See Southampton Heritage Guides – Sightseeing tours and tour guides
Warrior War Horse Horses returning from WW1 were sold off. In 1919 Hilda Moore contacted the Mayor, Sidney Kimber, offering to buy a horse for the town. A chosen horse, a large white gelding, was handed over to the local Police. It had been in France since 1914, took part in many actions, and had …
Watergate The Watergate was built by 1377, after the French Raid of 1338, to strengthen Southampton’s southern defences. It was equivalent to the Bargate. In 1403 it was leased to William Revanstone, an ex Mayor, on condition he repaired the tower and gate. His rent was nominal – one red rose payable on 24th June, …
Water Supply A group of Franciscan Friars arrived in Southampton in 1229. They believed in working with the poor and those in need and set up a Friary near where the Gloucester Square car park, off the lower end of the High Street, now stands. They needed a fresh water supply and were given a …
Isaac Watts Isaac Watts was born in Southampton to a non-conformist family in 1674. His mother was Sarah Taunton the daughter of a Huguenot family and Isaac was the cousin of Richard Taunton who founded a school in Southampton. The site of the house is remembered in a plaque at the rear of the Primark …
The Weigh House The Weigh House was built in French Street in the middle of the 1200s. The Weigh House once housed a valuable piece of equipment, which was the town’s weigh beam, also known as the Tron. It had a very important function when trading in Southampton was at its peak. It was used …
The Duke of Wellington The Duke of Wellington pub in Bugle Street is built on 12th century vaults. Benedict Ace, one of Southampton’s first recorded Mayors in 1237, was an early owner. It was damaged in the French Raid of 1338. A timber frame building was erected in the late 1400s when it probably became …
Workhouse Southampton’s first workhouse was “a house of twelve rooms for the habitation of poor people” built following a bequest in 1629 from a man by the name of John Major. This poor house was eventually transferred to a site in French Street which later became the location of St John’s Hospital. It is marked …
The Wool House In the Middle Ages Southampton was already a busy international trading port. The Wool House was probably built in the late 13th century. According to some sources, the Wool House was built by the orders of the monks at Beaulieu for use as a secure wool store. It is also said the …
Walter Taylor Southampton’s Walter Taylor (1734–1803) famously supplied wooden rigging blocks to the Royal Navy, greatly improving their quality via a series of technological innovations. His work has been noted as a significant step forward in the Industrial Revolution, and as a major aid in Nelson’s sea victories during the Napoleonic Wars. Taylor had served …
William Soper William Soper was born in c 1390 and is most famous for his role in overseeing the build up of the English Navy in Southampton during the Hundred Years War conflict with France. Using Watergate Quay, and the nearby ‘Canute’s Palace’ as a storehouse, Soper first rebuilt a Spanish ship in 1414 – …
William Cantelo A real Victorian mystery! William Cantelo (born 1839) was from a family of Isle of Wight gunsmiths. He had a Northam engineering yard of 40 people. He also had a French Street shop, the Old Tower Inn pub by Arundel Tower and was a good musician, holding band practices in the Tower. The …
lucia Foster Welch Lucia Foster Welch was born in Liverpool in 1864 and moved to Southampton in 1903. She lived at 61 Oxford Street, in a seven bedroom semi-detached residence – now grade II listed. In 1927, Lucia was elected and became Southampton’s mayor. Lucia Foster Welch was, in fact, Southampton’s first Lady Mayor, first …
