SOUTH STONEHAM is a large and fertile parish, on either side of the Itchen, extending from 5 to 6 miles north and east-north-east from Southampton, and including Bevois valley, and also Portswood, on the western side of the riber, the latter forming a portion of the town and borough of Southampton: the parish also reaches down the eastern side of the Itchen, near Northam Bridge, and is in the Southern division of the county, South Stoneham union, hunderd of Mansbridge, Southampton petty sessional division and county court district, and in the rural deanery of Southampton and archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester.

There is no village of South Stoneham, the church and two or three adjacent houses being situated near the pleasant village of Swaythling, which is mostly in this, but partly in North Stoneham parish, and is situated on the western bank of the river Itchen, with a station on the London and South Western railway.

The church of St. Mary at Swaythling, is a small but ancient edifice of stone, in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, transepts and an embattled western tower containing 3 bells: there are 340 sittings. The register dates from the year 1663.

South Stoneham parish contains part of the village of Swaythling and the tithings of Allington, Barton, Pollock, Shamblehurst and Portswood.

By Local Government Board Order No. 27,196, which came into operation 1st April, 1898, part of South Stoneham was added to the civil parish and Urban District of Eastleigh.

Portswood, formerly in the civil parish of South Stoneham, has been added to the municipal borough of Southampton under the provisions of the "Southampton Borough Extension Act, 1895" and with Bittere is now a civil parish.

Baptisms and marriages in this parish are included in the I.G.I..

Grid reference: SU4415