Timeline of Southampton

Early history

• Roman period – The Roman settlement of Clausentum in Roman Britain is located 20 miles west of Noviomagus Reginorum and 10 miles from Venta Belgarum, which is roughly in the area of Bitterne Manor.
• 400 – The Anglo-Saxons moved the centre of the town across the River Itchen to what is now the St Mary's area.
• 410 – The Romans abandon the settlement of Clausentum after their occupation of Britain comes to an end.
• 500 – The area now known as Southampton Common can be traced back to this year.
• 700 to 850 – The settlement of Hamwic is founded and becomes an important port and traded with the continent. During this period, it has a population of 2,000 to 3,000.
• 750 – The Market is active.
• 837 – The Town is besieged by Danes, who then 'ravage' it in around 980.
• 1014 – The Viking King Canute the Great defeated the Anglo-Saxon King Ethelred the Unready is crowned in Southampton

  Norman to Tudor periods

• 10th century – Southampton town walls originate from around this time
• 11th century – Southampton Castle is built.
• 1070 – St. Michael's Church is founded, making it one of the oldest buildings in Southampton.
• 1086 – The town becomes a Royal Borough.
• 1124 – St Denys Priory is founded by Henry I.
• 1127 – An Augustinian priory was founded in St Denys on 364 acres of land granted by Henry I.
• 1173 – The St Mary Magdalen leper Hospital is established to the north of the town.
• 1180 – This is the approximate date that Bargate is built.
• 1189 – Richard I. "freed the burgesses from tolls and all secular customs".
• c. 1196 – St Julians Hospital, which is otherwise known as God's House Hospital, is founded by Gervase 'le Riche'
• 1197 – This is the approximate date that the Church of St. Julien is established.
• By 13th century – Southampton becomes a leading port and is particularly involved in the trade of French wine and English wool.
• 1200 – This is the approximate date that the Long House is built.
• 1220 – This is the approximate date that Walter Fortin becomes the mayor.
• 1233 – This is the approximate date that the Franciscan Friary is founded.
• 1236 – The Jews are expelled.
• 1239 – Netley Abbey is founded near the town.
• 1256 – Henry III "granted all the liberties and customs enjoyed by Winchester".
• 1299 – Bowling Green is in use and remains the oldest used Bowls green in the world as of 2023.
• late 13th C. – God's House Tower starts operating as a gatehouse into the old town.
• 1300 – Southampton's population is approximately 5,000.
• 1319 – The Venetian state fleet visits Southampton.
• 1320 – Holyrood Church is built.
• 1338 – The town is taken by French forces.
• 1348 – The Black Plague reaches Southampton.
• 1415 – August: The ringleaders of the Southampton Plot are executed at Bargate.
• 1445 – The charter of incorporation is given by Henry VI.
• 1461 – Southampton fair is active.
• 1492 to 1531 – All exports of tin and lead are required to pass through Southampton.
• 1495 – The Tudor House and Garden is built.
• 1552 – King Edward VI visits the town.
• 1553 – The 'Free Grammar School off the Mayor Baliffs and Burgesses of the Towne and County of Southampton', which is now known as King Edward VI School, is granted letters patent by Edward VI.
• 1554
• * Southampton is granted a monopoly on the export of wool to the Mediterranean and on the import of sweet wine.
• * King Philip II of Spain visits the town.

  Stuart period

• 1603 – James VI and I and Anne of Denmark make their Royal Entry to Southampton on 20 October.
• 1640 – The charter "was finally given" by Charles I.
• The English Civil War takes place:
• * 1642 – A Parliamentary garrison moves into Southampton.
• * 1644 – In March, a Royalist army advanced as far as Redbridge, but are prevented from taking the town by Colonel Richard Norton. In the same month, the Battle of Cheriton subsequently removes the threat to Southampton.
• 1664 – In June, the Black Death returns to Southampton. By the time the epidemic ended in November 1666, 1,700 people had died.
• 1669 – King Charles II visits the town.
• 1689 - The right to vote in parliamentary elections, which had previously been limited to freemen, was extended to include those paying Scot and lot in Southampton.

