Nowadays the village of Bitterne has spread so much that it has become a suburb of Southampton  and the origin of the name is from the 'bend in the river'.

The 1980s was the village literally cut in half with a new dual carriageway cutting through, this was much needed due to the amount of traffic not only in the area already but going backwards and forwards from Southampton to Portsmouth..

Due to this massive slash through the village a great number of elegant houses as well as businesses were demolished and it is said that more damage was done then than during the whole of the bombing in WWII.

The main road from Southampton via Northam enters Bitterne by way of Lances Hill and during WWII there was an Anti Aircraft battery here, now there are large supermarkets, and smaller shop and a large shopping precinct decorated with brightly coloured modern furniture.

The parish church survived all this and is still a main part of the local  community, the grounds contain a bowling green, tennis court and a church hall. There is also a thriving Local History Society and quite a few publications have been produced through the society giving a detailed history of the area.

For a century and a half a stone lion stood guard over a small group of shops but due to the modernisation of the shopping precinct it has been moved and now stands on its own base in front of the Red Lion. A horse trough as has also been moved t o the Lances Hill end of the precinct.

Holy Saviour Church Bitterne
(photo contributed by David Guillaume, Australia,
who is related to the architect, George Guillaume)
The Guillaume Family in England

George Guillaume was responsible for the design of 
Holy Saviour at Bitterne, Holy Trinity at Colden Common 
and Church of the Ascension,
Burghclere.
CLICK HERE To learn more about him

The Methodist and United Reformed churches, and also the village school, moved to new sits when the bypass was constructed and behind it was the local animal pound which has was replaced by a Newsagents

The residential development of Bitterne Park stared near the end of the 19th century and on either end of Cobden Bridge there is a plaque which  commemorates the area being promoted by the National Liberal Company who purchased a section of land in 1882 laid out west of Midanbury or Middenbury Lane as it was spelt then, and reached on from Bitterne Railway Station almost to Woodmill.

The Bishops of Winchester were Lords of the Manor at that time and they also owned Bitterne Manor Farm which was transferred in 1869 to the Ecclesiastical commissioners who  retained ownership until 1878. It was in 1882 that the Land Company decided to spend money on an iron bridge to connect the estate to St Denys and this became known as the Cobden Free Bridge and was opened in 1883. It was then handed to the mayor for the free use of the residents forever. But the bridge has gone through a couple of major changes, being reconstructed between 1926 and 1928 and then renovated in 1979/80.

The name Cobden Free Bridge was chosen for the toll bridge in operation until 1929 on Northam Bridge, and this was opposed by the owners as it affected their revenue but later dropped this complaint