THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 v^
 
 HibUskd as tAeAcir dhecArJard Jd>0 ^ TJia/xr SC Son, SmOAamfUorv.
 
 W^JLK 
 
 SO UTM^MFTOJV. 
 
 a 
 
 By Sir Henry C. ENGLEFIELD, Bart. 
 F. R. S. AND F.A. S. 
 
 > ' 
 
 . SECOND EDITION, 
 CONSIDERABLY AUGMENTED : 
 
 TO WIUCU IS ADDED, 
 
 SOME ACCOUNT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ROMAN STATION, CLAUSENTUM. 
 
 PRINTED ANO SOLD BY BAKER AND FLCTCHEft I 
 
 SOLD AtSO IN LONDON BY J. STOCKDALB, PICCADILLY, 
 AND BY T. OSTELL, A V E-M AX I A- L AN . 
 
 IVIDCCCV.
 
 ENTERED AT STATIONERS HALL.
 
 ^7 ^5-^ 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 It was at firft intended in the following pages, 
 merely to give an account of feveral curious 
 remains of antiquity exifting in the town of 
 Southampton, and which had either been to- 
 tally unnoticed, or very flightly mentioned, in 
 the defcriptions of that place, hitherto pub- 
 lifhed ; and the title of A Walk was chofcn as 
 expreilive of what was intended to be done in 
 the work. In compliance with the wifhes of 
 fome who faw the manufcript, and to whofe 
 obfervations and communications no fmall 
 portion of whatever merit it may pofTefs, is 
 due, I have ftepped beyond the flri6l limits 
 of defcription, and have ventured to enter a 
 little into the wide and doubtful field of an- 
 tiquarian refearch : but I Hill hope that my 
 readers will bear in mind the title of the book, 
 and not for a moment fuppofe that I afpire at 
 
 G32335
 
 ( ii ) 
 
 the dignity of a hiftorian of the place ; a talk 
 for which neither my refearches nor abilities 
 have by any means qualified me. The praife 
 of accuracy is all to which I lay any claim, 
 and I fhall be very happy if what is here given 
 to the public excites fome perfon better quali- 
 fied for the talk, to extradl from the records of 
 the town, and thofe of the bifhoprick, the cu- 
 rious and copious information which they cer- 
 tainly contain. 
 
 To the Mayor and Corporation of the Town 
 my bed thanks are due, for the liberal man- 
 tier in which they permitted me to infpe6l 
 their regalia and archives; and I fhould do vio- 
 lence to my own feelings, if I pafled unno- 
 ticed the afliftance which I have received from 
 an anonymous correfpondent, whofe lingular 
 modefty has not perhaps totally concealed him 
 from my knowledge, and to whofe accurate 
 pen the inveftigators of the beautiful environs 
 of the town of Southampton are, I fufpe(5l, al- 
 ready obliged for one of the bed digefted 
 and moft inflru6tive of thofe ufeful tra6ls com- 
 monly known under the name of Guides. 
 
 H. C. ENGLEFIELD. 
 
 DEC. 1, ISOl.
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 -<> 
 
 The firft edition of this work having been 
 exhaufted within little more than three years 
 from its publication, I cannot better teftify 
 the fenfe I entertain of a favour fo unex- 
 pedled, than by endeavouring to render the fe- 
 cond impreffion in fome degree more worthy 
 of the public attention. The few changes 
 which have taken place in the town are no- 
 ticed; and I thought it better to mention them 
 in the form of notes, than to alter the original 
 account. A more extenlivc defcription of the 
 curious edifice in Porters'-lanc is added, from
 
 ( iv ) 
 
 the account of it prefented to the Society of 
 Antiquaries ; and I have given fome etchings 
 of its principal parts. The account of remains 
 of antiquity difcovered at Bittern, in confe- 
 quence of the building the bridge and forming 
 the road there, is reprinted from my paper 
 inferted in the fecond volume of the Hamp- 
 fhire Repofitory, with fome additions. It is 
 hoped that this fecond edition may meet the 
 fame favour which was experienced by the 
 firft. 
 
 H. C. ENGLEFIELD. 
 
 OCT. 1, 1803.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Derivation of the name of Southampton - 1 
 
 Situation of the town - - - 5 
 
 Suburb and ditch .... 6 
 
 Spring in Houndwell - - _ g 
 
 Canal ----- 6 
 
 Butts for archery - - , - 7 
 
 Bar-gate, its derivation - - - 8 
 
 description of ... 8 
 
 arms on - - - 8 and 137 
 
 paintings at - - - - 10 
 
 sculptured stone in - - - 11 
 
 town-hall in - - - - 12 
 
 North wall - - - , - 13 
 
 East-gate - - - - - 14 
 
 Eastern wall , . - - 15 
 
 Bridewell-gate and tower - - - 15 
 
 Curious cannon - - - - 16 
 
 Admiralty gallows - - - - 17 
 
 Water-gate and quay - - - 18 
 
 Apartments over water-gate - - 19 
 
 West-gate and quay - - - - 20
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Cross-hoase - - - . 77 
 
 Beach - - - - - 78 
 Observations on the style of the ancient buildings 
 
 in Southampton - - - 79 
 Corijedhires on the origin and site of the town 80 
 Bittern probably the Roman Clausentum - 80 
 Castle of Southampton probably Saxon - 83 
 Present town built under its protedtion - 84 
 Canute's rebuke to his courtiers probably hap- 
 pened at the present town of Southampton 85 
 Charter of Henry II. mentioning four churches 
 
 in Southampton - - - 86 
 
 Date of the wall uncertain - - - 86 
 Sack of the town by the French - ..88 
 
 Error of Leland proved by the rolls of parliament 90 
 
 Repair of the walls in the reign of Edward VI. 91 
 
 Antiquities found at Bittern - - 107 
 
 Coping stones - - - - 107 
 
 Corner stone of a niche - _ - I08 
 
 Stone with an inscription - - , 109 
 
 Roman wall - - - - 111 
 
 Beautiful Roman earthen ware - - 112 
 
 Farm house at Bittern - - - 115 
 
 Names on the fragments of ware - - 119 
 Skeletons - - - - -119 
 
 Well in which was a skeleton - - 120 
 
 Remains of Roman towers - - - 121 
 
 Stones with inscriptions - - - 121 
 
 Precentorship attached to St. Mary's - 131 
 
 Curious vaulted apartment in Siranel-street 132 
 
 Additional notes - - - - 136
 
 PLATES. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 I. Title 
 
 II. Town wall near Weft quay 21 
 
 III. Ditto nearer Bridle-gate 23 
 
 IV. Regalia of the corporation 38 
 
 V. Two ancient feals 42 
 
 VI. View in Porters'-lane 50 
 
 VII. Infide view of St. Michael's church 63 
 
 VIII. Font in St. Michael's church 65 
 
 IX. View up Blue-anchor-lane 68 
 
 X. Elevation of building in Porters'-lane 97 
 
 XI. Plan of the Roman ftation at Bittern 105 
 
 XII. Antiquities found at Bittern 108 
 
 WOOD CUTS. 
 
 Altar dedicated to the goddefs Ancafta 123 
 
 Fragment of a miliary column 124 
 
 Infcription to the emperor Gordian 125 
 
 Another to Gallius and Volulianus 126 
 
 Another to the tyrant Tetricus 127
 
 SBL 
 
 K 
 
 WALK 
 
 THROl CU 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON. 
 
 XjEFORE we enter on a defcription of 
 the beautiful and ancient town of South- 
 ampton, it may not be improper to fay a 
 few words on the derivation of its name, on 
 which antiquarians are by no means agreed : 
 fome having fuppofed that it took its origin 
 from the river An or Anton, near whofe fouth- 
 ern extremity it (lands ; while others have 
 merely deduced it from the word Ham (a home 
 or place of refidence), which fo often enters 
 into the compolition of the names of our 
 towns, fometimes with and fomctimes without
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 the adjunct of Ton. Ham in Surry, and 
 Hampton in Middlefex and Hereford (hire, 
 Northampton, and near it Southam, are fuf- 
 ficient examples of this mode of compofition ; 
 and it is rather curious that the two laft 
 quoted names (hould in this place be exactly 
 inverted in Southampton and Northam. How 
 loDg Northam has borne its prefent name,' I 
 have no means of inveftigating ; but it feems 
 evident that it can only have received it from 
 its (ituation with refpe6l to Southampton. 
 Yet probable as this really appears, I cannot 
 help inclining to the fentiment of thofe who 
 derive its more honourable appellation from the 
 beautiful ftream which ornaments the central 
 parts of the county, and indifputably gives its 
 name not only to numerous places in its 
 courfe, but to the county itfelf. The town of 
 Andover, the village of Abbot's-An, the farm 
 of Northanton and hamlet of Southanton, both 
 near Overton, and not far from the eaftern 
 fource of the river Anton, or rather Ant, are 
 abundant proofs of the probability of this ety- 
 mology : and it may be iaid, that, by a very 
 natural confufion of two words fo fimilar (par- 
 ticularly in compofition) as An and Ham, 
 Northam, from its polition with refpedl to
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 Southampton, may eafily have received its 
 name, under the idea that Southampton was 
 formed from Ham, not An. 
 
 Whether the Antona of Tacitus was the 
 Southampton water, has been the fubjedl of 
 controverfy into which it is unneceflary here 
 to enter ; it is enough for our prefent purpofe, 
 that the Roman Claufentum is evidently form- 
 ed from the An or Ant, which I conceive to 
 have been the Britifh name of this river and 
 eftuary. To this, the Romans, as was their 
 ufual pradlice, added the Latin termination, 
 and the Roman name of the river became the 
 Entum or Antum ; and poffibly, by an ealy 
 change, the Antona. 
 
 When in the Saxon times Southampton be- 
 came a place of confequence, the Ant again 
 gave name to the new town, with the Saxon 
 addition of tun or ion, and we accordingly find 
 Antun or Hantun to have been the early name 
 of the place; as Wilton, in the next county, 
 was formed from the river Will or Willy : and 
 this I conceive to be much more confonant to 
 the Saxon mode of formation of names, than 
 the fuppofition that the town was called Anion 
 from the river Anton, without any adjundl, of 
 which, I believe, there is fcarce an example.
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 But although the confequcnce of Claufcn- 
 tum evidently declined as the new Hantun 
 increafed, yet it was by no means deferted ; 
 for there are large remains yet exifting of a 
 magnificent Saxon or Norman fortrefs or caf- 
 tellated manfion, built on the ancient Roman 
 wall of Bittern : and as the new town is litu- 
 ated diredlly fouth of the old one, it was natu- 
 ral that it fhould be diftinguiflied from it by 
 the prefix of Snuth. Thus it appears to mc 
 that the name of Southampton was gradually 
 formed : but thefe ideas are given (as moft 
 etymologies mufl be) rather as matters of con- 
 jedlure than certainty. By a fort of retro- 
 grade corruption not uncommon, the river 
 came, from the town feated on its bank, to be 
 called in later times the Hampton River ; and 
 the county itfelf Hantunfcyre, as well as its 
 more proper appellation of Hantefcyre ; and 
 afterwards, by a moft prepofterous confufion 
 (probably fuggefted by the fimilarity of the 
 name to Northamptonfliire), the County was 
 called the County of Southampton. When 
 this laft corruption was introduced, I cannot 
 decide ; but it is very ancient. 
 
 Too much has been perhaps already faid 
 on this fubjedl, for a book which pretends to
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 no deep refcarch ; too little certainly for a 
 formal difTertation on the ancient hiftory of 
 the place: to more laborious inquirers the ety- 
 mology of Bittern and the biftory of the fuc- 
 ceffive changes of that very ancient place are 
 left : and it is probable that the records of 
 the fee of Winchefter may furnifh much 
 curious matter on this fubje6l, as Bittern has 
 ever been, and ftill remains, a capital manor 
 and feat of courts holden by the officers of 
 that bifhoprick. 
 
 The town of Southampton is fituated on the 
 extreme point of the high gravelly bank which 
 feparates the courfe of the Itchen river from 
 the eftuary of the Teft, or Anton Water. By 
 this happy choice, the whole town, though al- 
 mofi: furrounded with water, enjoys the advan- 
 tage of the drieft (ituation ; and the fall of 
 level, in every direction, keeps the flreets con- 
 Itantly free from damp and filth. Befides 
 thefe cfTential benefits, a great proportion of 
 the houfes enjoys a view more or lefs extenfive 
 of the beautiful country adjacent ; and as the 
 gravelly foil lies on a bed of clay, numerous 
 wells afford a copious fupply of water fit for
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 moft domeflic purpofes, if not always excellent 
 for drinking.* 
 
 As, however, the principal object of this 
 eflay is to point out the objects of antiquity, 
 or other remarkable buildings, which may at- 
 tra6l the notice of a ftranger, enough has 
 been Taid on the general fituation of the town ; 
 and we fhall now proceed to a furvey, firft of 
 the walls and gates, and fecondly of the ftreets, 
 together with the churches and other build- 
 ings obfervable in them. 
 
 The principal and indeed only approach to 
 the town from the land, is by an extenfive 
 and well-built fuburb ; in which nothing oc- 
 curs worthy of remark, t excepting a large 
 
 * A very fine and copious spring, which was protcdtcd 
 by a large building bearing considerable marks of anti- 
 quity, till lately existed in the meadow to the north of the 
 (own : it bore the name of Houndwell. The tunnel cut 
 about two hundred yards to the north of the spring for 
 the new Canal, has intercepted the vein which supplied it, 
 and it now is very nearly dry. 
 
