Bitterne Manor
| Bitterne Manor | |
|---|---|
 Modern residential development on Quayside Road |
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 Bitterne Manor
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| Bitterne Manor shown within Southampton | |
| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SOUTHAMPTON |
| Postcode district | SO14 |
| Dialling code | 023 |
| Police | Hampshire |
| Fire | Hampshire |
| Ambulance | South Central |
| EU Parliament | South East England |
| UK Parliament | |
Bitterne Manor is a suburb of Southampton surrounding the manor house of the same name. It is located on the eastern bank of the River Itchen, across Cobden Bridge from St Denys.
Bitterne Manor is the site of the original Roman settlement of Clausentum, the forerunner to today's City of Southampton.
The manor house has existed from Norman times and possibly earlier, and was built from the stones of Clausentum. The house was used by the Bishop of Winchester, who travelled from manor to manor with his court throughout each year. The manor house also operated as a farm, and was surrounded by parkland.Bitterne Park today, though, is a built-up area.
With its easy access to the River Itchen and the navigation to Winchester, Bitterne Manor was used by the bishops as a distribution centre for wine and salt, which was panned in the river.
Arrangements were made to determine the exact boundaries between the manor and the Abbey lands at Hound and Netley in January 1246. This boundary remained in place until the mid 19th century, and was used in part as the subsequent boundary between the Itchen Urban District Council and Bitterne Parish Council.
Robert Kilwardby, the Archbishop of Canterbury, visited Bitterne Manor in 1274 and spent Christmas there.
The scarcity of farm labourers resulting from the Black Death of 1348 led to higher running costs in manors across the country, and it became more profitable to let the house to tenants and sublet the farmland to tenant farmers. Bitterne Manor was tenant-occupied from the late 15th Century to the early 19th Century.
William Camden visited the manor in around 1586, describing it as "an ancient castle ... at every tide [it] is encompassed for three parts of it by water a great breadth."
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Wikipedia