Southampton's Old Kingsland and St Mary's Street

Published 2020

Local historian Dave Marden looks back at the old streets of Southampton’s Kingsland area that were cleared away in the 1930s and replaced by postwar flats. Virtually nothing survives today from what was once home to generations of a close-knit community striving to subsist in some very poor early and mid Victorian housing. The author also recalls the past of nearby St Mary Street, once the vibrant hub of the local population but nowadays a mere shadow of its former self. 

About the Author

An established author of several books on railways and local history, Dave Marden now writes about the place where he was born and brought up. As a native Sotonian, having been born in the city’s Chapel area and educated locally at both Ascupart Junior (now St Mary’s) and Central Secondary schools, he spent his entire career working in the Port of Southampton before retirement.

While growing up in the post war years and in the 1950s, he remembers much of his home town as it was before the major redevelopments of the 1960s when so many of the old streets and communities were cleared away in the name of progress and modernisation.

For more information about Dave Marden see his 'Meet Our Authors' page:

https://www.jmdmedia.co.uk/pages/dave-marden-southampton

Reviews

Southampton Bitterne Local History Society magazine

SOUTHAMPTON’S OLD KINGSLAND AND ST MARY STREET by Dave Marden.

Dave is another local author who takes great care in researching, Southampton’s history, going back to original sources as much as possible. This book goes into great depth into the little-known Kingsland area of St Marys, with much information on the inhabitants of its streets that were cleared in the 1930s.

St Mary Street is also covered in the same fashion, and I had the added pleasure of confirming exactly where the former St Mary’s Police & Fire Station was located, at the junction of Jail Street and Ascupart Street. I had been there but my memory of it was faulty.

I particularly liked the photo of the tram that came off the rails and ended up on the pavement in St Mary St.  This, plus the many photos of shops, houses and people, will arouse many memories for Sotonians, even if not directly connected for family reasons.

This book is a must for anybody having such connections with the area, as the family names, plans of the various street sections and photos of the buildings give so much invaluable information. Another good read during lockdown!