Hampshire Waterways

Portsbridge Creek over time

This tidal waterway is what makes Portsmouth lie on an island. This has been known by various names over the years: Portcreek, Ports Creek, Portsea Creek and Canal Creek. Portsea Creek appears to be the official name, but Ports Creek is usually used today - Portsbridge Creek was the name used in the early 19th century.

The creek and in particular the creek’s crossing (Ports Bridge) have been the site of defensive works possibly as far back as the reign of Henry VIII to protect the naval port at Portsmouth. The first mention of a bridge joining the island to the mainland dates from the 1190s. In the 15th-century, a double-arched stone bridge was built at the western end of the creek. From old maps, it appears that Ports Bridge was about 400 yards (0.4km) east of the current structure, near today’s Peronne Road Footbridge.

In 1756-7 defences, consisting of a ditch and rampart and known as Hilsea Lines, were first constructed on the Portsea Island side of the creek. These defences are shown on the 1797 map below as a rather angular feature south of the creek.

Map: Portsbridge Creek

This extract from a very early OS surveyor’s drawing shows the creek, originally drawn at 3 inches to 1 mile.

Mapping date: 1797.
Approx map centre - NG Ref: SU657045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 12″ N, 1° 04′ 02″ W.
(68.2KB)

Chart: Portsbridge Creek

This extract is from a chart published by the Hydrographic Office in 1848, about ten years after the canal company abandoned the creek.

Mapping date: c1848.
Approx map centre - NG Ref: SU657045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 12″ N, 1° 04′ 02″ W.
(73.7KB)

One Inch Map: Portsbridge Creek

This extract is from the New Series One Inch map showing the widening of the Creek and the new Ports Bridge but details of the new Hilsea Lines omitted for security reasons.

Mapping date: c1866.
Approx map centre - NG Ref: SU657047.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 18″ N, 1° 04′ 02″ W.
(54.3KB)

1:50000 Map: Portsbridge Creek

This extract is from the new 1:50000 map that was a slight enlargement of the 7th series One Inch map. It shows the changes in the area in the previous 100 years.

Mapping date: 1974.
Approx map centre - NG Ref: SU657047.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 18″ N, 1° 04′ 02″ W.
(104.3KB)

Eastern approach to Portsbridge Creek

To enable barges to access Portsmouth Harbour, the creek was widened, straightened and made navigable by the Portsmouth & Arundel Navigation company in 1830 after the failure of the Portsea Canal. It was estimated that this work would cost over £6,100.

In the 19th century, navigation of the eastern approach along the Broom Channel was not much of problem. But the construction of the Eastern Road Bridge in 1941, necessary for wartime efforts, presented an impediment to the use of the creek although not as great as the railway bridge to the west.

The approach to Portsbridge Creek

Looking north along the Broom Channel past Kendalls Wharf towards the Eastern Road Bridge.

Image date: 16 Jun 2023.
NG Ref: SU676029.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 18″ N, 1° 02′ 29″ W.
(71.0KB)

South along the Broom Channel

This view looks back southwards at low tide along the Broom Channel from near the Eastern Road Bridge.

Image date: 16 Jun 2023.
NG Ref: SU675039.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 53″ N, 1° 02′ 32″ W.
(43.5KB)

Eastern Road Bridge

Built in 1941, this bridge spans the eastern entrance to the creek from Langstone Harbour, viewed from the south-east close to low tide.

Image date: 16 Jun 2023.
NG Ref: SU675036.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 42″ N, 1° 02′ 33″ W.
(71.4KB)

The changing Portsbridge Creek

To enable barges to gain access to Portsmouth Harbour, the creek was widened, part was straightened and made navigable by the Portsmouth & Arundel Navigation company in 1830 after the failure of the Portsea Canal. It was estimated that this work would cost over £6,100.

It proved difficult to keep the creek clear for navigation and a canal called the Cosham Canal to provide an alternative route had been proposed in 1816 although the powers to build it were repealed in an Act of Parliament in 1818. The insolvent canal company abandoned the creek in 1838 when regular through traffic to London ceased. It should be noted that the creek has been modified a number of times since abandonment by the canal company.

An army report in 1853 on the status of the Hilsea Lines mentioned that the creek was filled with weeds to the point where for 3 to 4 hours every day it could be walked across. Later in the 1850s the Hilsea Lines were upgraded. As part of these works, the creek west of the railway bridge was widened to around 100 yards (90m) and deepened to allow it to be used by gunboats. Dams and flood gates were constructed at the ends of the creek to maintain high water levels at all states of the tide. The dams fell into disuse before the end of the century. The remains of the western dam finally disappeared under the motorway works of the 1970s but part of the eastern dam remains.

