Southampton Info

Ancient Southampton

The Romans built a town on the site of Bitterne in a bend of the River Itchen. It was built about 70 AD and it was called Clausentum. The Romans laid out the streets of the town in a grid and they gravelled them. At first the little town was built in wood but in the 2nd century rich people rebuilt in stone. However the poor continued to live in houses of wood and plaster. For the rich life was very comfortable. They had glass windows and mosaic floors and their walls had painted murals. However life for the poor was hard and rough.

Meanwhile in the 2nd century fortifications were built around Clausentum. The Romans dug a ditch and they made an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top. In the 4th century they added a stone wall to the inner area of the town to better protect it. However by then the Roman Empire was in decline. After the Roman army left in 407 AD Clausentum was abandoned and it fell into ruins.

However the Saxons built a new town on the opposite side of the Itchen on the site of St Marys Church at the end of the 7th century AD. A king called Ine founded Saxon Southampton and it was a large and prosperous place. Saxon Southampton had a population of at least 4,000 and probably more. By Saxon standards it was a large town and it was also a busy port.

The Saxons built their town with streets in a grid pattern. All the buildings were made of wood with thatched roofs. In the town many Saxon craftsmen worked, such as blacksmiths, carpenters, thatchers, potters and leather workers. Saxon craftsmen also used bone to make needles and combs.

Little ships came to Southampton loaded with wine and fine pottery and they took away cargoes of wool (England's main export). By the 9th century Southampton had a mint, showing its importance.

However in the 9th century Danes began raiding England. They sacked Southampton several times. Yet late in the 9th century Alfred the Great built a network of forts across his kingdom. They were called burhs. If the Danes attacked all the men in the region gathered in the local burh to fight them. We know there was a burh at Southampton but we are not certain where. The Saxons may have used the stone walls of the old Roman town as a fort.

Then in the 10th century Saxon Southampton or Hamtun declined. The Danes were probably partly responsible but Southampton may have also suffered from the Itchen silting up. At any rate some of the people probably left for Winchester but some seem to have built a new settlement by the River Test. However the new town, which was also called Hamtun was much smaller than the old one by the Itchen and probably had no more than 1,000 people.

Medieval Southampton

At the time of William the Conqueror many Normans came to live in Southampton. They built a wooden castle at Southampton, which was later rebuilt in stone. They attended a church dedicated to St Michael (patron saint of Normandy). Until the 16th century High Street was called English Street because the native English lived there.

If we were to travel to Southampton in the Middle Ages we would find a walled town of perhaps 3,000 or 4,000 people. There were many craftsmen in the town and they tended to live together in the same streets. West Street was once called Butcher Row and Bugle Street takes its name for an old word for a young bull (because they were slaughtered there). Wincle Street comes from the old word wincel, which meant corner.

At the time of the Norman Conquest all the buildings were of wood but in the 12th century rich men rebuilt their houses in stone. Ordinary people continued to live in wooden huts.

By the 13th century a little suburb had grown north of the town on the site of Above Bar. Another small suburb grew outside East Gate. It was called Newtown.

As in Saxon times the main export from Medieval Southampton was wool and the most important import was wine (the drink of the upper class). Not surprisingly since it was an important port there was a busy ship building industry at Southampton. There were also craftsmen like blacksmiths, potters, carpenters, thatchers, tailors and leather workers.

The busiest day of the week was market day in Southampton when the streets were crowded with buyers and sellers. Southampton also had annual fairs. The fair lasted for 3 days and it was held by the Chapel of St Mary and the Holy Trinity. So people called it the Trinity or Chapel fair.

In Medieval Southampton the church was very important. In 1127 an Augustinian priory was built at St Denys. In those days the church ran the only 'hospitals'. In 1185 God's House was founded to provide shelter for the poor and sick people from Southampton. Poor travellers could also stay there.

In the Middle Ages leprosy was a dread disease. Southampton had a leper hostel. It stood in fields near the town and it was dedicated to St Mary Magdalene. In time the fields around it became known as Magdalenes, which eventually became Marlands.

In the Middle Ages there were men called friars who were like monks. However unlike monks they did not withdraw from the world. Instead they went out to preach. At the end of the 13th century they were given a spring near the town and they built a lead pipe to their friary. In 1311 they allowed the people of Southampton to use their water supply.