 + It may not be improper here to mention, that the 
 Canal which is cut from Redbridge to Southampton, and 
 which passes close along the shore of the river, quits the 
 beach about half a mile above the town, and is carried in
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 Elm tree, on the left lide of the road, which is 
 ilill called the Pound Elm, from the ancient 
 pound of the town, which once occupied that 
 fpot. This fuburb was feparated from the 
 town by a very broad and deep ditch ; which 
 has been filled up within the memory of feve- 
 ral perfons yet living. In the plan of the 
 town annexed to Speed's map of the Ifle of 
 Wight, the northern and north-caftern part of 
 the ditch appears to have been double, having 
 a low bank between the two fofles. On this 
 bank, to the eaft of the Bar-gate, Butts are 
 marked for the purpofe of exercifing the youth 
 in archery. This ditch feems to have been 
 originally cut fo deep as to admit the fea at 
 high water, and thereby completely infulate 
 the town. Hanover Buildings to the eaft, and 
 Orohard-ftreet to the weft, of the Bar-gate, 
 
 a subterraneous trunk under this suburb. It emerges 
 to the day in the Houndwell meadow, and branches 
 north and south. The northern branch meets the Itchen 
 at Northara : the southern fills the ditch of the eastern 
 wall of the town, and passing under a large arch cut 
 for it through the bottom of the Gaol Tower, opens into 
 the Southampton River immediately beyond it. This 
 work, after a vast expense, has long remained in an im- 
 perfe6l state.
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 occupy the fite of the ditch ; which was crofled 
 by an arched bridge leading to the large and 
 extremely beautiful gate called emphatically 
 the Bar. This, it may be obferved, was an- 
 ciently the name of thofe edifices now called 
 Gates ; while the word Gate fignified the ilreet 
 or road leading to the Bar. At York this an- 
 cient phrafeology prevails to this day : Mickle- 
 gate leads to Mickle-gate Bar, Walm-gate to 
 Walm-gate Bar, and fo of the refi:. To return 
 to the Bar : Its north front is of rather un- 
 common form, being a fort of femi-o(5lagon, 
 flanked with two lower femi-circular turrets, 
 and crowned with large and handfome open 
 machicollations. The arch of entrance is 
 highly pointed, and adorned with a profufion 
 of mouldings, which now end abruptly ; a part 
 of the flanks of the arch having been cut away 
 to enlarge the carriage way, which was incon- 
 veniently narrow. 
 
 Above the arch is a row of elegant funk 
 pannels, alternately fquare and oblong. In 
 each of the fquares is a (hield in relief, painted 
 with a coat of arms. The bearings on thefc 
 fhields are as follow, beginning from the left : 
 
 1. Argent, a crofs, gules. England. 
 
 2. Sable, three fwords in pile. Paulet.
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 3. Argent, a chevron, gules, between three 
 
 griffins' head erafed, or. Lethieullier or 
 Tylney. 
 
 4. Or, two chevronels argent, between three 
 
 fhamrocks or trefoils, azure or vert. 
 Abdy or Lewis. 
 
 5. Argent, fretty, azure, a canton ermine. 
 
 Noel. 
 
 6. Azure, a chevron or between three owls 
 
 or. He wit. 
 
 7. Gules bordured and crofTed or, engrailed : 
 
 four martlets. Unknown. 
 
 8. Parted per fefle, argent and fable, a pale 
 
 counterchanged and three bears faliant 
 fable, two and one counterchanged, 
 muzzled and chained, or. Mill. 
 
 Q. Azure, a crofs faltire, argent. Scotland. 
 And on two fhields below, in the fpandrils 
 
 of the arch : 
 
 10. Azure, a chevron or, betweeti three 
 
 leopards* heads erafed or. Wyndham. 
 
 11, Or, a chevron gules, charged with three 
 pellets or. Unknown. 
 
 Thefe arms are not, however, of an ancient 
 
 date ; as the coat of Mill has the baronets' 
 
 hand on it, and the creation of that family was 
 
 in 1619. The arms of Scotland alfo prove 
 
 B
 
 ( 10 ) 
 
 that thefe ornaments were added to the gate 
 after the acceffion of James I.* 
 
 The footways on each fide are modern per- 
 forations through the old flanking towers, and 
 the brickwork entirely covers the ancient 
 walls ; but by infpedting the fides of the prin- 
 cipal arch, it feems as if there had formerly 
 been arches opening laterally into thefe tow- 
 ers : if fo, the fcenery mufi: have been finga- 
 
 * On the fronts of the two great buttresses which 
 flank the arch of entrance, are placed paintings at full 
 length, and larger than the life, of two warriors, one of 
 whom bears the name of Bevis, the other of Ascupart. 
 Although these figures, when compared with the gate, are 
 modern, yet as they have certainly held their present 
 places during one hundred and twenty-five years, and are 
 in a poem of that antiquity spoken of as at that time by 
 BO means novelties, it might seem an omission not to men. 
 tion them. The connexion between Bevis and South- 
 ampton seems of a very ancient date. Whether the old 
 metrical Romance of Sir Bevis was founded on any fadl, I 
 am not prepared to say ; but the occurrence of the name 
 of Bevis on the admiralty seal hereafter more particularly 
 described, proves that the knight was in no small estima- 
 tion in the town at an early date. It is probable that the 
 figures on the Bar-gate were placed there at the time that 
 the arms just described were painted on the ancient 
 shields. The style of the paintings fully proves that they 
 could not have been of a date much anterior to James I.
 
 ( 11 > 
 
 larly magnificent. The arches and front hi- 
 therto defcribed, are (though probably four 
 hundred and fifty years old) modern, when 
 compared with the central part of the gate; 
 which is of early Norman work, if not more 
 ancient than the Conqueft. Its plain' and 
 mafRve round arches, which are confiderably 
 wider than the outer pointed one, a?.e a full 
 proof of this. Within this mofl ancient part, 
 another addition has been made towards the 
 town, forming a plain and flat front ; which, 
 though never very handfome, was much in- 
 jured in the beginning of the century, by a 
 mofl awkward attempt to adorn it. The 
 points of its ancient windows are obliterated, a 
 painted ruflic covers the old wall, and queen 
 Anne, in long embroidered flays, and a gown 
 whofe folds would difgrace even the barbarity 
 of Saxon fculpture, exhibits her jolly fat face 
 from a Gothic niche in the centre. The bat- 
 tlements have however efcaped the ravage of 
 improvement, and an ancient alarm bell hangs 
 in a niche formed for it, between two of them.* 
 
 * A' very singular sculptured stone is inserted mto the 
 wall of this front, just above the ground, and close to the 
 right-hand janiD of the centre arch. It appears to have
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 Over the arches is a fpacious town-hall, 
 fifty-two feet long and twenty-one feet wide, 
 to which we afcend by a commodious ilone 
 ftaircafe. Towards the top of this, a large 
 pointed arch is vifible. The hall is lighted by 
 the four windows to the ftreet, which within- 
 fide retain their ancient form, and are rather 
 handfonie. At the bottom of the hall, ano- 
 ther pointed arch appears, which opens into a 
 fmall lumber room : the face of the arch in 
 this room is very handfome. The court of 
 juftice is not older than queen Elizabeth's 
 time. A room for the grand jury communi- 
 
 been the exercise of some apprentice carver, in the early 
 part of the twelfth century, and is covered with faces 
 cut in a very rude style, of different sizes, to the number 
 of eighteen, great and small. One of these is a man's face 
 with a forked beard ; another, a female, with a square 
 coif hanging down on each side. These faces much re- 
 semble those which so commonly support the labels of 
 arches, and are sometimes, though more rarely, found 
 under brackets, in the sort of cornices which run round 
 the exterior of the Norman and earliest pointed arched 
 churches. The lengtli of the stone is fifteen inches, and 
 its height is nine inches. As it stands upside down in the 
 wall, and is much corroded, it may easily, though in so 
 conspicuous a situation, escape notice, as it;^did mine until 
 after the first edition of this book was printed.
 
 ( 13 ) 
 
 cates with the hall, and is lighted by windows 
 towards the fuburb. The grand-jury room is 
 entirely modernifed, but a fmall and dark 
 room adjoining has in it a very curious round 
 arch, with ornamental fmaller fegments of 
 circles within it, and a fmall column on each 
 jamb, in the ftyle of the early Gothic. 
 
 The leads are fpacious, and from them the 
 gradual increafe of this noble gate is eafily 
 traced. The original gate is flanked by two 
 femicircular towers towards the country : be 
 tween thefe, and projedling beyond them, the 
 prefent beautiful exterior front was added : 
 the front towards the town appears the moft 
 modern of all. The two lions fejant, * call in 
 lead, which now form a refpedlable guard to 
 the entrance of the gate, were formerly placed 
 at the extremities of the parapet of the bridge 
 which eroded the ditch, and were removed to 
 their prefent fituation when the ditch was 
 filled up and the bridge demolifhed. 
 
 From the gate the wall runs eaftward about 
 
 * These lions were given (in the room of two others 
 which were decayed) in the year 1744, by William Lee, 
 Esq, son of Lord Chief Justice Lee, on his being made t 
 burgess.
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 two hundred yards, and is ftill vilible, though 
 much encumbered with dwelling-houfes ; a- 
 mong which, two femi-circular towers are 
 barely difcernible. It terminates in this di- 
 re(5lion by a high round tower, which has a 
 more modern appearance than any other part 
 of the walls, and fegms to have been built with 
 embrafures, like Calthot caftle, for the recep- 
 tion of cannon. From this tower the wall 
 runs quite ftraight, and in a dire(ftion nearly 
 fouth, till it reaches the water. At a diftance 
 of about one hundred yards from the north- 
 eaft angle, Eaft-gate formerly ftood : it was 
 demolilhed about thirty years ago, but a 
 drawing of it is among Grofe's Antiquities, 
 and it appears to have been equally ugly and 
 inconvenient. The whole length of this fide 
 is about eight hundred yards, and it is defend- 
 ed by, a broad and deep ditch (in the bottom 
 of which the new can^l is dug), and fortified 
 by eight turrets ; fix of them of a femicircular 
 form, and two fquare ones, which, however, 
 appear rather more modern than the others. 
 Thefe two were probably built about the time 
 of Edward VI ; as that young monarch, in 
 the very curious account he gives his friend 
 Fitzpatric, of his fummer excurfion into this
 
 ( 15 ) 
 
 county, fays that the townftnen had fpent 
 much money in repairing their walls for his 
 reception. Leland mentions only fix towers 
 in this eaftern wall, probably the fix round 
 ones. The upper part of the north-eaftern 
 tower was probably built at the fame time ; 
 and by Grofe's plate of the Eaft:-gate, it had 
 embrafures fimilar to thofe of this tower, and 
 moft likely added in the fame repair. The 
 fi:ru6lure both of the wall- and towers is of 
 coarfe and irregular mafonry : the upper part 
 is totally deftroyed, and no mode either of de- 
 fence or annoyance appears, except a very 
 long and narrow loop, with a circular enlarge- 
 ment in the middle, near the foot of each of 
 the towers. Where the wall reaches the lea, 
 it is terminated by a flrong tower with a gate. 
 The arch of entrance is pointed, and has with- 
 in it two others, of different forms and heights, 
 and two grooves for portcullifes. Over this 
 gate is the Bridewell. It feems evident that 
 originally the ditch was dug fo deep, as to 
 admit the fea at high water quite up to the 
 north-eafiern angle of the wall before men- 
 tioned ; and the projecting tower and build- 
 ing which we fhall next furvey, was very likely 
 added to defend the iluices, on which fo efi^n-
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 tial a requifite to the defence of the town de- 
 pended, and which of courfe an aflailant would 
 endeavour to deftroy. This mafs of building 
 is evidently lefs ancient than the walls, and 
 probably of about the fame date as the outer 
 part of the Bar-gate. It has been fuppofed 
 that this tower was built in the time of Henry 
 VIII, and a paflage in the records of the town 
 feems to countenance the idea ; but it is cer- 
 tainly far more ancient than that prince's 
 reign ; and the paflage in queftion probably 
 refers to the north-eaftern tower, the more 
 modern appearance of which has been already 
 noticed. Its mafonry is much better than that 
 of the walls, and the windows and battlements 
 are very neat. It is, however, of a form ex- 
 tremely ill calculated for defence, or rather of- 
 fence to aflailants ; and under its Shelter a 
 large body of troops might advance in fecurity 
 almoft up to the gate. Its irregular form and 
 projedting buttrefles render it, however, a 
 pi6lurefque objedl. It is now the gaol for 
 felons and debtors of the town and county of 
 Southampton. 
 
 On the platform juft under it lies a very fine 
 and curious brafs cannon, of the age of Henry 
 VIII, and bearing the following infcriptions 
 and ornaments :
 
 ( 17 ) 
 
 On an efcutcheon crowned with an impe- 
 rial crown, England and France quarterly, 
 fupported by a dragon and greyhound. Under 
 it, in a tablet, 
 
 HENRICVS. VIII 
 ANGLIE. FRAN 
 CIE. ET. HIBEilN 
 IE. REX. PIDEI. DE 
 PENSOR. INVICT 
 I8SIMVS. F. F. 
 
 On another tablet, clofe below the former : 
 
 MDXXXXII 
 HR VIII 
 
 Juft before the touch-hole : 
 
 ARCANVS. DE. ARCANIS 
 CESENEN. FECIT 
 
 On the breech-ring : 
 
 COLOVRINA 4214 
 
 Two perforated lions' heads ferve as rings 
 to lift it. 
 
 The ornaments on it are in a good ftyle, 
 although carelefsly finifhed. 
 
 On the fhore, between high and low water 
 mark, near the platform, flood the Admiralty 
 Gallows belonging to the local jurifdi61ion of 
 the town. It is reprefcnted in Speed's plan of 
 
 C
 
 ( 18 ) 
 
 Southampton, annexed to his map of the Ifle 
 of Wight. 
 
