Northam, Southampton

Northam is a suburb of Southampton in Hampshire. On the West bank of the River Itchen, it shares borders with St Mary's, Bitterne and Bevois Valley. Beside the border with St Mary's is the Chapel area, which has been home to some recent apartment building developments in Northam. The A3024 road runs through the suburb and crosses the Northam Bridge, which links Northam with Bitterne via Bitterne Manor. Although St Mary's Stadium takes its name from the neighbouring St Mary's, the stadium itself is in Northam, and home to Southampton F.C..
History.
In 1549 it was decided that the inhabitants of Northam had no rights of common over Southampton Common. Northam shipyard was established in 1693 after John Winter purchased the Manor of Northam for that purpose.
The first Northam Road Bridge was built in 1796. The original bridge was made of wood. During Victorian times, much of Southampton's industry was based around the banks of the Itchen
From 1840 Northam was home to the Northam iron works owned (along with Millbrook foundry) by Summers and Day. The first ship was launched from the yard 14 October 1840. Named "Pride of the waters" (later "Ruby") the ship was noted at the time to be the first ship to be constructed from iron in the various shipyards of the river Itchen. Shortly afterwards (by 1842) John Rubie opened a third shipyard just downstream of the Summers and Day yard.
The London & Southampton Railway reached Northam in 1839. In order to continue to Southampton Terminus railway station the line had to cross Northam road. Originally a level crossing was constructed but after a dispute with the Northam bridge company the railway agreed to build a bridge to carry the road over the railway. Construction of the bridge in brick began some time before 1840. In 1858 new junction was added connecting the line to what is now Southampton Central railway station. This required the extension of the bridge which was done by added a cast iron section
Work to replace the bridges that took Northam road over the railway began in 1907 and the new bridge opened in 1908. The New bridge was of steel construction supported by girder lattices
Steamship companies (such as the White Star Line and the Cunard Line) were major employers in the district in the early 20th century. Over 350 Northam residents died aboard RMS "Titanic" when it foundered off the coast of Newfoundland in 1912; 125 students at one school alone were orphaned.
In the early to mid 20th century the road bridge was rebuilt and strengthened, reopening in 1954. In 1957 Southampton city council began the construction of a housing estate that including the 16 floor Millbank House tower. The tower was opened 1 November 1960 by the Mayor of Southampton and was re-clad in 1988 in aluminium. At the same time the balconies were enclosed.
In 1965, further work was undertaken on the A3024, the dual carriageway which runs through Northam, to coincide with the opening of the M27 motorway.
The London & South Western Railway opened a large Motive Power Depot at Northam in 1840, which remained the principal locomotive servicing facility in the area until 1903 when it was replaced by a new depot at Eastleigh. In 2001, South West Trains chose Northam as the location for the maintenance facility for its new Siemens Desiro fleet of trains. The Northam Carriage Servicing Depot was constructed by Turner & Townsend and opened in 2003.
Places of worship.
The Augustine Centre was originally a Church of England church, and subsequently home to Northam Pentecostal Church. It was purchased by Riverside Family Church in the early 1980s and given its new name. The building is a Grade II listed building.
Northam Primitive Methodist Church was opened in 1874. It expanded to include a Sunday school in the late 1920s. 
Television Centre, Southampton.
Northam was home to Television Centre, Southampton, run by ITV franchises Meridian Broadcasting, TVS and Southern Television, before Meridian moved their operations to Whiteley. As well as the regional news magazine programme "Meridian Tonight", the studios were originally home to the very first series of the popular game show, "Catchphrase" (before it moved to Maidstone Studios) and handled transmission of Meridian, Anglia and HTV West. The first attempt to redevelop the site failed in 2009 when the developer went into administration. In 2014 Inland Homes announced plans to develop the site as a residential area.