In her will of 1665, Katherine Wulfris gave the yearly rent of an orchard in Southampton to be used by the churchwardens of Holy Rood church for the apprenticing of “one poor maid”. This property, bordering London Road and Brunswick Place, was by the 18th century known as Giddy Bridge. In 1770 it was let to Nathaniel St Andre who eventually incorporated into his Bellevue estate.
The origin of the name is not known. L. A. Burgess states that since there is no suggestion of a stream hereabouts the bridge must have crossed a bouney or boundary ditch demarcating East Marlands on its northward side. ‘Townsman’ suggests the word Giddy may come from a ‘gide’ meaning a post hammered into the ground to mark a spot. The name was revived in the 1990s, to name a new public house in London Road.
Giddy Bridge Public House, London Road
Photograph, c.2010
see also
Further reading:
More Stories of Southampton Streets, by A. G. K. Leonard, p62. (HS/h)
Southampton Occasional Notes, by ‘Townsman’, p40. (HS/h)
Navigation
Browse A B C D E F G H J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y-Z
Get Involved
If you wish to
- suggest additional information for this entry
- suggest amendments to this entry
- offer your own research
- make a comment
then fill in the form on the Contact page.