 To return to the walls : From the tower 
 and gate juft mentioned, the \yall runs in a 
 direction nearly weft for about one hundred and 
 twenty yards, having the fea wafhing its foot, 
 till it meets the Great or Eaft Quay. In this 
 length it is defended by one large and high 
 turret, at which it makes a little bend to the 
 northward. An ancient gate with a low 
 pointed arch, with a groove for a portcullis, 
 and machicollations over it, opens on this 
 quay ; which projedbs into the river about one 
 hundred and thirty yards, and is evidently as 
 ancient (at leaft in part) as the town itfelf. 
 This Water-gate has been fo defaced by houfes 
 built againft it' on every fide, that it is not eafy 
 to make out its original form ; nor can we now 
 trace out the manner in which it was con- 
 ne6led with the wall to the fouth-eaft of it, 
 the line of which projecfls at leaft thirty feet 
 beyond the outer front of the gate. The de- 
 molition of an old houfe built againft it, has 
 lately brought down all the machicollations ; 
 and in its prefent mutilated ftate, no one but 
 a ftaunch antiquary could much lament its 
 total removal ; which is ferioufty talked of,
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 and which would eflentially conduce to the 
 convenience of the commerce carried on upon 
 the quay.* Juft beyond the northern tower 
 of this gate, two machicollations appear in the 
 wall, which perhaps defended another gate or 
 poftern opening on the quay for the more con- 
 venient carrying on the trade of it ; but the 
 lower part of the wall is here fo completely 
 blocked up by houfes, that this point cannot 
 be afcertained. 
 
 * This intended demolition has now taken place, and 
 the whole gate, with the old buildings attached to it, is 
 removed. In apartments above this gate, and immedi- 
 ately adjoining to it, the business of the customs is said to 
 have been anciently transacted. The two principal rooms 
 were of good proportion, and had wainscot ceilings and 
 Qrnaraented chimney-pieces. Over the chimney-piece 
 of the eastern or innermost room, were three coats of 
 arms. In demolishing the gate, nothing remarkable was 
 found, except part of a large flat monumental stone, 
 which had been worked into the wall in building the gate. 
 It is of the usual early Norman form, and has the lower 
 part of a figure in long robes outlined on it, and an in- 
 scription running round it between two straight lines. The 
 letter of this inscription is of the Norman form, and the 
 words PVR SA ALME PAR CIIARITE PUIEZ are 
 legible. A few letters, forming probably the end of the 
 name of the person to whose memory the stone was in<, 
 scribed, remain, but the name cannot be made out.
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 From the Water-gate the wall continues in 
 a curved line to the north-weft, with its foot 
 in the fea. Its cbnftru6lion is here ftmilar to 
 the part already defcribed, and the towers 
 which defend it are much of the fame form, 
 though only partially vifible even from the fea, 
 as wharfs and timber-yards are now built out 
 into the water in front of them. At about 
 two hundred yards from the Water-gate, the 
 wall makes a more fudden bend to the north- 
 ward, and feems to have fufFered in this part 
 fome injury, either by failure of its foundation, 
 or breach made in it. At prefent it has the 
 appearance of having flipped outwards from 
 the foot, into the fea. At the north end of 
 this part, a' high open arch appears in the wall, 
 of the fame fort as thofe which we fhall foon 
 defcribe ; and beyond that arch the wall goes 
 on quite plain and very high, till it reaches the 
 Weft-gate. This gate is a low, plain, pointed 
 vault, very ftrongly and carefully defended ; 
 there being in its thicknefs at leaft two grooves 
 for portcullifes, and fix fquare apertures for 
 pouring hot water, or other annoyances, on 
 aflailants. The tower over thi.gate is mo- 
 dernifcd, but does not feem ever to have been 
 in any way handfome. The length of the wall
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 from the Water-gate to the Weft-gate is 
 about three hundred and eighty yards. 
 
 The Weft-quay is ftnall, but, by the caution 
 with which its gate was defended, has evi- 
 dently been confidered as of great confequencc, 
 in former ages. 
 
 To the north of the Weft-gate, and front- 
 ing the area occupied by the public Baths 
 and Rooms, the wall is of great height, and 
 exhibits a mode of building quite peculiar, 
 and which feems Angularly ill contrived for 
 ftrength and defence. The wall may here be 
 faid to be double. The interior wall has been 
 the front of a row of very ancient buildings; a 
 part of which has been ornamented with Saxon 
 double windows above, and doors of different 
 forms below. Thefe apertures have all been 
 filled up, and againft the front a row of hig!i 
 and (lender piers is built, which partly cover 
 the ancient apertures of the wall behind them. 
 Thefe piers are two feet two inches in breadth, 
 and proje6l three feet and three inches from 
 the wall; and they have a bafe proje6ling four 
 inches and a half every way, which is about 
 eighteen inches high above the prefent level of 
 the ground. At ten feet fix inches above the 
 bafement, arches are turned from pier to pier ;
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 leaving, however, an open fpace of one foot 
 eight inches, on an average, between the old 
 wall and the new ; which are connedled by 
 ftones at intervals, leaving interftices fome- 
 thing in the nature of machicollations, open 
 to the Iky. At a confiderable height above 
 the arches, the wall terminates in a parapet, 
 with one battlement in the extent of each arch. 
 The whole range of arches is in number nine- 
 teen, but they are not uniform in fize or 
 figure. The firft eight are nearly alike, and 
 arc very nearly femicircular ; though all, ex- 
 cept the two firft, have a flight tendency to a 
 point. Behind the firfl, which is twelve feet 
 wide, is the remain of a double Saxon window, 
 with a pillar; and below, the jamb of a door 
 or long window. Behind the fecond, alfo 
 twelve feet wide, appears below, the remainder 
 of the fame door, and another near it with a 
 very fiat arclied head, like thofe of the lateft 
 Gothic. Above, is a fmall loop to the right, 
 and a double window, fimilar to the one be- 
 fore mentioned, to the left. The third arcade 
 is eleven feet four inches in width, and behind 
 it is a large round arch, of neat plain work- 
 manihip, and above it a double window. In 
 the fourth, which is eleven feet nine inches in
 
 ' ( 23 ) 
 
 width, is a very curious fmall poftern, which 
 has been defended by a portcullis, and opens 
 into a narrow fteep alley called Blue-anchor- 
 lane. In this lane are to be feen the remains 
 of two very ancient edifices, of which we fhall 
 fay more in the furvey of the ftreets. The 
 fifth, fixth, feventh, and eighth arches are 
 each eleven feet wide. The fifth arch has 
 only a fmall loop within it : the fixth nothing 
 but a plain wall. The feventh has a large 
 modern opening to a court of fmall houfes. 
 The thicknefs.of the wall may here be dif- 
 tin6lly feen ; and it is very thin for its height 
 and the ufes of defence. The eifjhth has a 
 rough pointed arch in the wall. A large pier 
 then fucceeds, with a fl;raight joint all the way 
 up, againfi: which the arch is turned : this pier 
 is therefore older than the arcade. A very 
 fiat arch, eighteen feet wide, comes next, with 
 a thick pier ; and then an arch, fix feet four 
 inches wide, and very flat, with another thick 
 pier and a ftraight joint exteriorly. Thefc two 
 arches and their three piers (together with 
 another fimilar narrow arch and its thick piers, 
 which we fhall prefently notice) feem as if 
 they had belonged to a building which pro- 
 jedled beyond the prefent front of the wall ;
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 for the face of the fmall arch is rough, as if 
 broken off. This building, whofe ancient 
 form and deftination it is now impbflible even 
 to guefs at, mull have been of great llze and 
 flrength ; and the double walls united at the 
 top by the flat arches, are a very curious and 
 lingular circumftance, and well worthy of no- 
 tice by thofe who furvey this interefting part 
 of the wall. 
 
 The regular feries of arches then goes on. 
 The eleventh, twelfth, thirteenth, and four- 
 teenth, are each eleven feet wide ; the fif- 
 teenth only nine feet three inches. The 
 eleventh has nothing within it ; the twelfth, 
 two pointed door-ways, the one to the right 
 almoft hidden by the pier. The thirteenth 
 has a fmall pointed window or niche, and by it 
 a flat fegment-headed door. The fourteenth 
 has a large femicircular arch, of good mafonry ; 
 the fifteenth a flight trace of a window aloft. 
 Then comes in another thick pier with a fl:raight 
 joint exteriorly, and a flat arch, fix feet four 
 inches wide, and broken in front like the for- 
 mer, A thick pier with a ftraight joint all the 
 way up exteriorly, forms with this arch a mafs 
 of work very fimilar to the one before def- 
 cribed. The range of arches then begins
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 again. The fevcnteenth and eighteenth are 
 eleven feet wide. The feventeenth has no- 
 thing in the wall behind it; the eighteenth 
 has a flat fegment-headed door or window, 
 and near it, but lower, a neat large round 
 arch, which extends into the nineteenth arch ; 
 which is only five feet three inches in width, 
 and (harp-pointed to range at the top with 
 the reft ; and here this very Angular conftruc- 
 tion ends with a ftraight joint all the way up. 
 The wall beyond it appears much older, and 
 in it is a low gate with a pointed arch, called 
 Bridle-gate,* over which are the brackets of 
 two machicollations. This gate is merely an 
 arch in the wall, and not, like the other gates, 
 fecured by a tower and portcuUifes in its 
 thicknefs. To the right hand, juft within it, 
 is a pointed arch, which opened into fome 
 building now totally deftroyed ; and on the 
 left, high up, is a door which feems to have 
 opened on a ftaircafe : a narrow arched paflage 
 runs through the thicknefs of the wall over the 
 gate, and terminates at this door. The wall at 
 this gate is live feet three inches in thicknefs. 
 
 D 
 
 ^ This gate, in the old records, is called Buidles-Gate.
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 The wall juft defcribed was certainly pecii- 
 liarly ill calculated for defence againft any 
 aflailants who could eftablifli themfelves at its 
 foot, as the demolition of a fingle pier would 
 inevitably make a wide breach in the arcade 
 which it fupported. It might indeed be con- 
 je6lured, that this part of the wall was wafhed 
 by the fea (as the parts to the north and fouth 
 of it ftill are), which would render it lefs eafy 
 of accefs to fappers or engines of deftru(?tion : 
 but the regular bafe to the piers^ the Bridle- 
 gate opening on the area before them, and 
 the Blue-anchor poftern nearly at the fame 
 level, and bearing no appearance of a water 
 gate, together with the more ancient nume- 
 rous doors in the wall behind the arches, 
 which certainly did not open into the water, 
 difcountenance this fuppofition ; and the cau- 
 fes which determined the builders to adopt fo 
 apparently prepofterous a plan, we fhall pro- 
 bably not eafily divine. The length of the 
 wall from the Weft-gate to the Bridle-gate is 
 about one hundred and fifty yards. 
 
 From the Bridle-gate the wall makes a fad- 
 den proje(5lion at right angles to its former 
 line, of about fixteen yards; and then, being 
 at its exterior angle fortified by a fquare tower.
 
 ( 27 ) 
 
 turns back at an obtufe angle : another fquarc 
 tower defends this face, which forms a large 
 irregular proje<5ling niafs, beyond the general 
 line of the wall ; which then continues in a 
 diredlion nearly due north, high out of the 
 water, and fortified by fix very ftrong and 
 handfome buttrefl^es. The third of thefe but- 
 treflfes is much larger than the reft, and has in 
 it a door-cafe, high above the foot of the wall, 
 and which probably was a water-gate to the 
 Caflile. In the intervals of the buttrefles are 
 traces of feveral loops and fmall windows, 
 which lighted a large vault ; of which more 
 when we treat of the caftle. This part of the 
 wall is beautifully mantled with ivy. The wall 
 then runs northwards in a fi.raight and flat 
 face, and has one buttrefs more, at fome dif- 
 tance from the refi:, of mofi exquifite mafonry. 
 Jufi: beyond this buttrefs is a large angular 
 one, which, by flying arches to the wall on 
 each fide, fupported a fmall tower. Here the 
 wall goes ofl^ at an obtufe angle to the north- 
 caft, and has three very firong buttrefles in 
 this face. At this fpot the wall of the caftle 
 abuts on the town wall; of which more anon. 
 This point is two hundred yards from Bridle- 
 gate.
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 From hence the wall continues of very good 
 mafonry, ftraight to the north- weft corner of 
 the town ; and it is defended by a very hand- 
 fome femicircular turret, with a proje(5\ing 
 parapet, fupported by large corbels. The 
 height of the wall from its foot is here twenty- 
 eight feet, and of the turret, forty feet. The 
 tide wafhes the whole of this wall, quite to the 
 north-weft corner, which is one hundred yards 
 from the point above mentioned ; and the 
 ground within is almoft level with its top the 
 whole way ; fo that it forms a moft beautiful 
 terrace to the gardens which belong to the 
 houfes in the High-ftreet and Caftle-fquare, 
 and run quite to the wall, commanding an en- 
 chanting view of the bay, from the town to the 
 village of Milbrook, and the river beyond it 
 quite to Redbridge. 
 
 The north -weft angle of the wall is for- 
 tified by a very elegant angular buttrefs, with 
 a projecting parapet fupported by corbels, 
 forming a fort of fmall watch tower ; and very 
 near it, to the eaftward, is a high and ftrong 
 circular tower. This angle of the wall has 
 a very handfome appearance from the water. 
 From hence the wall runs due eaft to the 
 Bar, and is about one hundred and feventy
 
 ( 29 ) 
 
 yards in length : one femicircular tower de- 
 fends it. 
 
 The total circuit of the walls, as taken from 
 Mr. Milne's furvey of the town in Faden's 
 new map of Hamplhire, is two thoufand two 
 hundred yards, or one mile and a quarter.
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 Having thus viewed every thing worthy 
 notice in the exterior part of the town and its 
 walls, and being returned to the point from 
 whence we fet out on our furvey, we will 
 now enter the town by the Bar-gate ; on paf- 
 fing which, the moft carelefs obferver muft 
 neceflarily be flruck with the beauty of the 
 High, anciently called Englifh, Street; which, 
 for breadth, length, and cleanlinefs, can 
 fcarcely be equalled in England. The painter 
 may perhaps lament, that neat brick fronts 
 have in fo many inftances fucceeded to the 
 pi(^urefque timber gables, which not long ago 
 conftituted the principal part of the houfes ; 
 but it cannot be denied that comfort has 
 gained what pi6lure may have loft. The gen- 
 tle bend and gradual defcent of the ftreet, add 
 much to its beauty ; as a ftraight level line of 
 near half a mile (which is the length of the 
 High-ftreet from the Bar to the Water-gate) 
 could not but be tirefome to the eye. 
 