  Georgian and Regency periods

• 1740 - Southampton becomes a spa town, with the town becoming a popular site for sea bathing in the 1760s.
• 1759 to 1803 – Walter Taylor's 18th century mechanisation of the block-making process in Southampton wins him a monopoly on the supply of wooden rigging blocks for the Royal Navy and was a significant step in the Industrial Revolution
• 1760 – Taunton's School is founded.
• 1761 – The Assembly rooms are built.
• 1766 – The Theatre Royal is built.
• 1772 – The Hampshire Chronicle newspaper begins publication.
• 1773 – The Polygon residential and commercial development is completed.
• 1774 – A canal between Eling and Salisbury is proposed, but was never built.
• 1779 – A canal linking Southampton to Andover is proposed, but was never built.
• 1795 – All Saints' Church is completed.
• 1796
• * The Redbridge to Andover canal is completed.
• * The Northam Bridge Company is formed, with a toll bridge being built and opened in Northam in September 1799.
• 1798 – Thorners Charity is built.
• 1799 – The Northam Bridge is built.
• 1802 – The Salisbury and Southampton Canal begins operating.
• 1822 – The Southampton County Chronicle newspaper begins publication.
• 1823
• * The Public dispensary is established.
• * The Hampshire Advertiser newspaper is established and circulates until 1900 from an earlier publication, the Herald.
• 1829 – The painter John Everett Millais is born, with Southampton Solent University's art gallery named the Millais Gallery in his honour.
• 1830 – The Southampton Polytechnic Institution is established.
• 1831 – Southampton's population is 19,324.
• 1832 – 8 July: The London and South Western Railway begins as the London and Southampton Railway
• 1833 – The Royal Pier opens, but it's closed by 1979 before becoming derelict. The gatehouse is now a Grade II listed building.
• 1835
• * The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 abolishes Southampton's jurisdiction of Portsmouth's port.
• * The Royal South Hants Hospital is formed.
• 1836
• * The Woolston Floating Bridge connects Southampton to Woolston and Portsmouth on the east bank of the River Itchen.
• * The Police force is established.
• * The Southampton Dock Company is incorporated.

  Victorian period

• 1838 - In October, the first stone of the docks is laid by Sir Admiral Lucius Curtis.
• 1839 – Southampton Terminus railway station opens.
• 1840s - Sewers are built in Southampton.
• 1840 - In May, the London and Southampton Railway is fully opened to Southampton Terminus.
• 1841
• * The Ordnance Survey arrives in the town.
• * Southampton's population is 27,744.
• 1842
• * On 29 August, the first dock opens.
• * The builders merchant Elliott Brothers is in business.
• 1843 – In May, the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company operated its services from Southampton, officially designating the port as the packet station.
• 1844 – With its good transport links, Southampton became the emigrant station for North America and Canada
• 1846 – Southampton Old Cemetery begins operating.
• 1847 – The Riding School at Carlton Place is completed.
• 1848 to 1849 – A cholera epidemic reaches Southampton.
• 1849 – The bookseller James & Co. is in business.
• 1855 – Southampton School of Art, and the prison on Ascupart Street are established.
• 1856 – Netley Hospital, a.k.a. Royal Victoria Hospital, opens.
• 1860 – The Southampton Times newspaper begins publication.
• 1861 – 10 September: Red Funnel ferries start operating ferry services between Southampton and Cowes on the Isle of Wight.
• 1862 – The Hartley Institute is founded.
• 1865 – A second cholera epidemic reaches Southampton.
• 1866 – A branch line extended the railway over the River Itchen at St Denys to pass through Bitterne and Woolston to Netley.
• 1870s – More sewers are built in Southampton.
• 1872 – The Ordnance Survey buildings are constructed.
• 1874 – The Hythe Pier, Hythe & Southampton Ferry company is formed, with a ferry service starting from Southampton in 1880 after the pier is completed.
• 1875
• * The Watts Memorial Hall is built.
• * The Royal Southampton Yacht Club is chartered.
• 1876 – Above Bar Church is founded.
• 1879 – The Southampton Tramways Company begins operating.
• 1884 – St. Mary's Church is built.
• 1885 – St. Mary's Young Men's Association Football Club, and the Hampshire Field Club are established.
• 1889
• * Southampton Free Public Library is established.
• * St Mary's Road drill hall is completed.
• 1890 – September: The Southampton Dock Strike of 1890 takes place.
• 1891
• * The Didcot, Newbury and Southampton Railway begins operating.
• * Southampton Docks is acquired by the London and South Western Railway company.
• 1894 – The part of South Stoneham, within the borough, became the parish of Portswood under the Local Government Act 1894.
• 1895
• * Bitterne, Freemantle, Millbrook, and Shirley become part of Southampton.
• * Southampton West railway station opens.
• * The parish of Shirley was added under the Local Government Act 1894.
• 1898
• * Southampton Football Club is founded.
• * The Dell opens.
• 1899 – The bookseller David Holmes is in business.
• 1900 – Southampton General Hospital is founded as the Southampton Union Infirmary.
• 1901 – Southampton's population is 104,824.