Bitterne Park comprises the land around Bitterne Manor, much of which was originally parkland belonging to the Bishops of Winchester. In the mid 19th century the area was still largely rural with a number of farms, e.g. Bitterne Manor Farm and Yew Tree farm and a series of large houses, e.g. Bitterne Manor House and Bitterne Grove. In 1882 The National Liberal Land Company bought land in the area comprising about 317 acres of farmland, much of which had previously belonged to Bitterne Manor Farm. Over the next 20 years the company built on this land most of the modern-day Bitterne Park suburb, including Manor Farm Road, Bullar Road, Thorold Road, Cobbett Road and others. In 1883 the original Cobden Bridge was built to link the new suburb to Southampton, but it was not until 1895 that Bitterne Park, together with other suburbs to the east of the Itchen (but not Bitterne), was incorporated into Southampton Borough.
Further reading:
The Growth of Bitterne Park, by John Edgar Mann. (HS/h)
History of Southampton Volume 3, by A. Temple Patterson, p110-111. (HS/h)
Public Life in Southampton Volume 2, by James Lemon, p69-153 (HS/l)
Stories of Southampton Streets, by A. G. K. Leonard, p79-82. (HS/h)
'Bitterne Park: the Origins and Growth of a Victorian Suburb', by David Moody, Southampton Local History Forum Journal, no. 20, Autumn 2012, p31-44. (HS/h)
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