Historical Buildings in Southampton

Reading Quacky Pete's Blog I learned that English heritage were holding open days and went to check to see if there was anything happening near by.
The Tudor House in Southampton has been closed for a couple of years as it is undergoing major restoration, however it was open to the public for the weekend. It is not expected to be fully open until 2011 as there is still a lot of work to be done. So far they have been spending a lot of time and money simply to keep the building from collapsing. We spent an hour touring the building with a local architect who has been involved in the work. The building was rebuilt in the 15th century on the foundations of four medieval buildings. it has seen many changes and by the 1900s it was in a bad state of repair. It was restored at this time and became a museum. but some of the work weaken the timbers and this has had to be repaired. At the moment you can see the concrete and steel reinforcements , but this will eventually be hidden from view as they work on repairing the plasterwork.
Opposite the House is the Church of St Michaesl which is said to be the oldest building still in regular use in Southampton. Although you can see the original Norman Structure, it has a very modern feel with recent stained glass.
Our final building was the Medieval Merchants House which was originally built in 1290