BOROUGH OF SOUTHAMPTON 



furnished with a gun and eight chambers. Subse- 

 quently heavy ordnance was provided for it. In 1654. 

 there was a great gun on its top, the carriage of which 

 was found to be rotten, as likewise the whole staging 

 was in danger of sudden collapse ; and another great 

 gun ' on the ramp : er by the said tower ' was half 

 buried in the ground. 



Turning westward towards Bargate much of the 

 wall remains behind the houses ; there are also 

 remnants of two half-round towers, the former with 

 a diameter of 1 6 ft. at a distance of 1 60 ft. from St. 

 Denys Tower; the latter about izoft. farther with 

 a diameter of 2 2 ft. Another distance of 1 20 ft. 

 brings us to Bargate. 



Such is, as slightly as possible, the history of the 

 walls and towers ; it may be of interest to show how 

 the various towers were to be defended and to whom 

 they were appointed, at least in I 544, by order of the 

 mayor and his brethren. 98 



Arundel Tower and the little tower towards Bargate 

 were assigned to the shoemakers, curriers, cobblers, and 

 saddlers. Bargate Tower with the next to the east 

 were to be held by the town. The next small tower 

 and Polymond's were assigned to two burgesses, 

 William Knight and John Capleyn. The next little 

 tower towards East Gate and the gate itself were 

 entrusted to the goldsmiths, blacksmiths, lockiers, 

 pewterers, and tinkers. Next came the seven towers 

 enumerated from East Gate to God's House Tower. 

 The first five were known by the names of those 

 opposite whose gardens they stood, the sixth was over 

 against the friars ; the seventh next to God's House 

 Tower ; for the keeping of these no appointment had 

 as yet been made. God's House Tower, the Watch 

 Tower, and Water Gate Tower were kept by the 

 town. The tower by the wool-house was given to 

 the mercers and grocers ; St. Barbara's and ' Corner ' 

 or Square Tower, ' next to Beaulieu selde,' were 

 assigned to the brewers and bakers. That behind 

 Bull Hall was given to the coopers ; West Gate to Mr. 

 Baker; the Tower behind Thomas Marsh's house to 

 the vintners, mariners, and lightermen ; that against 

 Mr. Huttoft's to the weavers, fullers and cappers, and 

 the tower next Biddies Gate to the butchers, fishers, and 

 chandlers. The last three were evidently the towers 

 in front of the arcade (see above). It will be noticed 

 that Catchcold" Tower on the north and the 

 destroyed salient to the south of the castle area are 

 not included in the enumeration. 



The town is stated by Leland (1546) to have been 

 double ditched, 100 and Speed's map (1596) shows the 

 same, excepting that by his time the portion to the 

 west of the Bargate had been filled in and also as far 

 as the first tower on the east. There were archery 

 butts, approached from the north, on the bank along 

 the middle of the ditch, which were frequently the 

 subject of presentment, as also were those on the 

 Castle Green. They were constantly out of order, and 

 men were said to be obliged to shoot in Houndswell 

 or the Salt marsh in consequence. The ranges can 

 hardly have been satisfactory, but there is no doubt 

 they were there. 101 The counterscarp of the moat 



on the north side was apparently at what is now the 

 south side of Hanover Buildings, that is at a distance 

 of about 1 20 ft. 



On the west and south sides of the walls, when the 

 tide did not wash their footings, were the shorej and 

 quays. 



The Platform, outside God's House Gate, 101 dates 

 in a very incipient stage from the end of the thir- 

 teenth century. Subsequently it was adapted for fire- 

 artillery. In I457, 103 under the apprehension of 

 invasion it was the year when Sandwich was burnt 

 there was some activity along the shore-line between 

 God's House Gate and Itchen Cross (Cross-house), 

 where in the eighteenth century, in Southampton's 

 fashionable days, was a lovely and far-famed drive 

 with its row of elm trees, some of which remain. 



With ' Castle Quay ' we have already dealt, as also 

 with the shore from Biddies Gate to Bugle Tower. But 

 what was specifically the ' West Quay,' the centre of 

 life and trade in mediaeval Southampton, was in front 

 of West Gate. A quayage in the usual form was 

 granted in aid of the repairs to this quay for one year 

 in 1323 (17 Edward II); two years later, 1326 

 (19 Edward III), in consideration of the labour of 

 the burgesses on the quay and inclosure of the town 

 by royal mandate, a similar grant was made for seven 

 years. In the following year, 1327 (l Edward III), 

 what was really a confirmation of the previous quayage 

 for six years was obtained. 104 Further, in connexion 

 with these works on the quay the burgesses had con- 

 structed a barbican of wood, and were now proposing 

 to build it in stone for the better security against 

 hostile invasion : in consequence of this they obtained 

 in 1336 (10 Edward II) a grant of a penny in the 

 pound on all merchandise for five years, and on the 

 expiration of this term in 1341 secured a renewal for 

 a similar period. 105 But the jealousy of neighbours 

 had eyed the concessions with alarm, and in 1339 a 

 controversy with the men of Winchester about the 

 payment of this barbican duty was settled by a release 

 to them from this impost for five years. 106 West 

 Quay was sometimes called ' Galley Quay ' in the 

 eleventh century. In the middle of the eighteenth 

 it served for the Channel Islands trade, which was 

 considerable, the Guernsey and Jersey vessels always 

 anchoring off it. 



Judging from documents of 1411, it would seem 

 that South or Water Gate Quay was then of recent 

 construction, and had not been carried out without 

 opposition from the merchants of Winchester and 

 New Sarum. 10 ' A patent of that year sets forth that 

 the burgesses, with the assistance of Thomas Myd- 

 lington, one of their number, had constructed at great 

 cost a certain bank called a 'wharf with a crane upon 

 it, at ' la Watergate,' in aid of the fortification and 

 merchandise of the place, and for receiving custom ; 

 and that they had incurred the wrath of many who 

 had been accustomed to evade or purloin the dues : 

 the king therefore desired the work might be main- 

 tained henceforth, and authorized such tolls from all 

 parties using the wharf or crane as were levied in 

 London or other ports where such accommodation 



* Muster Bk. (Corp. MSS.). 



99 It is mentioned however, with other 

 towers in the same muster book in the 

 provision made tor manning the walls, 

 where we find that there were all round 



the town 46 5 loops or crenel lations to be &c. 

 defended, or as the summa totatii is 



given 470, but numbers do not quite 

 tally. 



100 Leland, Itin. (ed. Hearne), iii, 91. 



101 Steward's Bk. 1485 ; Court Leet 

 Bks. 1555, 1559, 1567, 1573, 1587, 



1 Davies, op. cit. 455, 456. 

 503 



no Steward's Bk. 



104 Pat. 17 Edw. II, pt. I, m. 9j 

 19 Edw. II, pt. 2, m. 17 ; i Edw. Ill, 

 pt. I, m. 5. 



loi Pat. 1 5 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 39. 



108 Indenture among Corp. MSS. 



W Inq. a.q.d. 12 Hen. IV, No. 5. 