Near the eastern end of the creek, The London Brighton & South Coast Railway (LBSCR) built a wooden bridge across it in 1846, the line opening the following year. It appears there was no movable section to allow boats to navigate. This structure was replaced by a swing bridge in 1870 to allow the newly introduced gunboats to pass. An Admiralty order required the bridge to open between 2 and 3am on the first Sunday of every February. This swing bridge was supplanted by a drawbridge in 1909. Each track was on a separate span that was able to rotate through 90 degrees sideways to become parallel with the creek’s north bank. A system of cables and gantry provided vertical support to the movable spans. These spans were fixed in place and the gantry system removed in 1920 and they remain fixed today.

In 1867 a new retractable Ports Bridge was constructed about 400 yards west of the earlier bridge at a cost of £5,000 to allow the passage of the gunboats. Transferred to the Portsmouth Corporation in 1904, the movable part was fixed in place and reinforced to allow trams to run across it. The bridge was replaced by a wider bridge in 1927, which in turn was augmented by the current twin-bridge roundabout structure in 1970 during the construction of the M27 and M275.

During the Second World War, a road causeway called Peronne Road was built roughly on the site of the pre-1867 Ports Bridge to supplement the existing Ports Bridge. It was built under Emergency Powers, and subject to the implication that it would be removed at the end of the emergency. In the early 1960s there were proposals to fill in part of the Creek in order to accommodate the route of a new motorway. The remainder of the Creek would (quite officially) “be allowed to dry up”. The Inland Waterways Association (IWA) was prominent among the objectors and the proposals were modified to be include the construction of the present footbridge and work to reinstate through navigation for small boats.

In order to construct the M27, the M275 and a new A27 dual carriageway, the northern bank of the creek was moved southwards, west of the railway crossing, by varying amounts up to 70 yards (65m).

Today Portsbridge Creek is officially navigable but only just about passable in a small boat. It is now crossed by six bridges, some of which offer low headroom at high water and the creek is very shallow at low water. Parts of Tipner Lake are also very shallow at low tide.

Remains of the eastern dam

This picture shows the remains of the dam at the east end of the creek constructed in the late 1850s.

Image date: 1 Jun 2011.
NG Ref: SU670040.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 57″ N, 1° 02′ 56″ W.
(53.8KB)

Rail and foot bridges

Seen from the south-east, the railway bridge gives rail access to Portsea Island. Beyond it is a footbridge.

Image date: 4 Nov 2022.
NG Ref: SU667041.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 58″ N, 1° 03′ 15″ W.
(69.2KB)

Railway bridge across the creek

In 1909, the 1870 railway bridge was replaced with this structure which could open to allow vessels to pass. However the bridge has been fixed since 1920.

Image date: 1909.
NG Ref: SU666041.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 00″ N, 1° 03′ 16″ W.
(40.6KB)

Railway bridge across the creek

Seen from the mainland, the tide is very high, with the water in contact with the underside of the bridge in places. The second carriage is over the formerly moveable span.

Image date: 21 Sep 2023.
NG Ref: SU666042.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 03″ N, 1° 03′ 16″ W.
(58.7KB)

Between two bridges

Looking across Portsbridge Creek towards Portsea Island from a slipway. The railway bridge is to the left and a footbridge is to the right.

Image date: 29 Oct 2016.
NG Ref: SU666042.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 03″ N, 1° 03′ 17″ W.
(52.2KB)

Foot/cycle bridge across the creek

Peronne Road Footbridge built in 1969, seen around high tide, spans the creek and the start of the M27 motorway.

Image date: 10 Sep 2015.
NG Ref: SU659044.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 10″ N, 1° 03′ 53″ W.
(43.7KB)

Portsbridge Creek looking east

The creek at low water looking east from the Peronne Road Footbridge.

Image date: 24 Feb 2009.
NG Ref: SU658045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 11″ N, 1° 03′ 57″ W.
(81.6KB)

Ports Bridge built in 1867

Seen from the south side, this bridge, originally retractable, crossed the creek some 400 yards west of the previous structure.

Image date: Between 1904 and 1927.
NG Ref: SU654044.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 11″ N, 1° 04′ 18″ W.
(39.1KB)

Ports Bridge from the air

An aerial view of the 1927 Ports Bridge looking south-east. Also it shows the causeway built during WWII.

Image date: 3 Oct 1946.
Approx NG Ref: SU653048.
Approx WGS84: 50° 50′ 22″ N, 1° 04′ 24″ W.
(93.8KB)

Portsbridge Roundabout

This roundabout, seen from the north-west was built when the M27 and M275 motorways were constructed in the 1970s.

