See Southampton Heritage Guides – Sightseeing tours, tour guides and accessible tours

Sidney Guy Kimber

Sidney Guy Kimber Sidney Guy Kimber was born in Southampton in 1873 on 5th November hence his middle name. He was educated at King Edward VI grammar school and took over the family brick business in 1900. In 1910 he was elected as a Conservative councillor and was influential in local politics for many years. He was Mayor from 1918-1920. He was influential in ensuring the completion of Southampton’s Cenotaph. This was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and it is said that the one in Whitehall is based on the Southampton design. In 1929 he helped to purchase Northam Bridge for the expanding town, abolishing the tolls. He arranged for the Floating Bridge to come under civic control in 1934. He was a major force behind the building of the Civic Centre and the clock tower there is still locally known as ‘Kimber’s Chimney’. Kimber was also behind the building of the Sports Centre and Municipal Golf Course in Bassett/Lordswood. He died in 1949 and is buried in Highfield Church.

King John’s Palace

King John’s Palace The house is called King John’s Palace as historians mistakenly believed that King John stayed in it during the early 1300s, however, there is no evidence for it. Wealthy Norman merchants built their houses on the western shore of the town.Around the 1180s, when the original house was built, Southampton was already a busy trading port. The house was ideally located on the quayside where ships loaded and unloaded their cargoes. In the 1300s it was owned by John Wytegod, who was a wealthy merchant and mayor. After the French raid in 1338, King Edward III ordered the completion of the town walls (see Arcades). The door and windows in the front of the house were blocked up with stone or converted into gun slits and the building was integrated into the town walls. Although now only a shell, King John’s Palace is one of the finest surviving examples of Norman architecture in the country. When no 79 High Street was being demolished following bomb damage in WW2, a rare Norman chimney was found. In 1953 it was re-erected in King John’s Palace.

King George V Graving Dock

King George V Graving Dock King George V Graving Dock, is a former dry dock situated in Southampton’s Western Docks. It was also known as No. 7 Dry Dock. It was designed by F.E. Wentworth-Shields and constructed by John Mowlem & Company and Edmund Nuttall Sons & Company. It was formally opened by HM King George V and Queen Mary on 26 July 1933 even though it was not quite complete then. The first ship to use the dock in 1934 was White Star’s Majestic. Built specifically for new large liners coming into service then, like the RMS Queen Mary and RMS Queen Elizabeth, this dry dock was once the biggest in the world and retained its status for nearly thirty years. It was 1,200 feet long and 135 feet wide. When full it held 58 million gallons of water and took four hours to empty. The dock also proved useful when the Mulberry Harbours were put together for D Day in 1944. In 2005 the lock gates and keel blocks were removed thus converting the dock to a permanent wet dock.

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