 The firft obje6l which attra6ts particular 
 notice, is the new Church of All Saints, built 
 in the pureft ftyle of the Grecian Ionic order, 
 by the late Mr. Reveley ; whofe premature 
 deceafe the lovers of the arts will long lament. 
 On entering this church, the bold and grace-
 
 ( 31 ) 
 
 ful curvature of the roof claims high admira- 
 tion. The diftribution of the whole area into 
 pews, deftroys the eiFecSl of this building, as it 
 does of every other facred edifice in this coun- 
 try : but a new and peculiar deformity exifts 
 in this church, contrary alike to good tafle and 
 the uniform pradlice of the church of England. 
 The pulpit and reading-delk are placed in the 
 centre of the church, fo as completely to hide 
 the altar from almoft every part of it ; and the 
 officiating minifler turns his back dire(^ly to 
 it during the whole of the fervice. It is to be 
 lamented, that the Church of England, hav- 
 ing formed her liturgy and ritual moft clofely 
 on the model of the primitive church, did not 
 at the fame time adopt the form of the an- 
 cient ambones or delks, which flood on each 
 fide of the nave, of equal height, and from 
 which in turn the different parts of the fervice 
 were read ; inflead of huddling into one mean 
 and incongruous group, the clerk's deflc, the 
 reading defk, and pulpit, to which the art of 
 man cannot give either dignity or grace. In 
 the church which we are now confidering, the 
 reading defk and pulpit might have been 
 placed, with peculiarly good effe6l, on each 
 fide of the recefs for the altar; and as the
 
 ( 32 ) 
 
 founding board is omitted, a very elegant form 
 might have been given to them, with no great 
 deviation from the ufual fhape. As they now 
 ftand, belides their very irreverent poiition 
 with refpe^l to the altar, they have the exa6t 
 refemblance to the eftablifhment of an auc- 
 tioneer. 
 
 Nearly oppofite to AH Saints' church is the 
 Caftle-lane, and in the wall of one of the cor- 
 ner houfes is inferted a ftone circular has relief, 
 with a male and female head facing each other, 
 cut on it. On inquiry I found that this ftone 
 was brought with a quantity of others from 
 Netley, in order to be ufed in the foundation 
 of the houfe, and was preferved on account of 
 its fculpture. Although much ' defaced, the 
 carving ftill appears to have been extremely 
 good for the age in which it was probably 
 done. By the (ize and (hape it feems to have 
 been the key ftone of a groined arch ; and it is 
 not impoffible that the heads on it were thofe 
 of the founder Henry HI. and his queen 
 Eleonora. If fo, it is much to be lamented 
 that it is fo much injured. 
 
 A little lower down, on the eaft fide of the 
 llreet, in a houfe lately Harland's Hotel, is a 
 room profufely decorated with very fine carv-
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 ing, of the age of James or Charles I. ThS 
 chimney-piece in particular, which has the 
 royal arms in very high relief in the centre, 
 and the rofe and thiftle in the lateral compart- 
 ments, with terms and grotefque figures fup- 
 porting them, is executed in a very mafterly 
 ftyle ; and the oak, having never fufFered from 
 paint, is of a fine mahogany colour, and as 
 fharp as the day it was finifhed. 
 
 The church of St. Lawrence, which is the 
 next obje6l in the ftreet, is fmall, and almoft 
 choked up with houfes erected round it. The 
 eaft window is not ugly, but the church does 
 not contain a fingle object either of beauty or 
 antiquity. 
 
 Holy Rood Church, which (lands a little 
 lower down on the fame fide of the fl:reet, has 
 been much altered on the outfide, but does not 
 fcem ever to have been of elegant architedlure. 
 The weft window is deprived of its tracery, 
 and the tower, which is rather uncommonly 
 fituated at the fouth-weft angle of the church, 
 is void of beauty. The doors of the central 
 entrance are very neatly ornamented with 
 Gothic tracery, in a good ftyle, and well pre- 
 ferved. The colonnade which runs along the 
 E
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 tvhole front, is by the lower clafs of inhabi- 
 tants known by the name of the " Proclama- 
 tion." Probably on this fpot, clofe by the old 
 audit-houfe and market, the magiftrates pro- 
 claimed peace, war, or other public and official 
 notifications, which now are promulgated by 
 the lefs impreffive mode of printed papers af- 
 fixed to the walls of the principal public 
 buildings, and often confounded with common 
 advertifcments. In huftings eredled within 
 this portico, the poll is taken at eledlions of 
 members for the town. * ''^^^''' 
 
 The church within is large and handfome, 
 but its appearance is much injured by the or- 
 gan , and its loft, which totally ob{lru6\ the 
 view into the chancel. The nave and lide 
 ailes are very neatly ceiled in pannels, and the 
 rofes which ornament the interfedlionsof the 
 ribs appear neatly carved. At the fouth-weft 
 door there is a wooden fcreen of mixed 
 Gothic, of queen Elizabeth or James the Firft's 
 time, which is uncommonly well executed, and 
 of elegant defign. In the nave, dire6tly over 
 and oppofite the pulpit and defk, are two very 
 lingular long and narrow apertures in the fpan- 
 drils of the correfponding arches. The choir
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 formerly extended to them, and they received 
 the timbers of the rood-loft. 
 > The church had a regular choir, in the 
 manner of a collegiate ; a circumftance un- 
 ufual in parochial churches. This (ingularity 
 (which will alfo, be remarked in St. Michael's 
 church) was probably owing to their having 
 belonged to the priory of St. Dionyfius, whofe 
 monks, on great feftivals, would perform di- 
 vine fervice in them, with conliderable pomp.* 
 The churches of All Saints and St. Lawrence 
 alfo belonged to St. Dionyfius ; having been 
 
 * It is probable that there was some pprmanent choral 
 establishment at Southampton ; for in the will of the 
 illustrious William of Wykeham, a bequest of twenty 
 pounds (a very considerable sum at that period) is made 
 "Domino Johanni Kcton pra;ccntori ecclesiae Suthamp- 
 ton." It is not possible to ascertain, whether the pre- 
 centorship was attached to any particular church in the 
 town, or whether, by Ecclcsia, St. Mary's- was meant, in 
 opposition to Capella, by which we know that the four 
 churches, of St. Michael, Holy Rood, St. Lawrence, and 
 All Saints, were designated, in the charter of Henry the 
 Second. In the same will of William of Wykeham, a 
 vestment and chalice are left, "Ecclesias Beatas Maria: 
 Suthampton;" and twenty marks, for the repairs of their 
 church, to the prior and convent ** Sani^i Dyonisii juxta 
 Suthampton.".
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 &11 four given to that priory by the fame 
 charter of Henry II. Many of the ftalls yet 
 remain, fome in their places, and fome mixed 
 in the pews. They are of extremely neat 
 workmanfhip and pretty deiign, and on fcrolls 
 in different parts of them, the motto of the 
 munificent prelate Fox, bifhop of Winchefler, 
 " Efl Deo Gracia," remains, cut in a very 
 beautiful Gothic letter, in high relief. 
 
 The choir or prefent chancel extends be- 
 yond the fide ailes, and has handfome windovirs 
 on each lide, though thofe to the north are 
 now blocked up by houfes. The eafl window 
 is large, but, like the wefl window, is deprived 
 of its tracery. A few {battered fragments of 
 fine painted glafs appear in fomp of the win- 
 dows. Several modern monuments of the 
 Stanleys of Paul tons are fixed to the walls of 
 the choir; that to the memory of Mifs 
 Stanley, by Ryfbrack, is the only one worthy 
 notice. In the middle of the chancel flands a 
 handfome brafs eagle defk. The font, which 
 has been removed from its ancient place near 
 the church door, and now flands under the 
 organ loft, is diagonal, and adorned with 
 niches, in a neat though plain Gothic ftyle.
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 The conduit which ftands oppofitc the 
 church, is a modern and ugly building. The 
 fprings which fupply it are excellent : they 
 rife in the hill north of the town about a mile, 
 and unite at an ancient Hone conduit-houfe 
 juft under the Polygon, whence the water is 
 brought to the town by a leaden pipe. This 
 conduit is as ancient as the eighteenth year 
 of Edward I, and was made for the ufe of the 
 houfe of Friars Minors, fituated in the fouth- 
 eaftern part of the town. The water was for- 
 merly brought in earthen pipes, formed in 
 lengths of about eighteen inches, and fitting 
 into each other with a fhoulder or flanch. 
 They are ftill not unfrequently dug up in the 
 repairs of the pavement.* 
 
 * A more copious supply of water is now proposed to 
 be brought to the town, from springs on the highest parts 
 of the common, to the north of the town. The waters 
 of these are to be collected in a reservoir, which will be 
 at so high a level, as to allbrd an easy supply to every 
 house, as well above as below the Bar. The work is as 
 yet but little advanced ; in digging, however, on the 
 common, for the reservoir, several of those bronze instru- 
 ments, with an edge, and socket for a handle, not unlike 
 large chisels, and which have been usually known by the 
 name of Celts, hayc been found.
 
 ( 38 ) 
 
 In a houfe nearly oppolitc, and now inha- 
 bited by Mr. Hawes, is a large room with a 
 very handfome ceiling fluccoed in compart- 
 ments, of the date of Elizabeth. A houfe on 
 the left fide of the ftreet, dire6lly oppolite 
 to the Audit-houfe, has a low room on the 
 ground floor with a fluccoed ceiling in the 
 fame tafle with Mr. Hawes's ; and a large 
 fpace now occupied by a flaircafe and glafs- 
 ceiled parlour, but which once was a confider- 
 able hall, is decorated with a deep fluccoed 
 frieze of ara^efque foliage, and the arms of 
 queen Elizabeth and her initials, twice re- 
 peated. In this houfe, the occupier, Mrs. 
 Cowley, informed me (he remembered much 
 painted glafs, of which only a fmall fragment 
 now remains. 
 
 The Audit-houfe, which flands oppofite, on 
 the right fide of the flreet, is a new and hand- 
 fome edifice. In it the records, feals, and re- 
 galia of the corporation are kept. Of the re- 
 cords I can fay nothing, except that among 
 them there are feveral charters and books 
 which would repay the labour of the antiquary 
 who fhall infpe6t them. The feal of the cor- 
 poration is very ancient and curious. The 
 original obvcrfe, which is now difufed, and
 
 
 l.i,.ly 
 
 tf'oi 
 
 /hAAW,',/ ,ArM^ yfcY ,/u-^fc-tp J'^" /^^S^y 'j:iiaA^r S^utAam/,t^n..
 
 . ( 39 ) 
 
 nearly defaced by time and ruft, is of bell 
 metal, about three inches and a quarter in di- 
 ameter, and bears the impreffion of a fingle- 
 mailed (hip, on the fea, with the fail furled; 
 and a very high poop and forecaftle. On the 
 deck a figure feems (landing. Round it, in 
 a fair Roman charadler, is this legend, 
 
 SIGILLUM COMUNE VILLE SUTHAMTONIE. 
 
 There does not appear ever to have been any 
 armorial bearing whatever on this feal ; and 
 the device of a (hip feems to have been com- 
 mon, in early times, to all feaports. The 
 workmanfhip of this face of the feal feems to 
 have been very rude, but the letters are well 
 cut. 
 
 The reverfe of the feal is flill in ufe, and 
 bears a triple Gothic niche, of good defign. 
 In the centre compartment is the Virgin and 
 Child, in the lateral ones, two figures turned 
 refpedlfully towards the Virgin. All the 
 figures are (landing, and of confiderable ele- 
 gance in their attitudes and drapery. The 
 infcription round the edge is quite illegible 
 through age. 
 
 This face of the feal feems lefs ancient than 
 the obverfe. The obverfe now ufed is of fil- 
 vcr, and prefentcd to the town by private ge-
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 nerofity, in the year 1567. Its device is a 
 fhip of war, three-mafted and in full fail, bear- 
 ing on its mainfail the (hield of arms of the 
 town, party per fefle, argent and gales, 
 charged with three rofes, two gules in chief 
 and one argent in bafe. This bearing is not 
 probably more ancient than Henry VII, when 
 the hoftile rofes were united.* Round the 
 
 * Queen Elizabeth, in the seventeenth year of her reign, 
 granted arms to the town of Southampton, which are 
 registered in the Herald's Office, and blazoned as follows : 
 ^' Per fesse, silver and gules, three roses counter- 
 changed of the field. The crest and supporters hereafter 
 following, that is to say, upon the helme, on a wreath 
 of silver and gules, on a mount vert, a castell of gold ; but 
 of the castell, a quene in her imperial majestie, holding in 
 the right hand the sword of justice ; in the left, the 
 balance of equitie, mantellcd gules ; dobled silver." 
 
 *' The supporters ; out of two ships proper upon the 
 sea, standing in the forepart of the ships, two lions 
 rampant, gold." 
 
 In the patent, it is declared, that the town had borne 
 arms long before. 
 
 It does not appear that the town ever made use of the 
 cumbrous pomp of crest and supporters, thus added by 
 Elizabeth, to the simple and beautiful coat of arms of the 
 town, and they probably exist only in the Herald's Office, 
 and in a drawing preserved in the Audit-house. The an- 
 cient bearing of the arms on the sail of a (hip, perhaps,
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 edge, siGiLLUM commune vill^e south- 
 AMTONiiE. The whole is of bold relief and 
 good work. 
 
