BOROUGH OF SOUTHAMPTON 



of the town being in great part taken up by the castle 

 inclosure. West Street leads from Bugle Street, 

 through the West Gate, still existing, to the western 

 shore. East Street, which retains its ancient name, 

 ran from near the north end of High Street to the 

 East Gate, now destroyed, and so into a suburb of old 

 standing. Lower down the east side of High Street 

 the modern Bridge Street, which leads to the railway 

 station and floating bridge, is an expansion of an 

 ancient lane which ended at a postern in the town 

 walls. Still farther south exists with but slight altera- 

 tion the ancient Winkle Street, which passes the 

 entrance to God's House and through the South Castle 

 Gate, still existing. 



On the east side of the old town the long streets or 

 alleys running north and south, called Back of the 

 Walls and Canal s Walk or the Ditches, mark exactly 

 the fortifications on that side. 



At the south of the town an ancient quay at the 

 bottom of High Street has been transformed into the 



appliances of electric trams and other facilities. At 

 the present time the population of the borough and 

 county of the borough is estimated at 108,000. 



In spite of prosperity and growth of population, 

 which are so often fatal to the older buildings of a 

 town, Southampton is rich in remains of mediaeval 

 houses and the vaulted cellars on which they com- 

 monly stood. Besides the well-known ' King John's 

 House,' elsewhere described, there are several pieces of 

 twelfth-century work, the best being a house on the 

 south of St. Michael's Church, and 'Canute's Palace' 

 in Porter's Lane. The former has a large vaulted 

 cellar with a central round-headed entrance, and on 

 the ground floor two semicircular-headed doorways, 

 all of late twelfth-century date. Only the lower part 

 of the early house remains, but at the back are many 

 traces of later mediaeval work. On the west side of 

 St. Michael's Square is the fine timber-built house 

 now called ' Henry VIII's Palace,' and probably to be 

 identified with that built by Henry Huttoft in the 



' HENRY VIII's PALACE,' SOUTHAMPTON 





wide modern platform with pier and quays, and far- 

 ther to the east lie the spacious docks and railway 

 station, while on the west of the town the mediaeval 

 quay outside West Gate, the ancient scene of traffic, 

 has entirely changed its purpose and given way to a 

 broad esplanade of land reclaimed from the sea out- 

 side the walls, connecting the southern quays with the 

 railway station of Southampton West. 



To the north-east the ground connecting the 

 ancient town with the old suburb of Northam has 

 been built over. To the north Portswood must be 

 included, and to the west Freemantle. Fortunately 

 there are beautiful public parks, the inheritance of 

 ancient days in one form or other ; and there is 

 the Southampton Common, a lovely piece of forest 

 scenery approached from the town by a wide avenue 

 of old elms. This large extent of busy life is well 

 connected and held together with all the modern 



early years of the sixteenth century, and mentioned 

 by Leland. It has four projecting gables towards the 

 square, being of two stories and an attic, with a row 

 of large mullioned windows on the first floor. It 

 runs back some distance from the street, and includes 

 parts of an older building. A little to the north of 

 the square is Simnel Street, where the vaulted base- 

 ment of an early fourteenth-century house has been 

 preserved from the general demolition which has 

 here taken place. It is a good example, vaulted in 

 two bays with excellent details, and has a stone- 

 hooded fireplace on the east with brackets for lights, 

 and two windows and a doorway on the south. 

 Parts of the house attached to it yet stand, with the 

 pit of a large garderobe. 



Leland mentions the timber houses of Southamp- 

 ton, and no doubt the majority of the mediaeval town 

 buildings were so constructed, standing on masonry 



So called from the abortive canal 

 brought through the East Ditch of the 



town in 1795 which opened into the 

 Southampton Water through an arch- 



491 



way under God's House spur work (see 

 below). 



