page_title: Itchen Ferry village
hierarchical_section_title: Itchen Ferry village
caption_attribution_description: English: Richard Parkers Tombstone at Jesus Chapel, Peartree Green, Southampton Text of the inscription The inscription on the tombstone reads as follows; SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF RICHARD PARKER AGED 17 WHO DIED AT SEA JULY 25th 1884 AFTER NINETEEN DAYS DREADFUL SUFFERING IN AN OPEN BOAT IN THE TROPICS HAVING BEEN WRECKED IN THE YACHT MIGNONETTE Though he slay me yet will I trust in him. JOB XIII.15 Lord lay not this sin to their charge. ACTS VII.60
context_page_description: Itchen Ferry village was a small hamlet on the East bank of the River Itchen in Hampshire. The village took its name from the small fishing boats that were also used to ferry foot passengers across the river. An Ordnance Survey map of 1911 shows the village to be situated in the area roughly bounded by Sea Road, Oakbank Road, the River Itchen and the railway line in modern Woolston, but also extending along Sea Road towards Peartree Green on the other side of the railway, which cut the village in half in 1866. Neighbouring streets on that same map, Defender Road, Britannia Road and Shamrock Road have a more structured layout and are clearly part of the Victorian enlargement of Woolston. The same map clearly shows the housing in Itchen Ferry village to have a more random layout. An even older map, of 1842 pins Itchen Ferry village more tightly to the area between Sea Road and Vicarage Road.
  Itchen Ferrymen were granted permission to ferry passengers and goods across the River Itchen by the Lords of the Manors of Woolston and Southampton. Lords of the Manor of Woolston were paid in cash. Lords of the Manor of Southampton received free passage.
context_section_description: Itchen Ferry village was a small hamlet on the East bank of the River Itchen in Hampshire. The village took its name from the small fishing boats that were also used to ferry foot passengers across the river. An Ordnance Survey map of 1911 (NC/03/17894) shows the village to be situated in the area roughly bounded by Sea Road, Oakbank Road, the River Itchen and the railway line in modern Woolston, but also extending along Sea Road towards Peartree Green on the other side of the railway, which cut the village in half in 1866. Neighbouring streets on that same map, Defender Road, Britannia Road and Shamrock Road have a more structured layout and are clearly part of the Victorian enlargement of Woolston. The same map clearly shows the housing in Itchen Ferry village to have a more random layout. An even older map, of 1842 pins Itchen Ferry village more tightly to the area between Sea Road and Vicarage Road.
  Itchen Ferrymen were granted permission to ferry passengers and goods across the River Itchen by the Lords of the Manors of Woolston and Southampton. Lords of the Manor of Woolston were paid in cash. Lords of the Manor of Southampton received free passage.
  The village lost a large part of its livelihood when the Floating Bridge was introduced in 1836, but continued to operate a night service until the late 19th century. The inhabitants always remained fishermen and seafarers.
  A memorial to Richard Parker of Itchen Ferry village can be seen in the graveyard of Jesus Chapel on Peartree Green. The desperate situation that led to his death in 1884 was the subject of a significant murder trial Regina v. Dudley & Stephens that changed English law.
  Already absorbed into its larger neighbour Woolston and subsequently into the borough of Southampton in 1920, Itchen Ferry village was destroyed beyond repair by the Luftwaffe on 26 September 1940, due to its misfortune of being a stones throw from the Supermarine factory and a short distance up-river from the John I. Thornycroft & Company shipyard. There were over 100 casualties in this one raid.
  But that was not the only raid. The Luftwaffe had targeted the area on a number of previous occasions. An air raid shelter in the lower region of Sea Road near the railway line is reported as receiving a direct hit on 24 September 1940
  The area was subsequently used for training troops that would be fighting in similar ruined villages during the Invasion of Europe in 1944.
caption: Richard Parkers Tombstone
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