WWII Secrets of Eastleigh Carriage Works

By Chris Humby MSc

(from a talk first presented in February 2014)

This presentation is about the Carriage Works in Bishopstoke Road and, particularly, the activities that took place on these premises during WWII. Most people who travel to Eastleigh do not give this site a second glance, nor does the history of the site figure prominently in any history books. It is no secret that the town of Eastleigh came into being because of the railway. Those of you who were not brought up in the area may not be aware of this history so, by way of introduction, I would like to give a brief outline relating to the arrival of the railway and the changes that took place.

This scene in Bishopstoke Road is not dissimilar to the appearance to-day, although the clock tower no longer stands majestically next to the main entrance. This is also no longer the main entrance to the industrial complex that lies behind. The buildings pictured are now used by a local Bus company for vehicle maintenance. Eastleigh is a town founded on the arrival of the railway. The first passenger train was introduced in England in 1827. By 1838 a railway line was opened from Winchester to Southampton and in June 1839, Bishopstoke Station was opened. In 1840 the line between Winchester and Basingstoke was completed and this gave direct rail access between Southampton and London. In 1842 the London and South Western Railway chose Bishopstoke as the intersection for the development of a line between Salisbury and Portsmouth. In 1842, the line eastward was opened and the line to Romsey and Salisbury completed in 1847. These were the first three railway lines to be opened in Hampshire and Bishopstoke was the intersection for all of them. The station was re-named Bishopstoke Junction in December 1852.

This map, probably from the 1860s, shows Bishopstoke Junction. Bishopstoke can be seen to the right and Eastleigh when consisted of 45 houses, some of which are shown in Southampton Road. The population in 1861 was listed as 265. The site for The Hampshire Cheese Market is shown north of the station.

This is a very early picture of Bishopstoke Junction station, the Junction Hotel, and the Home Tavern. Early buildings on Station Hill are also shown. The Cheese Market opened in 1852 and was held on the 3^rd Thursday of every month. This market brought prosperity to the area and the Junction Hotel and later, The Crown Hotel, were built to cater for clientele attending the sales. This was a rural area, and a livestock market was also introduced and held fortnightly. The livestock pens shown in front of the station entrance were used to receive and transport animals by rail.

The first record of industrialisation in Eastleigh was the establishment of “Eastleigh Brewery, Bishopstoke,” in Southampton Road by Dilke and Tanner, in the early 1870s. The brewery was established to supply troops stationed in the South of England. The premises became Fair Oak Dairy, and are remembered as Peter Green’s furniture showrooms in the 1970s. Today it is part of Eastleigh Swan Centre.

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A planning application by the brewery, in 1874, to offer product for consumption on the premises, was dismissed. Objectors maintained that Eastleigh consisted of one long row of houses, 90 in number, and for their accommodation they already had three licensed premises apart from the railway refreshment rooms. In 1871 the population is recorded as being 515.

By 1881 the population of Eastleigh had risen to around 1,000, whilst Bishopstoke was larger at over 1,500. The expansion of Eastleigh, with the arrival of the Carriage Works, in 1890, was rapid. This map dates from the late 1890s and is interesting to note that Bishopstoke had expanded significantly to house workers from the Carriage Works.

Eastleigh had developed more than is shown on this map. Leigh Road, Market Street, High Street and Southampton Road were being developed by this period following a “grid iron” pattern, which was to form the style for much of the future development of the town and by 1891 the population had risen to nearly 3,600. By 1901 it had more than doubled to 7,600. The Carriage and Wagon Works are clearly denoted by six rectangular blocks. It can be observed that land north of the Cheese Market and Carriage Works are designated for future railway works and that the road from Bishopstoke to Eastleigh angles south west at the Itchen Navigation bridge and travels across the water meadows, via Bayley’s Bridge, to Chickenhall Lane. The direct road between Bishopstoke and Eastleigh was not constructed until around 1900.

The Junction Hotel was extended in 1905 in the form shown in this picture. The station had been re-named Eastleigh and Bishopstoke in 1889 to reflect the growth of the new community and, finally in 1923 it was re-named simply as Eastleigh.

The Home Tavern, opposite the station was originally a thatched cottage as shown in this picture, which was probably taken around 1870, and shows open farmland with Little Eastley farm buildings visible in the background.

Reflecting growth of the town, the Home Tavern was re-built in 1898, as can be seen in this picture.

This picture is a view from the railway station looking down Leigh Road. The new Home Tavern roof is just visible to the right of the picture. The tobacconist on the right of Leigh Road is next to the Home Tavern and to-day would extend well into the highway. The shop named Prismall’s on the opposite corner was demolished around 1913 to make way for a new bank. This picture is in stark contrast to the previous picture of the Home Tavern as a thatched building and shows the extent of development and population growth that had taken place in Eastleigh by around 1910. The decision to relocate the London & South Western Locomotive Works to Eastleigh also had a significant impact. In 1910, a further 5000 people transferred from Nine Elms, in London, to live in the new town.