Image date: 4 Nov 2022.
NG Ref: SU652047.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 18″ N, 1° 04′ 29″ W.
(94.0KB)

Ports Bridge

This bridge is on the site of what was once the only road bridge giving access to Portsmouth. It is now reduced to being part of a car park.

Image date: 10 Sep 2015.
NG Ref: SU655045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 11″ N, 1° 04′ 12″ W.
(61.0KB)

The barge Kate

It is thought that this picture shows the barge Kate at a quay that existed on the north-east side of Ports Bridge and that the houses beyond are part of the Highbury estate, Cosham. The quay now lies under the M27.

Image date: c1930.
NG Ref: SU654045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 13″ N, 1° 04′ 17″ W.
(47.7KB)

Roundabout across the creek

This second roundabout bridge on London Road was built spanning the creek. Looking east at low tide with moderately high headroom but little draught.

Image date: 28 Apr 2011.
NG Ref: SU652045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 13″ N, 1° 04′ 31″ W.
(68.9KB)

Portsbridge Roundabout

This photograph was taken looking east and shows the two bridges in the roundabout spanning the waterway.

Image date: 4 Nov 2022.
NG Ref: SU652046.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 14″ N, 1° 04′ 30″ W.
(62.5KB)

The western exit from the Creek

The dredged western approach to the creek from Portsmouth Harbour ran north of Horsea Island along Paulsgrove Lake at the insistence of the Board of Ordnance. The shorter channel east of Horsea Island, Tipner Lake, passed close to a naval magazine at Tipner Point and it was feared that sparks from the steam tug used to tow the barges might cause an explosion. The work to dredge the new channel north of Horsea Island cost the company an extra £960.

Whilst the channel and the mudflats north of Horsea Island were covered at high water, it became increasingly shallow in the 20th century. The land for the residential section of Port Solent and the nearby M275 motorway to the north of Horsea Island was reclaimed during the 1970s with the marina opening in 1988. So the access by water to the creek from Portsmouth Harbour is now only via the Tipner Lake since Horsea Island is an island no more. In the 19th century, there used to be two wadeways from Portsea Island to Horsea Island across Tipner Lake. The northern one has disappeared but part of the southern one on the eastern side of Tipner Lake can be seen as far as low water. The remains can be found below high water near the western end of Horsea Lane NG Ref: SU648038. WGS84: 50° 49′ 51″ N, 1° 04′ 52″ W..

Creek joins Tipner Lake

Looking west from the roundabout, Portsbridge Creek merges into Tipner Lake at the site of the western dam which was about 100 yards (90m) from the camera.

Image date: 22 Apr 2008
NG Ref: SU652045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 14″ N, 1° 04′ 28″ W.
(62.0KB)

Dredging for the waterway

A mud dredger at work in Portsmouth Harbour possibly north of Horsea Island in connection with Portsbridge Creek.

Image date: 1829.
Precise location unknown.
(50.5KB)

Port Solent

This aerial view of Port Solent Marina looks back eastwards past the entrance lock along the course of Paulsgrove Lake towards Portsbridge Creek.

Image date: Not known.
Approx NG Ref: SU630053.
Approx WGS84: 50° 50′ 12″ N, 1° 04′ 28″ W.
(84.8KB)

Tipner Lake

Seen from near the Portsbridge roundabout, the channel running west on the north side of Horsea Island is no more. The broad channel on the left is Tipner Lake and beyond is Portsmouth Harbour.

Image date: 4 Nov 2022.
NG Ref: SU652045.
WGS84: 50° 50′ 12″ N, 1° 04′ 28″ W.
(48.7KB)

Lower Wade Way

This was a tidal road providing access to Horsea Island at low tide. Now, it extends only as far as low water mark.

Image date: 22 Apr 2008
NG Ref: SU646038.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 49″ N, 1° 05′ 00″ W.
(68.7KB)

M275 bridge over Tipner Lake

This bridge is seen here at low tide looking west. It has ample headroom but draught could be a problem.

Image date: 10 Dec 2005
NG Ref: SU646035.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 39″ N, 1° 05′ 00″ W.
(59.1KB)

Tipner Point

Seen from the west, the two large red roofed buildings are former powder magazines: the north (left-hand) magazine of c1796-8, south magazine of 1856.

Image date: 20 Apr 2023.
NG Ref: SU638034.
WGS84: 50° 49′ 38″ N, 1° 05′ 43″ W.
(46.8KB)