In the early 13th century Southampton was protected by a ditch with an earth rampart with a wooden palisade on top. However in the late 13th century it was replaced by a stone wall. However the stone wall only extended along the landward side of the town. It gave no protection from the sea.

That proved to be catastrophic in 1338 when an army of Frenchmen and Sicilians landed by sea when the people were at mass. The French and Sicilians broke into St Michael's Church and massacred people. Anyone who could ran into the countryside. They joined forces with people from the local villages.

Early on the following morning the English counterattacked and they killed about 300 Frenchmen and Sicilians. The rest of the enemy ran to their ships and escaped.

In 1339 the king ordered the fortifications around Southampton should be strengthened. Over the following decades new towers were built and the keep of the castle was rebuilt. Now the walls of the town were extended to they protected Southampton from the sea. Some rich people had houses overlooking the sea. Those houses were built into the wall.

In the late 14th century and the 15th century Southampton flourished. During the Hundred Years War many ships were built in the town and soldiers used it as a departure point on their journey to France. The large numbers of soldiers and sailors passing through Southampton spent money on goods provided by the people of the town.

Southampton also thrived on trade with Italy. Goods like silk, perfume and spices were brought to Southampton in Italian ships. They then sailed away with cargoes of English wool. As a result of this trade Southampton boomed.

Tudor and Stuart Southampton

In the 16th century Southampton declined. The Hundred Years War ended. Worse the Italian trade declined then came to an end. As a result Southampton became quieter and less important during the century and in 1600 it was called a 'decayed' port. Most of its trade by then was the coastal trade. In those days it was expensive to transport goods by road so very often they were transported by sea along the coast of Britain and along rivers. Goods like timber, salt, coal and iron were brought by ship to Southampton then transported inland by horse and cart.

However things were not all bad in Tudor Southampton. Visitors were impressed and in 1541 one said Southampton was 'one of the fairest in all England for timber buildings' In 1552 another visitor commented that Southampton 'is handsome for its size, has houses as fair as those in London'. Yet later in the century the town seems to have grown dilapidated and one person said some houses were 'greatly decayed and likely to fall down'.

When King James visited in the early 17th century he had a different impression. According to him Southampton was 'one of the healthiest and sweetest towns in the kingdom'. Yet in 1618 he sold Southampton castle, which then stood in ruins.

Like many towns in the 16th century Southampton gained a grammar school. A man named William Capon left 100 pounds in his will to provide it.

Meanwhile like all towns in those days Southampton suffered from plague. It struck in 1563 and again in 1581. Nevertheless the population of Southampton reached 4,200 in 1596. It was boosted by craftsmen from what is now Belgium fleeing religious intolerance. It was also boosted by craftsmen from other towns like Salisbury coming to work in Southampton.

Georgian Southampton

In the 18th century Southampton revived a little. In 1750 Prince Frederick visited and he bathed in the sea. In the 18th century people believed that bathing in the sea was good for the health and when the royals visited a seaside town the wealthy members of the public were sure to follow.

In 1762 a visitor to Southampton was impressed by the town and said it was 'one of the prettiest and healthiest towns in England'. He also said that Southampton was 'well populated' and it had 'several fine houses'.

Also in the 18th century Southampton port began to become busier. In 1753 a writer commented that Southampton had 'lately improved its position'. In the late 18th century Southampton port was busy handling coal from Newcastle and woollen stockings from the Channel Islands.

There were some improvements to Southampton in the 18th century. In 1745 trees were planted along the road across the common and in 1761 an Assembly Room where balls were held was opened on West Quay. In 1766 a theatre opened in Southampton and a bank opened in 1778.

From 1770 a body of men called the Improvement Commissioners paved and cleaned the streets of Southampton. They also employed night watchmen. From 1782 they also lit the streets with oil lamps.

They also had power to tow away any carts blocking the streets of the town. The carts were chained to a tree known as the pound tree and the owner had to pay a fine to get his cart back.

In the late 18th century as Southampton began to revive the town grew and new houses were built north of the Bargate. By the end of the 18th century the population of Southampton had risen to about 8,000.

Victorian Southampton

In the 19th century Southampton boomed again. The long war against France at the beginning of the century meant that many soldiers passed through Southampton and they spent money in the town.