 There is alfo a very fair filver feal, exa6lly 
 two inches in diameter, now ufed as the ad- 
 miralty feal. Its bearing is a (hip fingle- 
 mafted, and with the fail furled, neatly and 
 boldly cut : on one fide of the maft a cref- 
 cent, on the other a ftar, and lower down a 
 large rofe. The infcription is in a very fine 
 Gothic characfter, and runs thus, " Sigillum 
 Majoratus Ville Suthamtone. Beves." 
 
 The mention of Bevis is fingular, as it does 
 not appear what connexion his name can have 
 with the feal. The form of the letters and 
 ftyle of the work indicate the feal not to be 
 
 F 
 
 suggested the ships as supporters to the lions ; and the lions 
 themselves are not unlikely connected with those which 
 now guard the Bar-gate. The crest was no doubt a com- 
 pliment of the " Queen's Majestic" to herself. For the 
 copy of the grant of arms, as well as many other articles 
 of curious information, I am happy to acknowledge my 
 obligation to Arthur Hammond, esq, of the town of 
 Southampton ; whose attention has been long and suc- 
 cessfully engaged by the history and antiquities of hie 
 native place.
 
 ( 42 ) 
 
 more ancient than the reign of Henry IV. 
 or v.* 
 
 There are fix filver maces : two lafge gilt 
 modern ones, and four fmall and ancient. 
 The moft curious of thefe is probably as old as 
 Henry Vlf. It is only fixteen inches in 
 
 * Three other seals, of brass or bell metal, are kept 
 among the archives, though now not used. The most 
 ancient of these is rather more than an inch and three 
 quarters in diameter. Its bearing is a crowned head, full 
 faced, with flowing hair, and a very youthful appearance. 
 The neck to the shoulders is bare, and the robe comes 
 straight in front, like the old fashion of women's boddice. 
 On the breast is a castle or tower ; and on each side of 
 the head, a lion passant guardant, as if standing on the 
 shoulders of the figure : the head of each lion is towards 
 the face of the figure. The whole is in bold relief, and 
 not ill cut. Round it, in Saxon capitals, runs the follow- 
 ing inscription : S EDWARDI REG ANGLIE P RE- 
 COGNICONE DEBITORV APVD SVTHT. It has 
 a ring on the back by way of handle, and on the back is 
 cut, in a careless manner, but in chara6lers which look 
 ancient, ADMIRAL. 
 
 The " recognitiones debitorum," for the authentication 
 of which this seal was designed, were evidently those en- 
 tered into under the statute of A6lon-Bumel, of the eleventh 
 of Edward the First, and usually known by the name of 
 Statute Merchant. For the security of foreign mer- 
 chants trading to England, the lands, as well as the chat-
 
 IhhUsk^d CLP i/ie ^^od e&T'ecij- yon.. /tfC^S Sy 7' /Ja^er Ji" Jon SoiUA^ttnJtJviL.
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 length : it has a fmall head with a crown fup- 
 ported by three fitting lions, and above that, 
 an open ornament of five femioval leaves, like 
 the ancient maces of arms : on the top is en- 
 graved a rofe, the badge of the town : the 
 lower end is a large ornamented pommel, with 
 
 tels of their debtors, were solemnly pledged to them by 
 deed, sealed with the seal of the debtor, and also with the 
 king's seal, to be affixed by the mayor or chief wardens 
 of such town as the king should appoint The work* 
 manship of this seal, its perfect preservation, and its 
 destination, render it a most curious and valuable remain 
 of antiquity. 
 
 A seal nearly similar to this, but apparently of inferior 
 work, is engraved in Milner's History of Winchester, as 
 the seal of that city ; which, however, it certainly was not 
 originally; being provided under the statutes de Merca- 
 toribus, for the express purpose of sealing recognizances, 
 as its legend shows. 
 
 The next in antiquity, is an inch and a quarter in 
 diameter, and is charged with a leopard's head, full faced, 
 and open mouthed, with a fleur de lys on each side of it j 
 above the head are two small roses, and below it two 
 more. The whole is enclosed in an irregular six-foiled 
 tracery, of very pretty design, but ill cut. Round the 
 seal runs the following inscription, in a Gothic charadler: 
 )iSinu: officii: siapuHe: Wtte: 'Sbtirliatnptonii ; This seal has 
 an upright handle.
 
 ( ^4 ) 
 
 England and France quarterly chafed on it. 
 The other three ancient maces are made on the 
 model of this, but not nearly fo old : One of 
 thefe was not many years fince carried before 
 the mayorefs, on all occafions when (he ap- 
 peared with her hufband in form, as in going 
 to church, &c ; on which occafions fhc wore a 
 fcarlet robe or gown. 
 
 .This seal is as it were the counterpart of the first. 
 Edward the Third, following the example of his illustrious 
 grandfather, in the twenty-seventh year of his reign, ex- 
 tended the advantages and encouragement granted to 
 merchants by the Statute of Merchants of Edward the 
 First, by the Statute of Staples. This statute begins by 
 enacting, that the commerce of wool, leather, and lead, 
 shall be carried on at certain toArns, called Staple Towns, 
 of which several are not sea-ports, but to each of these 
 inland staples a port is assigned for entries. It is also 
 enadled, that in each staple there shall be a seal kept by 
 the mayor of the staple. Winchester is one of the staple 
 towns appointed by this a6l, and Southampton is its port. 
 The advantages resulting to commerce from the establish- 
 ment of these oflices of staple, it is foreign to this work 
 to detail. Blackstone and Reeves will furnish ample in- 
 formation. ^ 
 
 The alteration of style in the interval of seventy years, 
 which elapsed between the cutting of these two seals, is 
 remarkable. The age of the first Edward has very 
 much the advantage.
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 The lilver oar, the badge of the maritime 
 jurifdi^lion of the mayor (which is very exten- 
 five, reaching not only over the whole South- 
 ampton water, but half channel over from 
 Hurft caftle to Hayling ifland), is modern, and 
 not handfome. The iii^ord of ftate is very an- 
 cient and curious. It is one of the vaft 
 two-handed weapons of our anceftors, with a 
 
 It may not be improper here to add, that although 
 the jurisdi6tion of the staple is now totally obsolete, yet 
 the mayor of the town is annually eledted mayor of the 
 staple ; and a ponstable of the staple, and a weigher of 
 wool, are annually appointed, as is cnafted in the Statute 
 de Stapullls, chapter 21. 
 
 The third seal is nearly an inch and three quarters in 
 diameter, and bears a shield of the form used in Henry 
 the Eighth's time, with a fesse or between three roses, 
 two and one. These were probably the arms of the town 
 at the time when this seal was cut, tliough different from 
 the arms of Southampton now borne, which in this pre- 
 sent form were granted by quecq Elizabeth. On the 
 sides ef the shield are a Roman H and a tun, the usual 
 device for Hampton. There i.s no inscription. On the back 
 of this Seal is cut, ADMIRAL, in the same character, 
 and apparently by the same hand as that before mentioned. 
 
 The mayor on all public occasions wears a very hand- 
 some gold chain, which, with its medallion, was presented 
 to the corporation by Bercher B^ril, esq, senior bailiff 
 in 1792. Previous to that time, no. chain was worn.
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 very fine blade four feet four inches in length, 
 and two inches wide. The guard is of iron 
 (now gilt), one foot and a half long ; and the 
 hilt is likewife one foot and a half, with a large 
 iron pommel. In the council chamber is 
 hung up a good carving of the arms of Eng- 
 land in wood, fupported by a dragon and 
 greyhound. Under the coat is a portcullis, 
 and a pomegranate, or fome fruit fimilar to it, 
 and over the crown are two angels hovering. 
 It fcems of the age of Henry VII. There is 
 alfo a carving of the arms of Winchefter, quar- 
 tered with bifhop Fox*s pelican, and his motto, 
 Eft Deo Gracia." 
 
 Towards the ftreet there is a very large and 
 handfome room for public meetings. 
 
 The groqnd-floor is open, and, with a large 
 area behind it, forms a neat and commodious 
 market, which is as well fupplied as that of any 
 town in England. 
 
 A little lower down, on the fame fide, ftands 
 a very old houfe, the parfonage of Holy Rood 
 church, with a curious fluccoed front, covered 
 with ornaments. In three fquare tablets ap- 
 pear, in the centre one the feathers of the 
 Prince of Wales, and on each fide a rofe 
 crowned with a clofe crown. The ftyle of
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 thefe ornaments does not allow us to fuppofe 
 them later than the reign of Henry VIII : 
 they are perhaps ftill older. The long dura- 
 tion of this ftucco is curious. 
 
 The door of entrance of this houfe, with its 
 hinges and iron ring, is very ancient ; and in 
 the fpandrils of the door-cafe are cut, in an 
 ancient Gothic letter, 3IefU0, W^lia* 
 
 A little lower down, on the left fide of the 
 ftreet, is an old conduit, with a ftone front ; 
 and clofe adjoining is, or rather was, the re- 
 main of a buttrefs, and fome good Gothic 
 niche-work, which feems to have adorned the 
 conduit, or elfe was a part of the friary, which 
 occupied a large fpace of ground, on a part of 
 which Gloucefter-fquare is now built, and 
 probably in fome meafure with the materials 
 of the old friary. 
 
 On another part of its lite is eredled a vaft 
 fquare building, which is a very confpicuous 
 obje(5l from the lower part of the town. Its 
 original defignation was a fugar refinery, but 
 the projedt failed ; and it has fince been a 
 military hofpital, the fcene of dreadful mor- 
 tality,' from a malignant dyfentery which raged 
 in it ; it now is ufed as a warehoufe for the 
 vafl quantities of Spanifh wool, which by Jirefs
 
 ( *s ) 
 
 of weather are landed here every year.* Hu- 
 man bones are found, in digging for founda- 
 tions, over the whole fite of the friary. 
 
 This religious houfe was founded in the 
 year 1240. 
 
 Quite at the bottom of the ftreet on the left, 
 is a large mafs of ftone buildings, now con- 
 verted into warehoufes, with vaft vaults under 
 them. As there are fevcral handfome Gothic 
 doors in this building, it does not feem proba- 
 ble that it was originally deftined for that 
 ufe, to which, however, it has been long ap- 
 plied. This building extends far into Win- 
 kle-flreet, and is feparated from the Water- 
 gate by a narrow paflage, covered overhead by 
 a very old timber houfe, which it is now in 
 contemplation to take down, together with 
 the Water-gate mentioned before. Oppofite 
 to this paflage is a very old conduit, built 
 
 * England and Spain were at war when this was writ- 
 ten, and the commerce for wool was carried on in neutral 
 vessels, mostly Hamburgers or Prussians, who cleared 
 out from Spain for their own ports, but under pretence of 
 damage at sea, put into English harbours, and unloaded 
 their valuable cargoes. The greater part of this trade was 
 carried on at Southampton.
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 againft the town wall, with a floping roof of 
 hewn ftone. In the old houfe near this con- 
 duit, and now a carpet manufadlory, the free- 
 fchool founded by Edward VI. was originally 
 lodged. 
 
 At the end of the warehoufes juft men- 
 tioned, in Winkle-fireet, a round arched gate- 
 way, with an old turret over it, opens into the 
 court of the Maifon Dieu, or God's Houfe, 
 founded by two merchants, brothers, in the 
 reign of Henry III. It was by Edward III. 
 given to Queen's College, founded by his con- 
 fort Philippa, with which it to this day re- 
 mains. The chapel is very ancient, but has 
 been fo defaced by repair, that few traces of its 
 original form are vifible.* An old porch 
 walled up is juft dilcernible in Winkle-ftreet. 
 The lodgings of the inmates of the hofpital 
 
 G 
 
 * In this chapel, the Lords Cambridge and Masham, 
 and Sir Thomas Grey, who were beheaded for a conspi- 
 racy against Henry the Fifth, just bofore he sailed from 
 hence for France, were buried, and a tablet was placed, 
 commemorative of them, by the late earl of Delawar, but 
 there is no ancient memorial of them.
 
 ( 50 ) 
 
 have flat-headed windows of a rather un- 
 common form. 
 
 Returning back to the Water-gate, at the 
 bottom of the High-ftreet, on the right hand, 
 we enter Porters'-Iane ; which is fo narrow 
 and clofed by overhanging old houfes, that it 
 is difficult to view the front of a very con- 
 liderable and moft curious edifice, which has 
 much the appearance of having been a mag- 
 nificent dwelling or palace. The extent of its 
 front to the Hreet is one hundred and eleven 
 feet, and its height feventeen feet. It is di- 
 vided into two flories by a femicircular fafcia 
 or cord ; the low^r flory being ten, and the 
 upper feven feet high. In the lower or 
 ground floor, two doors, with flat arches of 
 fegments of circles, are difcernible ; which are 
 irregularly placed ; but the upper flory is per- 
 fedlly regular, excepting one fmaller window 
 at the wefl end ; and is pierced with a noble 
 triple window in the centre, with two very 
 handfome ones, of rather lefTer lize, on each 
 fide. Of the central window only two divi- 
 fions now remain, but there can be fcarcely a 
 doubt that it was triple, as otherwife it would 
 be irregularly placed with refpe6^ to the la- 
 teral windows ; whereas, under that fuppo-
 
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 { 51 ) 
 
 fition, the whole defign is perfe^lly uniform. 
 
 Thefe central openings probably went down 
 
 to the floor, and formed as it were an open 
 
 portico in the middle of the room. Their 
 
 arch is a very little flatter than a femicircle. 
 
 The fide windows had double femicircular- 
 
 headed lights, in the ufual flyle of the Saxon 
 
 or Norman windows ; but the flat elliptical 
 
 arch enclofing them is very lingular. Thefe 
 
 windows have a very flat fegment arch within; 
 
 and the angles of the opening are finifhed 
 
 with a very neat little column, quite in the 
 
 flyle of the early Gothic, with the rib peculiar 
 
 to that flyle, running down the front of each 
 
 column. The capitals are neatly carved with 
 
 hanging leaves, in the fame early Gothic ftyle. 
 
