History of Southampton
is a city in Hampshire, England. The area has been settled since the Stone Age. Its history has been affected by its geographical location, on a major estuary on the English Channel coast with an unusual double high tide, and by its proximity to Winchester and London; the ancient and modern capitals of England. Having been an important regional centre for centuries, Southampton was awarded city status by Queen Elizabeth II in 1964.
Southampton became an important port in medieval times, experiencing several hundred years of fluctuating fortunes until it was expanded by the Victorians.
As a centre of commerce, an industrial town and an important military embarkation point, Southampton was a strategic target for the Luftwaffe and was severely damaged in World War II.
Post-war redevelopment and the need to accommodate 20th-century innovations such as the motor car have significantly altered the character of Southampton.
Prehistoric times
Numerous gravel pits have been dug in the Southampton area, many of which have yielded Stone Age tools. Evidence of a Stone Age settlement has been found at Priory Avenue, St Denys.Bronze Age objects have been found on Southampton Common, particularly by grave-diggers working in the cemetery and during the construction of the reservoir. Further Bronze Age finds have been made near Cobden Bridge.
Iron Age earthworks have been found at Lordswood and Aldermoor and evidence of Iron Age buildings has been found in the City Centre.
Roman occupation (AD 43–410)
documents the Roman settlement of Clausentum in Roman Britain as being west of Noviomagus Reginorum and from Venta Belgarum.In about 1770 John Speed claimed that Clausentum was in the area that is now known as Bitterne Manor. In 1792 the Rev. Richard Warner investigated those claims and found a ditch, a bank and some Roman coins. Since then this site has been investigated further and is generally accepted as the site of Clausentum, but there is no universal agreement. Reference to modern maps show Bitterne Manor to be from Chichester. Wickham is at the junction of two Roman Roads and is a better fit to the distances documented in Antonine Itinerary VII. The case for Clausentum being situated at Bitterne Manor is based on archaeological evidence and the geography of the site, which clearly allowed it to be turned into a good defensive position.
But the fact that there was a Roman settlement at what is now Bitterne Manor is not disputed. Archaeological finds at what is believed to be Clausentum show the site to have been an important trading port with some significant buildings. Traces of a Roman Road on a line running from Bitterne Manor to Wickham have also been found. Elsewhere possible evidence of Roman-era farming was found on the site of what is now St Mary's Stadium.
The Romans abandoned the settlement circa 410 when the Roman occupation of Britain ended.
Anglo Saxon period (400–1066)
The Anglo-Saxons moved the centre of the town across the River Itchen to what is now the St Mary's area. The settlement was known as Hamwic and/or Hamtun: the two names coexisted and described the same area but were used in different contexts. By the middle of the 11th century, the area is described as South Hamtun by Anglo-Saxon chroniclers. References to St Mary's Church also appear in 11th-century documents. Hamwic is referred to as a market in the account of the life of St Willibald, written by an Anglo-Saxon nun named Hygeburg in the late 8th century. The town developed under royal patronage where traders could be protected and taxed.Excavations have revealed a section of the street plan of Hamwic and uncovered one of the best collections of Saxon artefacts in Europe. These collectively show that Hamwic was a planned town, that it became an important port and traded with the continent and was a royal administrative centre. The 110-acre site possibly sheltered a population of 2,000 or 3,000 people during c. AD 700–850. The excavations also found 68 houses and workshops, 21 wells and 500 pits. Hamwic was the site of a mint for several Anglo-Saxon Kings until it was moved to Winchester later in the 9th century. Series H silver pennies were issued in Hamwic in the 8th century AD. They have mostly been found within or close to Hamwic.
Hamwic is also believed to have been a point of departure for slaves and pilgrims such as Willibald to important European cities such as Rome.
Vikings (700–1066)
Viking raids on Southampton disrupted trade with the continent and contributed to the reorganisation of Wessex. Important industries that were previously well-established in Hamwic were withdrawn further inland to the new fortifications at Winchester, contributing to the decline of Hamwic.Archaeological excavations show evidence of 10th-century settlements and a defended enclosure in what was later to become the Medieval walled town.
The Viking King Canute the Great defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready in 1014 and was crowned in Southampton. His demonstration that he could not stop the tide is sometimes said to have taken place in Southampton, but is likely to have been apocryphal.
