Midanbury is a small suburb of Southampton

Southampton

Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, bordering Bitterne

Bitterne

Bitterne is an eastern suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England.Bitterne derives its name not from the similarly named bird, the Bittern but from the bend in the River Itchen; the Old English words byht and ærn together mean "house near a bend", most likely a reference to Bitterne Manor...

, Bitterne Park

Bitterne Park

Bitterne Park is a suburb and Electoral Ward of Southampton, England, on the Eastern bank of the River Itchen, built on sloping parkland which once formed part of Bitterne Manor....

 and Townhill Park

Townhill Park

Townhill Park is a suburb of Southampton, England, bordering Swaythling, Bitterne Park and West End. It is built on land which once belonged to the house which carries the same name.- History :...

.

History

It is named after the country house "Midanbury Lodge" which was situated on the summit of a hill to the east of Southampton. The house no longer stands, and the land was used for intense house building. The only clue to the existence of the house is the name of the pub in the area, "The Castle", which was named after the crenellated gates of the house. The remains of the cellars could clearly be seen in the 50's at the north end of Midanbury Crescent before it was developed from the original two bungalows. An odd thing about the address for Midanbury Crescent was that it was in Bitterne Park and not Midanbury.

Today

The boundaries of the suburb are not clearly defined, although the hub of Midanbury is the row of shops at the top of Witt's Hill, sometimes referred to as Midanbury Broadway, but more commonly called 'The Castle', in reference to The Castle pub situated at the end of the broadway.

Controversy

The shop "Alldays" (now a branch of the Co-Op) on Midanbury Broadway briefly made headlines in 2002, when it was revealed that store staff had caught a shoplifter and requested the police attend, but the police responded that they were too busy and asked the staff to make sure the shoplifter was caught on CCTV before letting him go. The incident was reported in most tabloid newspapers and was a source of embarrassment to Hampshire Constabulary.

External links

• The shoplifting story as reported in the local press, 2002