This company was responsible for developing Bitterne Park and Bitterne Manor in the late 19th century.
In 1882 the company bought a 300-acre tract of land lying west of Midanbury Lane, extending from Bitterne railway station almost to Woodmill, on which they laid out a series of new roads, including Cobbett Road, Cobden Avenue, Whitworth Crescent and Road, Thorold Road and Bullar Avenue.
The stated aim of the company was to “banish the jerry builder” and “to provide homes with proper sanitary arrangements, thus promoting health and longevity”. To this end they built a series of “good villa residencies and cottages” on their new roads. A handbill advertising the houses describes the estate as the most convenient and the most charming suburb of Southampton. The company also built Cobden Bridge, opened in 1883, to link their new estate with the centre of Southampton.
In 1893 the company dropped the word 'Liberal' from its title, but its original political identity is obvious from the names given to the new roads.
In 1899 it bought another tract of land for development from the MacNaughten family of Bitterne Manor.
Further reading:
Stories of Southampton Streets, by A. G. K. Leonard, p79-82. (HS/h)
The Story of Bitterne Park, by John Edgar Mann, p27-31. (HS/h.BIT)
'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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