Town Quay facts for kids
Town Quay is a quay in Southampton, England. A quay is first recorded on the site in 1411, known as Watergate Quay. This quay fell out of use in the 18th century and in 1803 was demolished and replaced with a new structure, used for goods and passenger services. Overcrowding made it unsuitable for passenger services, resulting in most of them relocating when the Royal Pier opened in 1833. Between 1829 and 1860, the memorial column raised to William Chamberlayne (MP) was located at the quay.
A horse-drawn tramway, completed on the last day of 1847, connected Southampton Terminus railway station to the quay. This tramway was directly connected to the railway in 1871. In 1876, upgrades to the tramway allowed a switch from horses to light locomotives. For many years the quay was worked by several of the diminutive LSWR C14 class locomotives, numbers 741, 743, 744 and 745, as well as an assortment of other small locomotives.
During the First World War the quay was used for military traffic, mainly barges, traveling across the English Channel while the railway lines to the pier were used as sidings by the main Southampton Docks.
Construction and improvements in other parts of Southampton's docks in the 1930s resulted in much of the goods traffic moving away and the quay shifted to handling mainly passenger traffic. The last major freight traffic was Scandinavian timber imported by Montague Meyer but increasing charges by British Rail in the late 1960s brought about a switch to road transport.
The railway ceased being used on 4 May 1970, although the lines remained in place for a further nine years. Most of the warehouses on the quay were subsequently demolished, being replaced by offices and the Red Funnel ferry terminals. Also, a marina was constructed on the east side of the pier, inshore of the high-speed ferry pontoons. One of the last survivors of the original buildings, the Grade II listed former Geddes Warehouse, has been converted into a boutique hotel and restaurant.
Currently the pier section is used by the Hythe Ferry and Red Funnel's Red Jet high speed service to West Cowes. The QuayConnect bus service, free to ferry passengers, connects the quay to the town centre and Southampton Central railway station. Red Funnel's vehicle ferries to East Cowes operate from the water frontage to the west of the pier.
