Bitterne | |
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  Bitterne shown within Southampton |
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| Unitary authority | Southampton |
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| Ceremonial county | Hampshire |
| Region | South East |
| Constituent country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SOUTHAMPTON |
| Postcode district | SO18 |
| Dialling code | 023 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| European Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | Southampton Itchen |
| List of places: UK • England • Hampshire | |
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Bitterne is an eastern suburb of Southampton, Hampshire, England.
Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly-named bird, the Bittern (as some believe) but from the bend in the River Itchen. On this bend, Bitterne Manor to the west of Vespasian Road, is the site of the original Roman settlement of Clausentum, the forerunner of today's City of Southampton.
Bitterne until the 1900s was a separate village in Hampshire, lying on the A3024 from Southampton to Portsmouth, but by the 20th century 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.
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 a mile west of the old village Bitterne railway station connects the district with Southampton and Portsmouth, with two trains per hour at peak periods.
[edit] History
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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. 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.[1] 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.[1]
A new estate was built in 1760, known then as Bitterne Grove and today housing St Mary's College.[1] 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.[1]. 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.[1] Townhill Park House was also built around this time, and Chessel House was built in 1796 by David Lance.[1] 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.[1] Construction of this new road and the bridges was completed in 1801.[1] 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.[1]
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