May 31, 2024|Reports

“Southampton: Water, Slaughter And Trade” – Andrew Negus

Having completed his four-part history of Portsmouth in the autumn of 2023, Andrew Negus joined us again for the first of a three-part talk on the history of Southampton.

Did you know that Southampton has more surviving original stone city walls even than York or that the abbreviation Hants is because our county was originally called Southamptonshire?

68 members and visitors were treated to a virtual walk along the walls of the original medieval town – split between French and English sides. Growing from humbler Roman and Saxon settlements, Medieval Southampton held the royal wool staple and imported in turn the crown and the gentry’s wine, creating splendidly decorated storage cellars.

Every King and Queen of England up to Elizabeth  I made sure they visited Southampton – probably emptying some of those wine cellars during their stay!

We look forward to Andrew’s return for Southampton part 2: he will also be leading Portsmouth history walks for WHS members this summer.