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Summary

It has been suggested that a water channel in what is now Riverside Park and Marlhill Copse, shown on early 19th century maps, may be the "new river" referred to in a Saxon charter of 1045, and perhaps dug to allow boats to by-pass the mills at Woodmill and Gater's Mill. However this is disputed; the present line of the channel along the south boundary of the park has been shown to date to after World War II when the park was landscaped, and the part in Marlhill Copse may be a natural river channel. The channel runs from Gater's Mill on Mansbridge Road towards Woodmill and may have been dug as an overflow channel for Gater's Mill.

Protected Status: None recorded

Other References/Statuses

• HER backup file (new series): MSH372  etc
• Old Southampton SMR No/Backup file: SU 4415 SE 2 (M)  CARDS ALSO SU 4415 SW 1; 4515 NW 1; 4515 SW 2; 4315 SE 8.

Monument Type(s):

• WATER CHANNEL? (Saxon to Modern - 1000 AD? to 2050 AD)
• CANAL? (Saxon to Unknown - 1045 AD)

Full description

[1]: CK Currie suggests that along the south boundary of Riverside Park and in Marlhill Copse is a substantial water channel, up to 1.5km long and 15m to 20m wide. Its west end is apparently crossed by Woodmill Lane, an assumed medieval routeway. He suggests the channel is the remains of the "new river" referred to in a Saxon charter of 1045, and dug to allow boats to by-pass mills at Woodmill and Gater's Mill.

[2]: Currie elaborates on his argument in [1], citing map evidence (1810 OS 1" map, etc). On figure 5 of [2], the channel is marked as "?Canal".

[4]: AD Russel strongly disagrees with [1][2], citing the 1810 2" map, and other map and survey work by Borough Engineers in 1950 and after. What is now Riverside Park was landscaped soon after 1950, the ground level being raised by over 2m in places. The current form of the channel dates to after this landscaping. The earlier channel was much slighter, being only 2m to 3m wide. To the north of Riverside Park, the surviving channel looks more like a silted up river channel. There is no evidence that the channel is artificial or of Saxon date. (He does state at one point that the channel was used as a watercourse for waste water that has passed through Gater's Mill.)

[5]: Currie reassesses the map evidence, citing the OS 1808 2" map and the South Stoneham tithe map of 1845 (fig 3), and modifies his argument slightly, accepting that the original course of the channel north of Woodmill Lane may have been lost. However he restates his basic argument that the channel may be an artificial Saxon channel for boats, or perhaps for fish, to bypass the mills.

SMR 30/1/98: An area of ridge and furrow described in [1][2] just north of Mansbridge Road, was also strongly disputed in [4]. According to [6], CK Currie has apparently accepted that it doesn't exist, so I have not made a record for it. I have also not made a record for the ?hedgebank referred to in [1][2] and also disputed in [4].

HER 3/9/10: Note that it is unclear to what extent the current channel of the River Itchen between Mansbridge and Woodmill was modified as part of the late 17th/early 18th century Itchen Navigation, or indeed at an earlier date (see MSH4308). The natural form of the river here is therefore uncertain.

IP, HER 7/5/13: The eastern end of the watercourse is at Gater's Mill on Mansbridge Road. Assuming it is artificial, it was probably constructed for use by Gater's Mill. [4] states that it was used for waste water from the mill. Note also that the watercourse would have by-passed the main channel of the Itchen (part of the Itchen Navigation) to Woodmill. I walked the length of the watercourse on 27/6/10. See annotated map from this walk, and a few photographs here: S:\ConsPhotos&Archive\z_IP Walkabout_Mansbridge_27.6.10\WestEndPlayingField, Marlhill Copse & other canal. It was noticeably less overgrown than the first section of the Itchen Navigation north of Mansbridge.

[15]: (Reference to C Currie's articles [1][2][5]. No further details.)
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HISTORIC MAPS
[7]: 1759. Not shown.
[8]: 1791. Not shown.
[9]: 1800. Not shown.
[10]: 1806. Shown clearly. The eastern part is much wider than the western part.
[11]: 1810. Shown clearly. The eastern part is much wider than the western part.
[12]: 1826. Shown very clearly, all quite wide from Mansbridge Road (just by the mills now Gaters Mill), apparently joining the Itchen below the Woodmill sea lock.
[[1845 South Stoneham Tithe Map not available to HER]]
[13][14]. 1869-1883. Eastern part clear. Perhaps altered since 1826.
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GIS: Figure 5 in [2] and current OS GIS base mapping used to plot the watercourse. SMR 12/2/04.

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events: None recorded

Related records

Associated Links: None recorded

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