Southampton Old Wall

I am a resident of this city and may i suggest as you explore the walls you understand the sea came up to this point.the land mass towards the sea from the walls is reclaimed land.the arches were originally merchants store rooms and to secure the city from attack from the french and marauding genoese mercenaries the walls were built and incorporated the arches into the defences.you may not be aware the german airforce bombed this area quite heavily in the second world war and a lot of history was lost for ever.holyrood church is worth a visit for this reason.i have worked on construction sites here where old buildings were exposed,some going back to saxon times,pre roman invasion and some norman floors and walls still exist as well as saxon house and the merchants hall ...some of the stone floors dates back to the 11th century.i helped to renovate these places..there are medieval vaults where merchants hid their trade goods.these are now covered by new homes built in the french quarter but local government decided homes come first .a lot of containers,pots and medieval dressed stone was found here when i worked on this site..the railway station,or at least the area to the south of it was beach and sea.the land mass that makes up the docks was underwater and reclaimed from the sea in the 1800's.over the years the city grew,the docks grew and because of the double tides we have here,6 hours low tide followed by 6 hours high tide,the importance of the docks grew. ship didn't have to wait for high water every 12 hours,and this is a deep water port..i hope you have learnt a little bit of our history reading this.i wasn't born here,originally i come from the isle of wight.sadly most of the old city is now buried under houses.when new building projects take place in the area archaeologists have the opportunity to uncover our history and regretfully watch the history being covered again(we hid some kentucky chicken bones in one trench in the hope they would be fooled,but it didn't work so didn't dig it for us)..i worked on one project when a row of houses needed to be underpinned and we dug down deep enough to discover the beachl!!! this area was above the city wall and the beach was there below the wall.sand and shale with sea shells,and a leg bone from a small dog!!! i also worked on the merchants hall and saxon house projects as well as the site above the now buried medieval vaults. in a kinder world you could visit a saxon,norman and medieval city.there were new finds when i worked on the merchants hall project,a previously unknown stairway..the buildings are there but sadly buried under the recent construction projects in the area.not quite ephesus,pamukkale or giza(been there too) but worth an hour of your time.5.2.2020 forgot to tell you,the good people of this city sold a leaky ship to the pilgrim fathers that sailed in the mayflower from here to america but didn't take the leaky "speedwell with them,and jane austen had a house here.i will leave the rest of your discovery of southampton walls for you to explore.09.02.2020

One of the best surviving lengths of city walls in england, once overlooking the tide. somewhat ignored by residents and city authorities who seem to believe corporate retail is more important than local heritage.

Nice walk from the centre to the pier

Where the old and new blend together in peace and harmony. this was our conclusion to the southhampton old town walk.

If these walls could talk, they'd be telling millions of stories. from norman invasions, viking raids to floods and german bombs, they've seen everything. they've weathered the storms, ariel attacks, stood the test of time and are still proudly standing. only if today's builders and workmen applied the same work ethic to the roadworks that they do, we will not have to see the pointless red cones and useless temporary traffic lights clogging up our roads.