This is the view that would have greeted people from Eastleigh as they crossed the rail bridge, north of the station. The Carriage works are on the right. The main building, front right, is the office block, now demolished. On the left at the bottom of the hill is the Works Canteen, which once stood on the corner of Dutton Lane. Getting to the Works was a simple matter of walking or riding a bike if travelling a longer distance. People lived where they worked and industrial operations were very labour intensive in the early 1900s.

Just how labour intensive is perhaps captured by this image. It is not clear whether this picture depicts a return to work after a dispute or whether it is simply returning to work after a lunch break. In its heyday there were over 2000 people employed in The Carriage and Wagon Works. In 1967 the site was closed, and work transferred to the Locomotive Works in Campbell Road.

We tend to think of rail electrification and the demise of steam locomotives as a trend from the Beaching era in the 1960s. This electric 2 coach motor unit was one of a series of new locomotives constructed at Eastleigh Carriage Works in 1938.

This aerial picture shows how extensive the railway operations in Eastleigh had become and, although this picture was taken in the 1960s, the railway operations were not dissimilar at the onset of WW II. The Locomotive Works are in the bottom left of picture and the Carriage Works, centre right. The town of Eastleigh, to the left, at this time probably covered an area of about the same size as the Locomotive Works, Carriage Works, and Marshalling Yards combined. At the outbreak of the Second World War the view from an aircraft would have looked very similar. The film that you are about to see, explains far better than I can, the role of workers of The Southern Railway in support of the war effort. Although the film covers activity across the region, the majority of footage was taken in the Eastleigh area and the Carriage Works feature prominently. The film is very evocative of the period, the use of language quaint by to-days standards and the accent of the commentator is classic “BBC” English. The film pays testimony to the secrecy, which was maintained by those, like my father who worked here during this period. As you will discover, a lot went on in “The Works” during the war. Those that worked there during the war did not mention the activities, not even to their families and afterwards, there did not seem to be any great reason to do so either. So, I hope that you will be more than a little intrigued, as I was, when you see this footage. The film also raises a question. Why did this aerial view never become a strategic Lufwaffe target. There were many air raids nearby and much has been recorded about aerial attacks on Southampton and Portsmouth and the devastation caused. The Cunliffe Owen Aircraft Factory, just south of the airfield at Swaythling was strategically bombed and damaged more than once. Eastleigh Airfield was targeted on a number of occasions. The large railway complex was only a short distance north of the airfield. As far as I have been able to establish, Eastleigh Carriage Works only suffered one major incident during WWII when a single stray bomb, dropped from an enemy aircraft which had been damaged by anti-aircraft fire.

This picture denotes members of the Electricians & Tin Shop and was taken in The Carriage Works in 1937. The reason why this picture has been included is that the gentleman circled in the third row, third from the right is Mr Alfred Godfrey, according to George Brown in his book, Eastleigh Our Town, Mr Godfrey was a member of the Works First Aid Team and, sadly, he died along with four other men when the bomb, mentioned earlier, fell on “The Works”.

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The gentleman highlighted in this picture of members of the finishing shop is Mr. Syd White who was raised in Spring Lane. According to his grandchildren, Neil & Scott MacBrayne, he was a member of the Southern Railway Home Guard and manned an anti-aircraft gun in Allington Lane. The gun battery, according to research by Neil & Scott, was in the vicinity of Quob Lane and manned by regular soldiers and members of the Home Guard. It is believed that it was this gun battery that shot down a plane on the same night and within minutes of the bomb falling on the carriage works. It is probable that it was the same plane, which already damaged, had lightened its payload to gain height.

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This crashed Heinkel 111 aircraft was pictured at Twyford during WWII. Although all crew from the Heinkel 111 which crashed in Allington Lane were killed, amongst items retrieved was a notebook containing details of Enigma codes used to guide planes using new radar systems to 5 major U.K. cities, including Southampton. This information was forwarded to Bletchly Park for deciphering.

When you have watched the following film and understand the amount of the war effort activity that took place, it is difficult to understand why such a large industrial complex as the Carriage Works and Locomotive Works, although strafed by aerial machine gun fire on occasion, were not considered to be more of a strategic target for enemy action.

The following is a link to the film “Peep Behind the Scenes” which was made by the Southern Railway Film Unit in 1946. Running time is approximately 30 minutes. Copy the link below and paste in your search bar to view the footage.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNS7T6uyj7Q

Following the film, you may wish to return to our web page to view a collection of pictures dedicated to the men and women who worked in the Carriage and Wagon Works from 1890 to 1967.

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London & South Western Railway Carriage and Wagon Works Fitting Workshop at Eastleigh. Early 1900s

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