 Thefe pillars and their capitals certainly lead 
 
 to a fufpicion, either that this building is not 
 
 of fo high antiquity as the exterior front would 
 
 warrant our fuppoflng it to be, or that they 
 
 were additions of a later date than the original 
 
 edifice, which is by no means improbable : but 
 
 in buildings of this early date, it is not eafy to 
 
 fix the period of their erection, with any pre- 
 
 cifion. The mouldings of the whole exterior 
 
 front are quite in the manner of the early 
 
 Saxon, being all imitated from the Roman ar-
 
 ( 52 ) 
 
 chite6lure. The impoft of the central window 
 is compofed of an aflragal and caveito, with a 
 fquare fillet : thofe of the fide windows are a 
 cavetto.and fillet: and in both, the fillet is 
 detached from the cavetto by a fingular angular 
 groove or channel, which has a very good efl^edl. 
 The principal dimenfions are as follow : 
 Central windows, each, high, feven feet feven 
 
 inches ; wide, from out to out, five feet 
 
 five inches : 
 The rife of the arch is two feet fix inches and 
 
 a half: 
 The pier between them, wide, two feet two 
 
 inches : 
 The lateral windows, high, five feet ; and wide, 
 
 four feet ten inches, from out to out : 
 The rife of the arch is nineteen inches and a 
 
 half: 
 The double lights, one foot fix inches wide; 
 
 and four feet two inches high : 
 The pier between them, eight inches wide : 
 The opening of the window within, high, five 
 
 feet five inches ; and wide, fix feet : 
 
 the arch rifes only ten inches : 
 The fmaller fingle window at the weft end, 
 
 high, five feet feven inches ; and wide, 
 
 three feet.
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 The room within does not appear to have 
 been ever divided ; but it is fo defaced by mo- 
 dern additions and repairs, that it is fcarcely 
 poflible to fpeak with certainty on the fubjedl. 
 Its breadth within the walls is fixteen feet 
 eight inches ; fo that it appears to have been a 
 fort of gallery. The wall is two feet nine 
 inches thick. In the weflern gable there is a 
 double-headed window, nearly of the fame 
 form with thofe in the front, but of fmaller 
 dimenlions. What remains of the mafonry 
 without, is mod fingularly neat, and compofed 
 of the fmall ftones ufed in general by the 
 Saxon and Norman architects, with courfes of 
 nearly equal thicknefs throughout ; a nicety 
 to which the later architedls feem fcarcely ever 
 to have attended. / 
 
 The angles of every part or the buildings 
 are chamfered off, even to the exterior angles 
 of the walls of the front ; and in the great 
 central windows the chamfer is rounded, fo as 
 to give the jamb fomething of the appearance 
 of a quarter column. It may be here obfcrved, 
 that in the infide front of the lateral windows, 
 the arch above the little columns is left fquare ; 
 which may confirm the fufpicion that thefe de- 
 corationsj which certainly are not of the flyle
 
 ( 54 ) . 
 
 of the reft of the building, were added at a 
 later time. 
 
 No trace, I believe, remains, of the original 
 defignation of this building; but I cannot help 
 fufpe6ling that it is more ancient than the 
 Conqueft, and perhaps a part of the royal pa- 
 lace inhabited by the Saxon and Danifh fove- 
 reigns, who certainly refided occafionally in 
 this town. Its vicinity to the wall, which now 
 chokes up and obftru6ts its profpe6l and light, 
 is no obje6lion to this fuppofition, as the wall 
 and Water-gate are much lefs ancient than 
 this edifice. 
 
 Immediately adjoining to this very c6rious 
 building, we come to another of almoft equal 
 antiquity, but in a very ihattered ftate. This 
 building forms the fouth-eaft angle of French- 
 ftreet, which runs parallel with the High or 
 Englifh Street, up to St. Michael's church. 
 The fouth-weft angle of this ftreet is formed 
 by a large and plain ftone building, with a high 
 pointed window over its door, which has much 
 the appearance of a chapel. There is not, I 
 believe, any certain memorial of its original 
 deftination ; but it was not improbably the 
 chapel of an hofpital for lepers, dedicated to 
 St. Mary Magdalene, but long before the dif-
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 fblution annexed to the priory of St. Dionyfius. 
 The arched timber-work of the roof (till fub- 
 fifts. It is now ufed as a warehoufe. 
 
 Proceeding up this ftreet (or northwards), 
 the next object worthy notice is the free- 
 fchool, founded by Edward VI, but many years 
 after removed from Winkle-ftreet to its prefent 
 lite, which was an ancient manfion known by 
 the name of Weft-hall. The dining-room is a 
 very handfome room, with a richly carved 
 Gothic chimney-piece, and a row of window* 
 behind a wooden arcade of a Angular form. 
 The ceiling is of ftucco, in compartments. 
 The whole of this room is at leaft as old as th 
 reign of Henry VIII. 
 
 Nearly oppoftte to the fchool is the church- 
 yard of the now deftroyed church of St. John, 
 whofe parifh is incorporated with that of St. 
 Lawrence. The area of the church is ftill 
 difcernible, and the churchyard was probably 
 formerly much more extenfive than it now is ; . 
 reaching quite to the High-flreet, along Broad- 
 lane ; as in digging on the premifes occupied 
 by a cork-cutter, forming the fouth angle of 
 Broad-lane in the High-llreet, human bones 
 have been difcovered.
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 A little higher up is the remain of a very 
 ancient building,* which at lead three centu- 
 ries ago has undergone an alteration. This 
 is apparent by the flat-headed arch, inlerted 
 into and partly breaking a very handfome plain 
 femicircular one. The ground-floor of this 
 building is a very large cellar now ufed for 
 coals. Nearly oppofite to this, are very old 
 wooden buildings, called St. John's Hofpital, 
 in which are feveral doors with carvings in the 
 fpandrils of their flat-arched heads.-|- Being 
 now arrived at St. Michael's-fquare, we will 
 return back into Porter's-lane, and by it, en- 
 ter Bugle-flreetjJ which runs parallel to 
 
 * This building is called the Weigh-house, where pro- 
 bably merchandises were weighed, under the inspedVion 
 of the mayor of the staple and the customer of the port; 
 both for the ascertaining the amount of the customs, and 
 preventing frauds or disputes between buyer and seller. 
 
 + Since this was written, these buildings are demolished, 
 and their site is at present occupied by a handsome theatre. 
 
 J Bugle is the ancient name of the bull, and is much 
 in use in this part of England. In Newport town in the 
 Isle of Wight, the principal inn has a bull for its sign, 
 and is called the Bugle Inn. The small hunting horn so 
 much now in use in our army, under the name of the 
 bugle, though at present made of metal, was without 
 doubt, originally, simply a bull's horn.
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 French-ftrcet, and alfo terminates in St. 
 Michael's-fquare. 
 
 The firfl thing obfervable here is a building 
 whofe front is in Porter's-lane, and whofe 
 long flank runs on the right hand (looking 
 northward) up Bugle-ftreet. This is a folid 
 Hone edifice, with a plain front, much lefs 
 ancient than the three very lingular femi- 
 cylindrical flone buttrefles in the fide. Thefe 
 buttreflts are well built, and appear to be con- 
 flru(^ed with a view to uncommon ftrength. 
 It feeems probable that this is one of the an- 
 cient warehoufes of the great merchants of 
 this place, famous of old for its commerce. 
 It may here be obferved, that in every part of 
 the town there are vaft flone vaults, mofl: of 
 them apparently of great antiquity, and con- 
 H 
 
 Perhaps I may be pardoned for here observing, that 
 one of the most ancient Welch musical instruments, called 
 the Pib-corn or Pipe-horn, Avhich is formed of a flute, 
 with a mouth-piece not unlike that of the clarionet, 
 inserted into a large horn which forms a trumpet-like 
 termination to it, is still recorded by us in the favourite 
 popular dance called the Hornpipe ; and tbe sweetness 
 of its tones have to this day maintained its use in Italy, 
 under the name of Corno Iiigleee.
 
 ( 58 ) 
 
 flru(^ed when this place pofTefTed almoft a 
 monopoly of the French wine trade. 
 
 The ground oppofite to this edifice is only 
 of late years built on, and was known by the 
 name of " the Gravel." When we recolle6i; 
 that this is fynonymous to^The Beach, it feems 
 to countenance a fufpicion, that this part of the 
 town was open to the fea until a late period. 
 
 Clofe adjoining to the lingular building juft 
 mentioned, there is a long wall, in which are 
 fevcral doors and windows of different anti- 
 quity, apparently blocked up at different periods 
 of repair. Among them is a fmall fragment of 
 a very handfome Gothic window. This wall 
 now enclofes the play-ground of the fchool. 
 
 A little higher up on the left, and forming 
 the angle with Wefl-gate-flreet, is Bugle hall, 
 of old the fpacious refidence of the earls of 
 Southampton, till lately a very fine and ancient 
 houfe, but dcflroyed a few years fince by fire. 
 Almoft oppofite to it is an old timber and 
 jftuccoed houfe, with the plume of feathers, the 
 cognizance of the princes of Wales, in its front.* 
 
 * In Westgate-sfreet, and very near the gate, on the 
 QOrth side, are premises still bearing the nam6 of the 
 Linen-hall and Tin-cellar. Tin appears to have been a
 
 ( 59 ) 
 
 St. Michaers-fqiiare to which we are now 
 again arrived, merits a particular defcription. 
 It was formerly the fifh-market, and was 
 choked up by a building in its centre, where 
 the market was held. It is obfervable, that 
 the (pace between the Caflle and St. Michael's 
 church anciently united thofe (hops mofl ne- 
 ceflary to life ; Simnel-flreet, Butcher-row, 
 and the fifh-market : a proof that the town 
 firft grew under the prote<5\ion of the Caflle. 
 
 To return to the fquare. On its wcftern 
 fide, and dire6lly fronting the church, is a very 
 large and ancient houfe of timber and flucco. 
 It confifts of two floors, befides the garrets in 
 its gables. Each ftory overhangs confide rably, 
 and the projections are ornamented with hand- 
 Ibme cornices. Little pillars fiipporting light 
 femi-arched ribs, run up the front of each 
 
 very great article of commerce at Southampton, even so 
 late as the reign of Henry VI, who once seized and sold 
 to his own use all the tin lying at Southampton. Sec 
 Cotton's Posthumous Works. The records of the town 
 also bear evidence of the importance of the tin trade, 
 which was so extensive as to have a separate office for the 
 receipt of the duties payable ort it. This office was held 
 (say the records) " at the great house next to Holy Rood 
 church." From the information of A. Hammond, esq.
 
 ( 60 ) 
 
 flory, forming the whole into regular compart- 
 ments. There are four gables of different 
 breadths, and correfponding to each is a large 
 window ; three of them with curved heads, 
 and the fourth flat. The lower point of union 
 of thefe gables has a long and handfome pen- 
 dent ornament ; and very flat arches run from 
 pendent to pendent, in the fpandrils of which 
 broom pods feem to be carved, the favourite 
 badge of the Plantagenets. The gables above 
 have been modernifed. At the north end of 
 this front is a large wooden porch, with a An- 
 gular projedtion of the next flory over the door, 
 fupported by a very flat femi-arch. In this 
 porch there is fome rude carving. The inte- 
 rior of this houfe is modernifed, but there re- 
 mains in one of the great windows fome curi- 
 ous and very old painted glafs. Many of the- 
 panes have each a bird performing different 
 offices and functions of human life, as foldiers, 
 handicrafts, muficians, &c. On the ground- 
 floor behind the houfe is a large room, now 
 quite modern, but which tradition fays was a 
 chapel. As it flands north and fouth, it was 
 more probably a great hall. The age of this 
 very venerable and beautiful edifice can fcarce- 
 ly be lefs than four hundred years; and the
 
 ( 61 ) 
 
 wood-work fhows high antiquity; as it is, 
 without rottennefs, quite perifhed by age. 
 
 On the north fide of the fquare is a mafs of 
 wooden houfes, now very mean, but in which 
 great marks of antiquity may yet be traced. 
 One door-way with a highly pointed wooden 
 arch is obfervable; and under a part of thefe 
 are very capacious vaults. 
 
 On the fouth fide of the fquare nothing oc- 
 curs worthy notice, excepting a handfome 
 plain fcmicircular arch, in a building in the 
 narrow alley which runs from the fquare into 
 French-flreet, and infulates the church.* 
 
 The church itfelf, which forms the eaftern 
 fide of the fquare, is a very curious one, and 
 by much the mofi ancient of any in the town. 
 The weft front has a large window deprived of 
 its tracery. On each fide of this, the Saxon 
 mafonry of the original front is flill difcerni- 
 
 * This arch, together with a smaller arch to the west of it, 
 were probably a part of the wool hall, which extended from 
 them quite to Bngle-street. The low and ancient wooden- 
 fronted houses were ero6ted on its site, and still in the ter- 
 rar of the town are called by the name of the Woollen, 
 hall. They were all originally one large mansion. For 
 this information 1 am indebted to A. Hammond, esq.
 
 ( 62 ) 
 
 ble. In the eaftern front the fame mafonry is 
 alfo vifible, together with a fragment of the 
 little angular column which occurs fo fre- 
 quently in Saxon buildings, and a fmall mor- 
 fei of a billeted moulding. The length of 
 the church from eaft to weft, and the breadth 
 of the nave, are unaltered; but two large fide 
 ailes have been added, or rather the original 
 ones have been taken down and enlarged. In 
 the north aile are two handfome highly point- 
 ed windows. The centre eaft window is alfo 
 very large and handfome, with tracery of ra- 
 ther a late ftyle of Gothic, and fragments of 
 extremely good painted glafs. The tower, 
 which rifes from the centre of the church, 
 is low, and quite plain. A very neat ftone 
 {pire, of very pleafing proportion and confider- 
 able height, has been added within about lixty 
 years. 
 
