The Tudor House in Southamton

The medieval merchants House
Stained Glass from St Michaels Southampton

A Walk around the old Town in Southampton.

Yesterday we took a walk around the walls of Southampton. After the Norman Invasion in 1066 Southampton became on e of the main English ports for exporting wool. The town prospered from this trade until the 1500s The walls and other medieval building were built during this period. They were mainly built of limestone although other types of stone was also used. The stone was shipped in from Dorset the Isle of Wight and France.
This is Holyrood Church, which was one of five churches in the medieval town and only two of them have survived. Much of Holyrood was destroyed in WW2, it is now a memorialto the merchant Navy and also includes a Memorial to the crew of the Titanic
This brass Cross on the pavement outside Holyrood is said to commenmorate the spot where Phillip of Spain, on his way to marry mary Tudor knelt to give thanks for surviving the voyage from Spain in 1554
Memorial for the crew of the Titanic
The Red Lion was built in the 1500 and although it has been heavily restored it still retains the shape of a medieval house.


A Flower Anchor outside the wool house which now houses Southampton's Maritime Museum.
The Mayflower memorial. The mayflower and her sister ship the Speedwell left Southampton on August 15th 1620 but by the time they reached Plymouth the Speedwell was already leaking and was abandoned.
Tudor Merchants Hall used to stand in St Michaels square, but in 1634 it was dismantled and the timbers were used to construct this building

The arcades were built to protect the town and was built on the walls of early houses that had to be demolished so that the town could be protected. In Medieval times the sea would have come close to this side of the walls.

A Day in the Life.....

Catherine and Stephen came to stay overnight as Catherine wanted to look round Southampton University Campus and see if she might want to apply for next year. So first we walked the dogs at Busketts and then drove into Southampton.
After dropping Catherine at the University we walked around part of the walls of Southampton. This is the Tudor Merchants House and part of the City walls.

Then we went onto the Quay and had a good view of the Cruise Ship the Navigator of the Sea, She is enormous. Apparently amongst other things she has a Rock climbing wall, Ice Rink, 9 hole mini golf course and a whole parade of shops.
We then picked Catherine up and had lunch before they set off for home.

We took the dogs for another walk in the Forest at Fritham. We saw this Buck and we heard several others calling