Moreover the port thrived. Wine and fruit were imported from the Mediterranean, while grain arrived from Ireland, stone and coal came from Scotland and timber came from the Baltic. Soon the quays at Southampton were no longer sufficient and in 1838-1842 a new dock was built.

Meanwhile Southampton ceased to be a seaside resort. In the 19th century it became firmly a commercial port again.

Also in the early 19th century a shipbuilding industry in Southampton boomed. In the 1820s paddle steamers began running from Southampton to the Channel Islands and France. There was also a coach building industry in Southampton in the early 19th century but it declined after the railway reached the town in 1840.

From the 1840s horse drawn buses ran in the streets of Southampton and after 1879 horse drawn trams. After 1900 the trams were electrified.

Meanwhile other amenities in Southampton improved during the 19th century. From 1820 the streets of Southampton were lit by gas and from 1889 they were lit by electricity. In 1836 a police force was formed. The Royal South Hants Hospital opened in Southampton in 1838. Then in 1846 a cemetery opened in the town. Southampton gained its first public library in 1899.

However like all early 19th century towns Southampton was overcrowded and dirty. The Improvement Commissioners cleaned the main streets but the alleys were very dirty. Some houses were forced to share toilets and many had no sewers. As a result in 1849 Southampton was struck by cholera and it killed 240 people. Cholera struck again in 1865

From 1850 the Improvement Commissioners were dissolved and their duties were given to the town council. After that all streets were cleaned. The council also improved Southampton's sewers and gradually conditions in the town improved. In 1888 a new water works was opened at Otterbourne.

During the 19th century Southampton grew rapidly. Early in the 19th century the Saltmarsh was drained and used for building houses. Meanwhile the council bought 4 fields north of the town and made them into parks. From the 1840s new houses were built to Northam then in Freemantle and Newtown and they were swallowed up by the growing town. Many more houses were built from the 1860s in Shirley, St Denys and Portswood. By the end of the century Swaythling was also engulfed by the growing town.

Modern Southampton

At the beginning of the century Southampton was booming. In 1907 White Start transatlantic liners began to sail to the town and from 1919 Cunard liners sailed from Southampton to New York. As the port grew new docks were built in 1890-1911. The busy port of Southampton meant the town escaped the worst of the depression of the 1930s. Furthermore new industries came to Southampton in the early 20th century. From 1913 cigarettes were made in the town and from 1913 flying boats were made there. In 1938 General Motors opened a factory on reclaimed land next to the Itchen.

Tragically more than 2,000 men from Southampton were killed in the First World War.

However amenities continued to improve in Southampton during the 20th century. Cinemas were built and the first motor buses ran in Southampton in 1919. (The last trams ran in 1949). A new Civic Centre was built in 1929-1938 and in 1938 a new sports centre was built at Bassett.

Meanwhile in the 1920s the first council houses were built in Southampton. Many private houses were also built in Southampton between the wars. However during the Second World War 631 people in Southampton were killed by German bombing. Over 4,000 houses were destroyed in the town and many shops were also destroyed. After the war like many cities Southampton was left with a shortage of houses and in the late 1940s the council was forced to erect prefabs as a temporary measure. However from 1946 permanent houses were built in Weston Park. In the mid 1950s the council began to build large numbers of council houses on the eastern and western edges of the town. Furthermore in 1954 the boundaries of Southampton were extended to include Millbrook, Harefield, Redbridge, and part of Thornhill. In the 1960s the council continued to build council houses (many of them were needed to replace demolished slums). Furthermore new schools were built in Southampton and new shops were built to replace those destroyed during the war.

In 1964 Southampton was finally made a city.

Meanwhile in the 1950s and 1960s Southampton remained Britain's most important passenger port. Huge amounts of freight were also imported into Britain through Southampton. Then in the 1970s Southampton was converted to containerisation.

However the era of cheap air travel meant there were less passengers travelling through Southampton in the late 20th century and the docks were redeveloped as shops, offices and marinas.

Meanwhile in the late 20th century manufacturing industry in Southampton became less important and service industries came to dominate the city. The finance, banking and insurance industries all grew more important. So did tourism. In 1988 a medieval merchants house opened as a museum and in 1996 an oceanography centre opened in the city.

Today Southampton is a flourishing city and an important shopping centre with a population of 217,000.