Normans (1066–1154)
Southampton's prosperity was assured following the Norman Conquest in 1066, when it became the major port of transit between Winchester and Normandy.Domesday Book indicates that Southampton already had distinct French and English quarters at the time of the Norman Conquest and that the King owned a number of properties for which rent was payable.
Archaeological evidence has dated the foundation of St Michael's Church at 1070 and the church was dedicated to St Michael, patron saint of Normandy.
An Augustinian priory was founded at St Denys, on of land granted by Henry I, the last of the Norman Kings, in 1127. St Denys Priory continued as a religious house until its suppression in 1536.
Medieval period (1154–1485)
, the first King of the House of Plantagenet, was a regular visitor to Southampton and established Southampton Castle. The Castle was principally used to store the King's wine. Surviving remains of 12th-century merchants’ houses such as King Johns House and Canute’s Palace are evidence of the wealth that existed in the town at this time. Archaeological excavations have revealed evidence of other houses of similar stature.By the 13th century Southampton had become a leading port and was particularly involved in the trade in French wine and English wool. The Wool House was built in 1417 as a warehouse for the medieval wool trade with Flanders and Italy.
By 1173 the St Mary Magdalen leper Hospital was established to the north of the town. St Julians Hospital, otherwise known as God's House Hospital, was founded around 1196 by Gervase 'le Riche'. The Franciscan friary was later built alongside God's House hospital. Bowls was first played regularly on the green adjacent to God's House Hospital in 1299. The green still exists. It is the world's oldest surviving bowling green.The town was sacked in 1338 by the French. Charles Grimaldi, purchaser of Monaco for the Grimaldi family, was involved in the raid and is said to have used the plunder to help found the principality of Monaco but no firm evidence exists to substantiate the claim. After this attack the city's walls, parts of which date from 1175, were extensively improved and reinforced. Lacking proper finance for the construction of a full defensive wall, the solution involved joining the existing exterior walls of existing merchant houses together to form part of the defensive structure. The city walls include God's House Tower, built in 1417, the first purpose-built artillery fortification in England. The walls were finally completed in the 15th century. A large part of the town's walls remain today. Over the years God's House Tower has been used as home to the city's gunner, the town gaol and as storage for the Southampton Harbour Board. Until September 2011 it housed the Museum of Archaeology.
The Black Death reached England in 1348 via the merchant vessels that regularly visited Southampton at that time.
The 12th-century Red Lion pub on the High Street below Bargate within the old walls is where in 1415, immediately prior to King Henry V of England's departure from Southampton to the Battle of Agincourt, the ringleaders of the 'Southampton Plot', Richard, Earl of Cambridge, Henry Scrope, 3rd Baron Scrope of Masham and Sir Thomas Grey of Heton, were tried and found guilty of high treason before being summarily executed outside Bargate.
During the Middle Ages shipbuilding became an increasingly important industry and was to remain so for centuries to come. The city became a county corporate in 1447.
Tudor period (1485–1603)
Southampton's Tudor House, otherwise known as Huttofts or Lady Ann Guidotti's House, was built in 1495 for Sir John Dawtry. It has been a family home and an artist's studio and has housed businesses including a dye-house and a bookbinder. It is now a museum.Southampton's economic fortunes fluctuated during the Tudor period. From 1492 to 1531 all exports of tin and lead were required to pass through Southampton. Trade with the Channel Islands increased. In 1554 Southampton was granted a monopoly on the export of wool to the Mediterranean and on the import of sweet wine. At other times during this period, the port was in decline, mainly because trade was shifting to London. Southampton was also a convenient port for the buccaneers who plundered Spanish ships in the English Channel and the Atlantic Ocean.
The development of Hurst, Calshot, Cowes and Netley castles along Southampton Water and the Solent, by Henry VIII in about 1540, meant that Southampton was no longer so dependent upon its fortifications.
In 1553 the Free Grammar School off the Mayor Baliffs and Burgesses of the Towne and County of Southampton was granted letters patent by Edward VI, establishing the new school and thus fulfilling the legacy of William Capon, who left money for that purpose in his will. The school survives as King Edward VI School, Southampton.