ONCE it was a historic village, mentioned as far back as 686AD when the record books say “two heathens and two princes from the Isle of Wight” were executed there, but now Redbridge is just another part of Southampton’s suburbs with its well-known tower block and flyover.

The first bridge over the Test is thought to have been built by a rich merchant in medieval times, but it was always where the river becomes tidal, that people crossed the river using the mudbanks and rushes as places to ford.

One building that still remains with links back over the centuries when Redbridge was a thriving village in its own right is the present day Ship Inn.

The old coaching inn can be traced back more than 300 years when it was a favourite stopping off point for horse-drawn coaches on the Portsmouth to Gloucester run.

The Ship Inn can also boast its share of royal visitors. Charles I and Charles II are said to have stopped off there, as did King Edward VII and his son George V, who were both keen on fishing.

Daily Echo: The Ship Inn in Redbridge, Southampton

One elderly Redbridge resident wrote to the Daily Echo in 1958, saying: “I well remember King Edward coming to the Ship Inn.

“He was dressed in tweeds and had a tweed hat with a long pheasant’s feather at the back.

“He came for the salmon fishing, and the inn-keeper was Sammy Morris.”

Apparently Mr Morris was well known in the area and had a reputation for being a dapper dresser who wore spats.

In the early part of the last century Redbridge railway station was also the scene of high society gatherings of its own.

“Those were great days at Redbridge, days before the general advent of the motor car, when the railway station would be crowded in the season with notable people waiting for the train to London,” said one history book.

At one time Lord Lowther, Speaker of the House, was seen sitting on a porter’s truck amidst the luggage.