History of the Itchen Navigation
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Tunbridge in Winchester in the 1870s (Winchester City Council Museums). The Navigation is being used for boating and bathing, while children look on from the bridge.
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The Itchen Navigation was originally constructed in the late seventeenth century to carry chalk, aggregates, coal and timber.
New cuts and embankments were used to create a route that could be navigable by the barges used to transport the goods. It was an important business at the time. Locks, sluices and hatches were also built to control the water levels and manage flow to water meadows and mills adjacent to the Navigation.
More historic photographs, paintings and engravings can be found in the image gallery.
Articles and Reports
The Secret Story of Woodmill Sep 2009, [1.5MB]
Throughout history Woodmill, in the Southampton suburb of Swaythling, has been a centre for many industries, including milling, manufacturing and water transport. The tale takes us back to time of axon Southampton, when the River Itchen was a vital source of food and power to local people, and a major artery of transport and commerce in Hampshire.
The Itchen Navigation at Work Oct 2008, [80KB]
The Itchen Navigation canal that links Winchester to Southampton may be a peaceful wildlife habitat today, but it was once an important business. Proprietors, barge owners and bargemen all relied on it for their livelihood. Its commercial role finally ended in the 1850s, killed off by the arrival of the railways
Mansbridge Lock by Terry Gould May 2008, [110KB]
Sandwiched between the M27 motorway and the busy A27 road near Southampton airport, Mansbridge Lock was once the only crossing above the river Itchen’s tidal reach, and a vital link to Portchester from as early as Roman times.
Itchen Navigation Heritage Report Apr 2005, [600KB]
Preserving the Heritage
Reminders of the former use of the Navigation can still be found today. The old towpath which was used by horses to drag the barges up the river is now a public footpath. Locks, bridges and sluices still exist in varying states of repair.
As part of the Itchen Navigation Heritage Trail Project, we will be preserving some of the historic features on the Navigation, including Mansbridge Lock in Southampton, Brambridge Hatch near Otterbourne and St. Catherine’s Lock in Winchester. The preservation work will be carried out by the Inland Waterways Association with help from volunteers.