 The nave, with its fide ailes, as far as the 
 tower, is the only part of the church ufed at 
 prefent for the ordinary divine fervice. It is 
 feparated from the more eaftern part by an 
 open fcreen of ancient Gothic, of very good 
 defign. The old Saxon columns have been, 
 every other one, taken away; and handfome 
 pointed arches, of confiderable fpan, turned
 
 f-^t^fl J"^' 
 
 7 
 
 / 
 
 Mi^it^/tt/ as t/tf ^-Ict^ t/irectJ- <7ari:': /fiOS f>y 'I'/inA-ri- Sou/Aarn/i/a/.
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 ^ver the remaining ones. Their capitals have 
 a fmall fluting on them, of a defign common 
 in that ftyle of architedlure. 
 
 The tower ftands on four plain and ftrong 
 femicircular arches, without any fort of orna- 
 ment, except a very finali import moulding. 
 The bells are rung ort the ground, and the 
 area of the tower now makes a fingular fort 
 of veftibule to the chancel, which is open to 
 the fide ailes by large arches, and divided from 
 them below by open wooden fcreens. A con- 
 fiderable number of plain ftalls flill flands in 
 the chancel, and many more have been re- 
 moved, and now ftand in other parts of the 
 church. A handfome brafs eagle defk, which 
 belonged to the ancient choir, alio remains. 
 The choir f>robably extended under the tower, 
 as far as the fcreen before mentioned. 
 
 In the northern chapel, which is parted 
 from the fide aile by a beautiful open Gothic 
 fcreen, is a handlbme monument to the me- 
 mory of the lord chancellor Wriothefley, and 
 a large and coftly (landing ^hefl, carved and 
 inlaid, and ftatcd by an infcription on its front, 
 to have been given, with the books in it, by 
 John Clungeon. The infcription is as fol- 
 lows :
 
 ( 64 ) 
 
 " John the Sonne of John Clungcon of this 
 towne Alderman 
 
 " Ere(5led this prefle and gave certain books 
 who died anno l646." 
 
 The books are however now gone, and the 
 furplices, &c, are kept in the cheft. 
 
 In the flank of the north window, oppofite 
 the tomb of Wriothefley, is a fquare funk pan- 
 nel with a fhield, and a fingular monogram 
 cut in relief in it. A monogram of the fame 
 fort occurs on a ftone on the almihoufes in St. 
 Mary's churchyard. Thefe are given in the 
 plate of the title, and to them is added ano- 
 ther, cut on a very rich Gothic ftone chimney- 
 piece at Romfey. Thefe monograms were 
 evidently the marks of traders and merchants, 
 and occur not unfrequently on the tradefmen's 
 tokens. So much would not have been faid 
 on their fubje(5l, did they not illuflratc a paf- 
 fage in that moft curious poem called Pierce 
 the Ploughman's Creed, and which Mr. War- 
 ton feems to have mifunderftood. (See Hif- 
 tory of Englifti Poetry, vol. i. p. 301.)* The 
 
 m 
 
 * Mr. Warton, in his additions and corre6lions annexed 
 to the third volume of the History of English Poetry, cor-. 
 re6ls the mistake here alluded to.
 
 { 65 ) 
 
 author defcribing a magnificent church of the 
 friars preachers, fays, 
 
 " Wyde wyndowes ywrought ywriten ful thikke 
 " Shynen with shapen sheldes to sliewen aboute, 
 *' With merkes of merchauntes ymedeled betwene." 
 
 In this defcription of a window adorned 
 with memorials of benefadlors, the " merkes of 
 merchauntes* evidently mean monograms of 
 this nature, ufed by thofe who had no right to 
 bear arms, to commemorate their munificence : 
 and as the houfes of the mendicant orders were 
 moftly built by general contribution, thefe 
 marks were very chara6ieriftic of their con- 
 vents. The abbeys of the feveral orders of 
 monks, foinded in general by the devotion 
 of a monarch or fome opulent baron, would 
 for that reafon have few armorial or other 
 bearings in their windows, befide thofe of the 
 founder and his family. 
 
 The fouthern chapel, which has a plain 
 Gothic fcreen in front, and a window to the 
 eafl, of an uncdmmon though late Gothic 
 form, now contains the font ; which is a moft 
 curious and highly ancient one, much refem- 
 bling that in the cathedral of Winchefier. It 
 
 I
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 confifts of a block of black marble, three feet 
 four inches fquare, and one foot fix inches 
 deep, fupported in its centre by a cylinder of 
 the fame material, ornamented with horizontal 
 rings, fo as much to refemble a barrel ; and at 
 each angle by a plain pillar of white Hone, of 
 one foot fix inches high, and about fix inches 
 in diameter. The whole ftands on another 
 marble block, three feet fquare, and about {cwcn 
 inches deep, out of which are cut bafes for the 
 fmall columns, confining of a flat ring on a 
 large round cufhion. Thefe refl on a plain 
 fquare plinth of about three inches high. A 
 plain leaf falls from the bafes of the columns, 
 on each angle of the plinth. 
 The top ftone is excavated into a hemifphe- 
 rical bafon, two feet fix inches in diameter, 
 round which runs a fcroll of foliage, of very 
 rude execution, but not bad defign ; and 
 the angles are filled with an imitation of 
 the ancient ornament now generally called the 
 honey-fuckle. A deep groove runs round the 
 edge of the bafon, to receive the cover ; and 
 the irons which locked it down yet remain. 
 In early times the font was (hut with peculiar 
 care, lefi: the confecrated water fhould be pro- 
 faned, or ftolen for magical purpofes.
 
 ( 67 ) 
 
 The fides of the block, of which three only 
 are now vifible, as the font ftands againfi the 
 wall, are each divided into three circular com- 
 partments, with a fort of winged monfter in 
 each, fomething like a gryphon ; except one, 
 which has an angel in a long robe of linen, 
 covered with a fhorter tunic. His hands are 
 folded on his heart, and round his head is the 
 nimbus or glory. Behind his fhoulders are 
 two wings, which reach to his feet. Thefe 
 fides are one foot one inch and a half deep ; 
 and the remaining four inches and a half of 
 the thicknefs of the block, fiope away to the 
 central cylinder, in a fort of fluting or broad 
 leaves, now much defaced. The workman- 
 fhip of the whole is in the very rudefi: ftyle of 
 Saxon fculpture. 
 
 It is curious to obfervc the cffeS. of time on 
 the black marble of which this font is com- 
 pofed. A vein Icfs hard than the reft runs 
 through one front, and it is quite honey- 
 combed by age, although it probably has 
 always flood under cover. 
 
 Near this chapel is the fouth door of the 
 church ; which has a fcreen before it, with 
 a neat wooden door-cafe, and Gothic capitals 
 cut in the fpandrils. In the wall of the tower
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 oppofite this door, is a low ornamented Gothic 
 arch for a tomb ; but rubbifli is acctimulated 
 about itj fo as to hide the tomb-ftone, if there 
 is any. 
 
 Oppofite the weft door of St. Michaers 
 church, and clofe by the porch of the large 
 wooden houfe before defcribed, a very narrow 
 and winding alley, called Blue-anchor-lane, 
 leads, with a quick defcent, to the fmall poft- 
 ern before defcribed in the furvey of the wall. 
 On each hand are ancient Saxon buildings. 
 The late Blue-anchor alehoufe has a good arch 
 in it, and on the left hand we fee the fide wall 
 of that edifice whofe front in the town wall 
 was before defcribed. In this fide wall is a 
 flat-arched door, and above, a double window 
 divided by a column, like thofe in the front ; 
 and near it, a projection of the wall, fupported 
 by plain fquare corbel fl;ones, which contains 
 the flue of a chimney. The infide of this 
 l:)uilding is well worth viewing. The accefs to 
 it is by a great modern breach in the front of 
 the arches in the town wall. When within it, 
 we find that there has been a floor dividing it 
 into two fiories ; to the upper one of which, 
 the chinrineyjuft mentioned, belonged. This 
 has a very neat fireplace, of excellent mafonry.
 
 Ni^/4:^Ad a.Fj/,^ A(^ du-fc/^Jan^' /,90S^V TSaAen ySoiOAAmfiton..
 
 ( 69 ) 
 
 adorned with a fmall column on each fide, 
 from which the mantle-pjece rofe in a flat 
 arch. The funnel is carried up in a conical 
 form, and the flue is cylindrical. The exte- 
 rior dimenfions of this edifice, which was very 
 nearly fquare, are as follow : 
 The front to the fea, fifty-one feet three 
 
 inches : 
 Front in Blue-anchor-lane, forty-eight feet 
 nine inches; 
 
 Simnel-ftreet, which leads from the Bridle- 
 gate to the upper end of French-ftreet, de- 
 ferves notice for its name ; which is probably 
 derived from the rich cake feafoned high with 
 fafFron, a favourite dainty of our anceftors, and 
 not quite out of fafhion in Shropfhire; and 
 which was perhaps principally fold in this 
 ftreet. 
 
 In an obfcure alehoufe in this ftreet, called 
 the Queen Charlotte, is a room fitted up with 
 handfome wainfcot of the age of Elizabeth ; 
 and framed in the wood-work over the chim- 
 ney is a large upright fl:one tablet, on which is 
 cut, in high relief, the following coat : 
 A chevron bordured between three (hamrocks, 
 two and one. Crcft on a clofed helmet 
 in profile, a bunch of fhamrocks :
 
 ( 70 ) 
 
 Motto on a fcroll below the fliield, " Poft 
 tenebras fpero lucem :** 
 Clofe under the fcroll, the initials W. L. 
 Below this, on the flat of the tablet, " Nullus 
 reprehenfor formidandus eft amatori veritatis. 
 
 1579:" 
 
 And on the moulding which runs round the 
 whole tablet, " Sculptum Galvie in Hi- 
 bernia." 
 
 The whole is in perfe(5l prefervation, and by 
 no means ill cut. The letters are very neatly 
 carved in relief, and the D is of uncommon if 
 not fingular form. Thefe arms are borne by a 
 family of the name of Lewis ; and the initials 
 fecm to countenance a fuppofition, that this 
 coat was placed here by fome of that family. 
 The bearing is alfo that of the Abdy family ; 
 but in the repetition of this coat on the out- 
 fide of the Bar-gate, already mentioned, and 
 which probably' belonged to the fame family, 
 the colours are different from the bearing of 
 Abdy. 
 
 From this ftreet a labyrinth of winding and 
 dirty alleys leads up to the fite of the caftle ; 
 which is the only remaining objedl of curiofity 
 in the town. To defcribe it, we will return 
 into the High-ftreet, and go up Caftle-lane,
 
 ( 71 ) 
 
 merely mentioned before in the furvey of 
 High-ftreet. It is moft probable that this 
 ftreet led to the principal entrance of the Caf- 
 tie. A fmall fragment of a circular tower is 
 yet vifible on the left-hand fide of this ftreet, 
 but built up in a houfe ; and the arched gate- 
 way was taken down in the memory of many 
 perfons now alive. The wall of enclofure is 
 more vifible on the right hand, where it pafles 
 in a curve line behind fome new houfes, and 
 continues nearly entire till it meets the town 
 wall. It is about fix feet thick, and Hands on 
 the top of a high bank, with a deep ditch at its 
 foot. This bank has been dug away, fo as to 
 fhow the manner of the foundation of the 
 wall, which is on large rough flat pointed 
 arches. This was probably done both to fave 
 materials, and to diminifli the danger of cracks 
 from unequal fettlement. The wall on the 
 left hand of the gate is nearly defiroyed ; it 
 may however be traced to its junction with the 
 town wall, near which point a part of the wall 
 appears in the court of an old cottage, which 
 has a round-arched window in it, and feems 
 to have been a handfome building. 
 
 Near this fpot, in the narrow fireet which 
 leads from the Caftle to Bridle-gate, an arched
 
 (.72 ) 
 
 gateway was deftroyed about thirty years ago ; 
 and in the garden of the old houfe adjoining, 
 there was a vaulted room of very confiderable 
 dimeniions, which received light from the 
 loops and windows mentioned in the furvey of 
 this part of the town wall. This room, by the 
 account of an elderly bricklayer who affifted In 
 its dilapidation, was groined, and adorned 
 with handfome ribs with mouldings, and, as he 
 told me, had much the appearance of a place of 
 worfhip. The ribs and all the convertible 
 ftones were taken away, and the vault clofed 
 up, and fo it at prefent remains. 
 
 The area of the Caftle was of a form ap- 
 proaching to a femicircle, or rather a horfe- 
 fhoe, of which the town wall to the fea formed 
 the diameter. The keep flood on a very high 
 artificial mount in the fouthern part of the 
 area, and probably, as was generally the cafe, 
 in the line of the wall. A fmall modern 
 round tower has been built of the materials of 
 the ancient one, which mud have large, as 
 well as " fair," to ufe the words of Leland. 
 
 The high mount and circular form of 
 the keep, indicate an antiquity much Higher 
 than the time of Richard II, who pro- 
 bably only repaired and ftrengthened the
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 caftle.* The great beauty of the mafonry in 
 that part of the town wall which formed the 
 enclofure of the caftle towards the fea, and 
 which, it may be obferved, is built of a Hone 
 very different from the reft of the wall, indi- 
 cates its having been reftored in the reign of 
 this monarch, when architedlure had attained 
 a very high perfedlion in this country. 
 K 
 
 * This conjefture is reduced nearly to a certainty by 
 the following extradls, which I owe to the kindness of 
 A. Hammond, esq. 
 
 1153. From a compromise between king Stephen 
 and prince Henry, the bishop of Winchester was to gire 
 security for the delivery of the castle at Southampton 
 to prince Henry, on the death of Stephen. Carte. 
 
