Redbridge, Southampton - History

History

Much of Redbridge's history is linked to its position at the mouth of the River Test and, later, as the terminus of the Andover Canal. The first bridge was constructed in Medieval times, and has five arches.

The settlement was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Rodbrige, within the Manebrige (possibly Mansbridge) Hundred in Hantscire (Hampshire). In 1575 and 1607, it was shown on maps as a small hamlet, although in the latter it was shown as being within the "Redbridg Hundred".

In 1610 William Camden described the village and its history to date thus:

Thence glideeth this water streight into Anton Haven, at Arundinis Vadum, as Bede called it and interpreteth it himselfe Reedeford: but now of the bridge where the foord was named, for Redeford, Redbridge: where, at the first springing up of the English Saxon Church, there flourished a Monasterie, the Abbat whereof Cymbreth as Beda writeth, baptised the two brethren being very little ones of Arvandus the pety King of Wight, even as they were ready to be put to death.

This indicates that a monastery and a church were already established in the hamlet of Redbridge. The location of the monastery is unknown but some accounts suggest it was located in what is now Eling rather than the area known today as Redbridge. Redbridge again appeared on maps in 1611 and 1645 as a small hamlet within the Redbridge Hundred. The Ship Inn was built in 1654. A further map in 1695 shows the hamlet as being within the Waltham hundred.

The settlement was never a market town, but gained considerable status as a shipbuilding centre, for both merchant shipping and the Royal Navy. It was recorded in 1724 and again in 1738 that, along with Bursledon on the other side of Southampton, King William III's Navy built ships at Redbridge "besides abundance of large merchant ships".

Redbridge was again shown as a small hamlet on a 1788 map, back within a hundred named after Redbridge itself, although this time recorded as "Bedbridge Hundred". In 1793, a second, single-span bridge was constructed at Redbridge, paid for by the county council, allowing boats to pass through from Southampton Water to the Andover Canal, which opened the following year.

By 1815 Redbridge was well established as a village, albeit within the parish of Millbrook. Located at the mouth of the River Test, and acting as the terminus of the Andover Canal, the village was a considerable trading post for commodities such as coal, timber and corn, as well as a centre for ship building.

Work began on converting the Andover Canal to a railway, which was to become known as the Sprat and Winkle Line, in 1859. The line opened in 1865, with a new course being laid twenty years later.

The M271 motorway was opened in 1975; the motorway terminates at the Redbridge Roundabout, where it meets the dual carriageway A35 trunk road. The main carriageway of the A35 passes over the roundabout on a large overpass, and to the west crosses the River Test on a large causeway, parallel to the main line railway. It is these transport structures, together with industrial and high density residential developments, that dominate Redbridge today.