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Midanbury is a small suburb of Southampton, England, bordering Bitterne, Bitterne Park and Townhill Park. ==History== In 1790 Southampton was a spa town whose popularity led to the construction of several country houses in the surrounding area, one of which was at Midanbury, situated on the summit of a hill to the east of the town. Known by a variety of names (Midanbury House, Midanbury Heights and Midanbury Lodge among them), the house was built by Mr T Leversuch. A writer in 1878 praised the beauty of the countryside, and the "exceedingly fine" views from the Midanbury Heights. The opening of the toll-free Cobden Bridge in 1883 enabled the townsfolk to travel across the river where Midanbury House, with its castellated lodge and crenellated gateway, particularly captured the imagination. As a result the estate's grounds became a popular venue for Sunday School outings from the town's churches, featuring picnic tables and a variety of games, including Cricket matches played by the adults.〔 The house's lodge was built circa 1800 as a direct copy of that at Blaise Castle near Bristol which was designed by John Nash. It had battlements and turrets, arrow slits, window panes in the gothic style, and was topped with a crest. The building came to be known as Midanbury Castle, and served as accommodation for servants of the main house. Among the last to live there were the coachman-gardener Herbert Grosvenor and his wife, the housekeeper, Alice.〔 Michael Hoy, a merchant of Bishopsgate, London and later Walthamstow (then in Essex) who specialised in trading with Russia, purchased several properties in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, including Midanbury House.〔 He served the office of Sheriff of London in 1812, having been elected to the Worshipful Company of Ironmongers on 22 April 1808. Hoy married Elizabeth, the second daughter of Andrew Hawes Bradley of Gore Court near Sittingbourne, Kent, on 24 May 1825 in South Stoneham Church (although the register lists his name as Michael Hay). Hoy died just three years later, on 26 June 1828, and left his estate to a distant cousin, the Dublin-born James Barlow, a military surgeon. Barlow took on the name Hoy as a mark of respect, becoming James Barlow Hoy by royal licence on 26 January 1829.〔 James Barlow Hoy announced his candidacy to be a Member of Parliament for the Southampton constituency in 1829 and gave his first speech from Midanbury. Hoy was subsequently elected to Parliament on 13 January 1830, and re-elected in a general election later that year. He trailed in the polls for the 1831 election and pulled out, but was elected again in 1832 and once more in 1835. He subsequently moved to Thornhill Park, also in Southampton, but as of 1833 was still at Midanbury and also serving as Sheriff of Southampton. Hoy died in 1843 of tetanus resulting from a shooting accident in the Pyrenees.〔 In the mid-19th century the estate was held by Charles John Middleton as a Copyhold tenure. Middleton also owned a share of a freehold property in Jamaica and subsequently purchased two houses in Kolkata (then known as Calcutta) in India. He mortgaged Midanbury in January 1843 and died in the same month of the next year with debts larger than the value of his estate. The lodge fell into disuse in 1913 and the house itself was purchased by a builder, T Clark & Son, in 1927 for development. In the 1930s the main house, lodge and collection of large beech trees which had sheltered the main house, were all demolished to make way for housing.〔 Coopers Brewery built a pub on the site of Midanbury Castle in 1935 to serve the growing local population, and named it The Castle in reference to the building it replaced.〔 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. The Castle was converted into a Tesco Express convenience store in 2013 despite strong local opposition, including from the local MP at the time, John Denham. This led to the closure of the Co-operative Food store a short distance away, which had previously been an Alldays store. That store 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 local and national newspapers and was a source of embarrassment to Hampshire Constabulary. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Midanbury」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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