When Cobden Bridge opened 140 years ago the proud owners declared it would be "for the free use of the public forever” but they never imagined that the new crossing would witness some of the worst violence Southampton had ever seen, as new neighbours quickly became the bitterest of enemies.
On June 27, 1883, Cobden Bridge was officially opened a mile upstream from Northam Bridge, linking Bitterne Park and St Denys for the first time. Costing £11,500 – equivalent to well over £1m today – the bridge was built by the National Liberal Land Company to make the new housing estate it was developing in Bitterne Park more attractive to prospective buyers.
The new bridge was an impressive sight, as Jim Brown describes in The Illustrated History of Southampton's Suburbs: “It was a 500-foot iron lattice girder bridge with five spans of over 70 feet, with 28 feet width between the centres of the main girders, which were six feet deep. The main supports were cast iron cylinders seven foot in diameter, tested by running two traction engines with a combined weight of 20 tons across. The road was narrow by modern standards, only 16 feet, with six-foot pavements on either side.”
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But the new bridge proved to be controversial from the very beginning. The owners of Northam Bridge – which charged tolls – were less than pleased that Cobden would be free to cross and the Tories disliked the new bridge and the housing development because they viewed both as flagrant attempts by the Liberals to boost votes.
The Liberals certainly flaunted their involvement in the construction of the bridge. When it was opened on a windy Wednesday in June 1883, it was a Liberal MP - James Thorold Rogers – who did the honours. Even the name that was chosen was deliberately political – Cobden Bridge takes its name from the Liberal reformer Richard Cobden. The Sussex-born businessman built a successful political career arguing that if Britain wanted to be a prosperous country it needed to be peaceful and embrace free trade – an approach that became known as “Cobdenism”.
But the staunch pacificist Richard Cobden would have been appalled to have seen how the “free” bridge that bore his name quickly became the site of a series of brutal free-for-alls between warring neighbours. After living peacefully on opposite banks of the Itchen for generations, the young men of Bitterne and St Denys used the crossing to instigate a new – and very violent – rivalry between the two districts.
For years Cobden Bridge became notorious for the clashes between the gangs from Bitterne and St Denys that finally resulted in the legendary “Battle of Cobden Bridge”. According to reports, trouble flared shortly after the bridge was opened, when young men from St Denys crossed over the river to apparently chat up the young women of Bitterne. As a report from the Echo of May 1885 makes clear, this “invasion” wasn’t welcomed:
“This seems to have annoyed the boys of the Bitterne who considered the ‘townies’ were trespassing and drove them back into the borough. The news of this skirmish spread, and bad feeling increased when a week later 200 roughs gave battle to a similar number from Bitterne and Woolston. On Sunday afternoon about 400 men and boys marched over Cobden Bridge to battle again with the Bitternites, only to find Superintendent Brearly and several constables armed with sticks, who gave them a warm reception and routed them.”
An eyewitness to the battle - Mr Godwin of Bursledon - wrote to the Echo many years later to describe what he saw:
"The finishing touch occurred the following Sunday, when thousands went over and marched to Lance's Hill. If I remember rightly, the police were hidden ready to meet them, and arrested the leaders, who, I believe, were sent to Winchester Prison for a few weeks.''
The ending of hostilities allowed new developments to take place and by the beginning of the 20th Century the city’s electrified tram had been extended over Cobden Bridge. It meant that Bitterne Park was becoming a busy and bustling suburb of Southampton but it also meant that the narrow iron bridge – built with horse-drawn carriages in mind – was struggling to cope with the increased traffic.
So just 45 years after the opening of the original Cobden Bridge a new concrete crossing was constructed. The new five-arch bridge was officially opened on October 25, 1928. Major renovation work was also carried out in the late 1970s but the bridge we see today is largely unchanged from the one built almost a century ago.
While its origins may lie in political quarrels and violent local disputes the only controversy Cobden Bridge currently attracts is related to the high volume of traffic using the crossing. A recent government report found that it was the slowest A road in Hampshire. The report found that on average traffic crawls along at about 13mph – similar to the speed that a horse and carriage would have travelled over the original bridge in 1883.
Though it may not be a favourite of motorists, Cobden Bridge remains a much-loved landmark for residents of Bitterne Park, users of Riverside Park and the endless sailors, paddleboarders, kayakers and rowers who pass under its arches.
“Bookended by traffic lights, it’s often simply seen as an impediment to a swift commute across the river. It was also apparently the site of gang fights with sticks in times gone by. But today it’s also an important link between communities, as well as to the past,” said Guy Phillips, Editor of bitternepark.info .
"The bridge, in both its incarnations, has witnessed the ebb and flow of generations, and along with the clock tower serves as a gateway to Bitterne Park – surely among the finest places to live in the city!” he added.
In 2028 the “new” bridge will be 100 years old but one local, who travels over it almost every day, has good reason to believe it will remain a Southampton landmark for many, many years to come.
Dr Fabio Gazzola, a civil engineer who specialises in bridge design, has no doubts about its longevity.
“In the world there are arch bridges built by the Romans that are more than 2,000 years old. Concrete arch bridges like Cobden can also last for a very long time when maintained properly. Looking to the future, there will be a lot more electric vehicles travelling over the bridge.”
“But more bicycles and fewer cars is the future that I hope for Southampton,” Dr Gazzola added.
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