*** Welcome to piglix ***

Midanbury

Midanbury
View from Midanbury.jpg
The view over the Itchen Valley from Midanbury
Midanbury is located in Southampton
Midanbury
Midanbury
Midanbury shown within Southampton
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town SOUTHAMPTON
Postcode district SO18
Dialling code 023
Police Hampshire
Fire Hampshire
Ambulance South Central
EU Parliament South East England
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
HampshireCoordinates: 50°55′34″N 1°21′53″W / 50.926°N 1.3646°W / 50.926; -1.3646

Midanbury is a small suburb of Southampton, England, bordering Bitterne, Bitterne Park and Townhill Park.

In 1790 Southampton was a spa town whose popularity led to the construction of several country houses in the surrounding area, one of which was at Midanbury, situated on the summit of a hill to the east of the town. Known by a variety of names (Midanbury House, Midanbury Heights and Midanbury Lodge among them), the house was built by Mr T Leversuch. A writer in 1878 praised the beauty of the countryside, and the "exceedingly fine" views from the Midanbury Heights.

The opening of the toll-free Cobden Bridge in 1883 enabled the townsfolk to travel across the river where Midanbury House, with its castellated lodge and crenellated gateway, particularly captured the imagination. As a result the estate's grounds became a popular venue for Sunday School outings from the town's churches, featuring picnic tables and a variety of games, including Cricket matches played by the adults.

The house's lodge was built circa 1800 as a direct copy of that at Blaise Castle near Bristol which was designed by John Nash. It had battlements and turrets, arrow slits, window panes in the gothic style, and was topped with a crest. The building came to be known as Midanbury Castle, and served as accommodation for servants of the main house. Among the last to live there were the coachman-gardener Herbert Grosvenor and his wife, the housekeeper, Alice.

Michael Hoy, a merchant of Bishopsgate, London and later Walthamstow (then in Essex) who specialised in trading with Russia, purchased several properties in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including Midanbury House. He served the office of Sheriff of London in 1812, having been elected to the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers on 22 April 1808. Hoy married Elizabeth, the second daughter of Andrew Hawes Bradley of Gore Court near Sittingbourne, Kent, on 24 May 1825 in South Stoneham Church (although the register lists his name as Michael Hay). Hoy died just three years later, on 26 June 1828, and left his estate to a distant cousin, the Dublin-born James Barlow, a military surgeon. Barlow took on the name Hoy as a mark of respect, becoming James Barlow Hoy by royal licence on 26 January 1829.


...
Wikipedia

...