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

St Mary’s Church

St Mary’s Church Southampton’s Mother church, St Mary’s (the original dating from 634 AD) is situated outside the later Norman town, in the earlier Saxon settlement of Hamwih. The present church is the sixth on the site. In the 1550’s the rubble of St. Mary’s was being used to mend roads as most people had long since moved to the Norman town. Victorian expansion led to a new church being built in 1878 with Edward, Prince of Wales laying the foundation stone. This was destroyed by bombing on the night of 30th November 1940 and the current building dates from 1956. The church bells are said to have inspired the famous song “The Bells of St. Mary’s” as sung by Bing Crosby in the 1945 film of that name. The song even appears in an episode of Monty Python. In a skit called “Musical Mice”, Terry Jones claims to have trained mice to squeal at the specific pitches necessary to play the song!

R. J. Mitchell

R. J. Mitchell R.J. Mitchell was born in Stoke-on -Trent in 1895. In 1913 Noel Pemberton Billing set up Pemberton-Billing Ltd to produce sea going planes. Its telegraphic address was Supermarine Southampton and this was used for sending telegrams and cables to the firm. The company was located in Woolston and Mitchell joined in 1916, becoming Chief Engineer in 1920. Supermarine aircraft won the coveted Schneider Trophy for sea planes in 1927, 1929 and 1931. The expertise gained from this was incorporated into the design of the new Spitfire plane with the first one flying on 5th March 1936. Mitchell died in 1937 before the first plane was delivered to the Air Ministry. Spitfires played a critical role in the Battle of Britain in 1940. A prime target, the Supermarine works were destroyed by bombing in WW2. Over 22,000 spitfires were built, it is estimated that only 179 remain. Mitchell and his wife are buried in a simple grave in South Stoneham Cemetery.

Mayflower

Mayflower There is a great deal of controversy concerning the actual departure point of the Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers from England for America. Several cities claim ownership, not least, Southampton. In actual fact there were several departure points as well as stops along the way. Southampton was the place the disparate groups of pilgrims first joined together, some coming from Rotherhithe, the ship’s home port, in London. Sixty five in all joined the ship there in mid July 1620. The Mayflower then departed for Southampton. The Mayflower dropped anchor in Southampton water on 27th July. For seven days she waited for her sister ship, The Speedwell, which was on its way from Delfshaven, Holland with fifty Leyden church members. Although the Speedwell had been refitted before she left in Holland on 1st August, she had to have another refit at West Quay, probably not far from the spot occupied by WestQuay shopping centre today. The Pilgrim Fathers could ill afford the extra expense and had to sell some of their belongings, food and stores. The memorial on Town Quay Southampton was unveiled in 1913 and is inscribed with the two dates and a plaque telling the pilgrims’ story. For nearly two weeks both groups of pilgrims stayed in Southampton and at least one Sotonian joined them. It is well documented that John Alden, a Southampton cooper sailed with the pilgrims when they eventually left on 15 August 1620, there may well have been other families. The memorial, with a replica of the ship on top, marks their departure point. Unfortunately the Speedwell, despite two refits, was still leaky. The pilgrims had to put in at Dartmouth for further repairs. Then, when they were two hundred miles beyond Land’s End they had to turn back for Plymouth because Speedwell sprang another leak. It was early September and they were less than one hundred and fifty six nautical miles from Southampton. The Speedwell was deemed too unreliable to attempt an Atlantic crossing. All the pilgrims crammed on to the Mayflower and, once again, set sail. The Mayflower was not a large ship, just 100 feet long weighing 180 tons. She had previously sailed cross channel with cargoes of wool and wine, hats, hemp, Spanish salt, hops and vinegar. She also made the occasional foray into the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The abandoned Speedwell with all her leaks, was sold soon after the Mayflower left for America. After yet another refit she continued to make many profitable voyages. There has been a certain amount of speculation and rumour around this fact. Some say Master Reynolds, the captain of the Speedwell, was afraid of the Atlantic crossing or of starving to death in America and purposely made the leaks himself. There is a story that Plymouth was not the last English port Mayflower put into. Allegedly, barrels of water picked up in Plymouth were found to be contaminated and she stopped off at Newlyn in Cornwall for more. Whether this is true or not it’s hard to tell but Newlyn has a plaque nonetheless! So what became of the Mayflower once the settlers left? In April 1621 she sailed for England once again, her crew, decimated by disease. The westerly winds that had caused so much trouble on the outbound voyage helped her on her way and she arrived in Rotherhithe in May. Within the year Captain Jones was dead, the New World journey had taken a toll on his fifty two year old body. The ship was berthed in Rotherhithe for two years not far from his grave in St Mary the Virgin churchyard. By 1624 she was unseaworthy, the final casualty of that fateful journey. No one knows what became of her battered hulk. In Southampton we are proud of our part in the pilgrims’ story and our Mayflower connection. We have a Mayflower Park on the shoreline close to the spot where the Mayflower departed. Our impressive theatre, close to the main railway station is called The Mayflower. Through Dock Gate 10 there is a Mayflower Cruise Terminal. One of the university halls of residence is called Mayflower Halls and, of course, we have the wonderful Mayflower memorial.

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