 1246. Commune Villae Sudhamtoniae debet cclxx 
 marcas, pro substradlione plurium consuetudinum perti- 
 nentium ad castram Sudhamtoniae et de maeremio, plumbo, 
 et lapidibus ejusdem castri prostrati venditis. Madox. 
 
 1340. Richard Talbot, of the Shrewsbury family, was 
 governor of Southampton castle. 
 
 1377. In the first year of Richard II, the French at- 
 tacked Southampton, but were soon repulsed by the earl 
 of Arundel, governor of the town, who assembled the 
 militia. To protedl the harbour and town for the future, 
 the king built a castle on an high raised mount. Smollet.
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 To this account of the caftle we have only 
 to add, that a walk to the top pf the keep will 
 amply repay the trouble of the afcent. The 
 beauty of the view is almoft unrivalled ; and 
 the town itfelf, which we have lately been 
 viewing in detail, lies at the feet of the ob- 
 ferver from this point as in a map, (bowing, 
 better than from any other [fpot, the whole 
 compafs of the walls, the courfe of the ftreets, 
 and the relative pofitions of the moft remark- 
 able buildings. 
 
 It might appear a negligent omiflion, if the 
 church of St. Mary's, in the fuburb, was en- 
 tirely unmentioned ; but in truth^ although 
 
 These extra6ls leave scarcely a doubt that Southampton 
 castle was one of those which was dismantled in the gene- 
 ral destrudtion of fortresses at the end of the reign of king 
 Stephen ; and the curious passage from Madox proves 
 that the dilapidations were carried to a great pitch. 
 When, therefore, Richard II. (in order to secure the 
 town from the repeated attacks of the French and otliers) 
 restored the castle, he had probably such repairs to make, 
 as were nearly equivalent to a new building ; and the cur- 
 rent tradition, (hat he was the builder of the castle, is only 
 false, inasmuch as it supposes, that no castle Avas existing 
 at. a more ancient period.
 
 ( 75 ) 
 
 tradition reports it to have been the fite of 
 the original town, yet it at prefent contains 
 no remnant of the antiquity to which it lays 
 claim. The church has been rebuilt within 
 a century on the old foundations, which ftill 
 appear a few feet above the ground ; and its 
 fpacious and well peopled church-yard does 
 not contain a fingle objedl worthy of particu- 
 lar mention. The very large parfonage-houfe 
 has the air of a melancholy manor-houfe of 
 the era of king William, with long fafh- 
 windows and narrow piers.* 
 
 From the church-yard, a road not very 
 wide, and bordered on either hand by a deep 
 and muddy ditch, leads to the ancient mill 
 called the Chapel mill. In this road, incon- 
 venient as it is, an annual fair is held on Trinit}^ 
 Monday, Tuefday, and Wednefday. This fair 
 is opened by the mayor and bailiffs, with much 
 ceremony, on the preceding Saturday afternoon. 
 The mayor ere6ls a pole with a large glove fixed 
 to the top of it, near the miller's houfe ; and the 
 
 * In February, 1802, this parsonage-house was en- 
 tirely destroyed by fire ; and a smaller edilice, of very neat 
 architcfture, supplies itsjplacc.
 
 ( 1^ ) 
 
 bailiff then takes pofleflion of the fair, as chief 
 magiftrate in its precindl during the fair, and 
 invites the mayor and his fuite to a collation 
 in his tent. He appoints a guard of halber- 
 diers, who keep the peace by day, and watch 
 the fair by night. During the fair, no perfon 
 can be arrefted for debt within its precindts. 
 On the Wednefday at noon, the mayor dif- 
 folves the fair, by taking down the pole and 
 glove, or rather ordering it to be taken down ; 
 which till lately was done by the young men 
 ' of the town, who fired at it with lingle balls, 
 till it was deftroyed, or they were tired with 
 the fport. Probably it formerly was a mark 
 for the lefs dangerous dexterity of the young 
 archers. 
 
 This fair was granted by one of the Henrys, 
 but by which of them is not quite certain, to the 
 town of Southampton, and William Geolfry, 
 hermit of the hermitage of the Holy Trinity and 
 Blefied Virgin Mary. The fite of this her- 
 mitage is now the Chapel mill, which ftill has 
 marks of antiquity about it ; though its en- 
 largement, about fixty years fince, has left but 
 little of its ancient ornaments, except a flank 
 of a door, and part of an arched window. 
 Thefe fragments, however, fhow that the ftyle
 
 ( 77 ) 
 
 of its architecture much refembled the chapel 
 of St. Dionyfius at Portfwood. The miller's 
 garden was the cemetery of the chapel, and 
 bones are ftill dug up there. In digging near 
 it, about thirty years fince, for the purpofe of 
 building the Renown frigate, a Ikeleton and a 
 ring were found.* 
 
 From hence the walk to the Itchen ferry, at 
 high water, is very beautiful, commanding a 
 view of the oppofite fleep and woody fhore, and 
 enlivened with a multitude of veflels of differ- 
 ent lizes, laid up or under repair. The little 
 round building called the Crofs-houfe, eredled 
 for the accommodation of paflengers waiting 
 for the boat, has marks of confiderable anti- 
 quity, and is not an ugly edifice. In one of 
 the quarters are the arms of Southamptony 
 with the date only of l634 : but parts of the 
 building feem to be of much earlier date. At 
 this point, the ferrymen of the lichen ferry do 
 homage to the mayor and corporation, when- 
 
 * A large and curious silver ring was found about fifty 
 years ago in the field opposite the miller's house. It is in 
 the possession of Arthur Hammond, esq ; and has been 
 well engraved in the Gentleman's Magazine for November 
 1602, but 1 cannot pretend to explain the inscription oi it.
 
 { 78 ) 
 
 ever the perambulation of the boundaries of the 
 town is performed ; and in return for the per- 
 miflion of landing on the demefne of the town, 
 engage at all times to carry over gratis the bur- 
 gefies and their families. 
 
 From this point, a caufley of near half a mile 
 long, planted with trees, leads to the platform 
 and fouth gate. This walk, which is called 
 the Beach, commands in its whole length a 
 view of the Southampton water, clofed by the 
 Ifle of Wight ; and it is not eafy to imagine a 
 more beautiful or inter'efting water fcene. 
 The view of the town is alfo pretty, and the 
 new church of All Saints appears from hence 
 to great advantage. It is to be lamented, that 
 the marlhy meadow clofe to the caufley is not 
 drained and improved. The falubrity of the 
 town, and above all of the fuburb of St. Mary's, 
 calls loudly for it ; and the ground in an en- 
 clofed or even a drier flate, would amply repay 
 theexpenfe; but contcfted rights of common 
 have (in this as in a thoufandother inftances) hi- 
 therto prevented that being done, which every 
 body feparately approves. 
 
 Before I at the Water gate difmifs the rea- 
 der, who may have .had the patience to accom- 
 pany me through the narrow and dirty paths.
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 and into the holes and corners, to which I have 
 led him, I cannot forbear making an obferva- 
 tion on the peculiar character of the antiquities 
 we have been furveying. Among the many 
 fpecimens of the round-arched mode of build- 
 ing, commonly called Saxon, not a lingle piece 
 of carving exifls, except the fmall columns 
 within the window in the edifice in Porter's- 
 lane, and a few leaves juft fketched on the 
 capitals of the little pillars in the building co- 
 vered by the arches in the wall near Weft- 
 gate ; nor an ornamented moulding, except a 
 fmall fragment of billeted fafcia, at the eaft end 
 of St. Michael's church. The carved mem- 
 bers df impofts and arches, fo profufely ufed by 
 the Normans, and particularly their favourite 
 zigzag, do not appear ever to have exifted in 
 any of the buildings now extant in the town ; 
 and a great number of the arches, both of the 
 doors and windows, of inconteftably high anti- 
 quity, are flatter than a femicircle ; fome being 
 fegments of circles, and fome femi-ellipfes. 
 The mouldings of their impofts and fafcias are 
 alfo in exadl imitation of the Roman architec- 
 ture, having very well formed quarter-rounds 
 and cavettos. From thefe confiderations I 
 cannot but be led to {u(pe6i, that they are of
 
 ( 80 ) 
 
 an antiquity confiderably greater than the 
 Norman era ; and I hope that thofe antiquaries 
 who may differ from me in opinion, will at leaft 
 acquit me of having taken it up without fome 
 grounds. 
 
 I HAD here purpofed to take my leave of 
 thofe readers who have thus far borne me 
 company ; as my firft intention was limply to 
 have noticed and defcribed thofe obje6ls which 
 now exift, worthy the attention of the curious. 
 But having infenfibly been led into feveral ob- 
 fcrvations which rather pafs the line I had firft 
 laid down, I fhall trefpafs yet farther on the 
 patience of my companion, and fay a few words 
 on the ancient fituation of the town of South- 
 ampton, and its gradual removal from its ori- 
 ginal to its prefent fite. In a difcuflion of^ 
 this fort, much muft reft on conje6lure ; yet I 
 truft that my ideas will be not unfupported by 
 the teftimony of monuments ftill fubfifting. 
 
 That the Romans had an eftabliftiment of 
 confiderable confequence on the fpot in the 
 vicinity of this town now known by the name 
 of Bittern, is inconteftably proved by the re- 
 mains of their walls yet exifting, and. the nu- 
 merous fragments of antiquity lately brought
 
 ( 81 ) 
 
 to light in forming the road to the new bridge ; 
 and there feems very little doubt that this was 
 the ancient Claufentum.* The hamlet of Nor- 
 tham, which ftands direc^tly oppofite to Bittern, 
 on the fouthern bank of the Itchen, was pro- 
 bably in fome degree inhabited at the fame 
 period ; as coins are faid to have been found 
 there. It is probable that the mouth of the 
 Itchen was at that time, and long afterwards, 
 much wider than it now is, and that the water 
 flowed in nearly a ftraight line from Northam 
 to St. Mary's churchyard, and from thence to 
 the prefent fouth gate, in a curve, not far from 
 the line of the town wall, covering the whole 
 Marfh, and the lite of the buildings on the 
 fame level now called Orchard-lane, Spring- 
 gardens, &c. Nothing, indeed, but artificial 
 embankments, prevents the fea, at high water, 
 from inundating thefe places at the prefent day. 
 In this line, the diftance from Northam to 
 St. Mary's is not great ; and the fprings of 
 Houndwell would naturally draw the inhabi- 
 tants of Northam from a fpot without water 
 to one fo well fupplied with that mod necefla- 
 
 L 
 
 * A further account of Bittern is given in the appendix.
 
 ( 82 ) , 
 
 ry article, and at leaft equally well fituated 
 for fifhing, or other nautical occupations. 
 This probably was the ftate of things, until the 
 Saxon conquerors of the kingdom, having 
 formed permanent eftablifliments in the coun- 
 try from which they had nearly fwept its an- 
 cient inhabitants, began to wage perpetual in- 
 teftine wars, and of courfe to fortify the mod 
 important pofts, after the manner of their own 
 nation. The eftablifliments of the Romans, 
 which feem to have been feated in general in 
 low fituations, and near ft reams, did not at all 
 fuit with the northern fyftem of fortrefles ; 
 which, particularly in the earlieft times, affect- 
 ed elevated fites, with high towers, fecured 
 from furprifc, by the view they commanded of 
 the country around them ; and from aflault, 
 by the fteep afcent of the natural or artificial 
 mount on which they were founded. The 
 peculiar advantages of the narrow and rather 
 high point of land on which Southampton now 
 ftands, commanding at once the Itchen and 
 Teft, and very eafily fortified on the land fide, 
 could not efcape their notice ; and from the 
 high circular hill on which the keep of the 
 caftlc formerly flood, and the curved line of its 
 yet remaining wall, we have probable grounds
 
 ( 83 ) 
 
 for fuppofing it to be among the moft ancient 
 of the Saxon caftles. But befides the prefent 
 exifting fortifications, there is great reafon to 
 fufpe6t that the northern ditch of the town, 
 filled up within the memory of man, and of 
 uncommon breadth and depth, was continued 
 quite acrofs, till it met the Itchen, and com- 
 pletely infulated the caftle and prefent town. 
 The antiquity of the Bar-gate, whofe central 
 round arch is evidently much older than any 
 of the other gates of the town, is no fmall con- 
 firmation of this fuppofition ; as the walls and 
 gates, with the exception of the Bar-gate, ap- 
 pear to have been built at once, and are very 
 uniform in their flru6lure, fome fmall parts 
 only excepted, which we fhall confider more 
 particularly prefently.' 
 
 It is, however, immaterial to the view of the 
 progreflive augmentation of the prefent town, 
 whether this conjecture, relative to the Bar- 
 gate and its ditch, be founded or not ; as it is 
 equally certain, under either fuppofition, that 
 the caflle would very foon form a town around 
 itfelf ; both by the habitations of thofe who 
 were dependent on it as a fortrefs, and thofe 
 who fought prote6lion under its wings, from 
 the multiplied dangers of that period of uncea-
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 fing war and pillage. The very ancient 
 church of St. Michael was probably founded 
 (bon after the caftle, and was, as it now is, the 
 manerial church of the town: and it is worthy 
 of remark, that the ftreets immediately under 
 the caftle, are proved, by their names, to have 
 been the original markets of the infant town; 
 and that all the mofl: curious reniains of anti- 
 quity ftretch along the flioreof the Southamp- 
 ton water, where the caftle protected them on 
 the land fide, and the fca rendered attack not 
 very ealy on any other. 
 
 The appearance of the very interefting 
 building in Porters*-lane, and the Angular 
 fquare houfe now making part of the wall near 
 Blue-anchor-lane, is that of houfes for the ha- 
 bitation of fecular perfons of confequence; as 
 neither of them, particularly the former, has the 
 leaft appearance of a conventual edifice; and it 
 is not at all improbable, that the Saxon kings 
 might have a palace on the (bore, command- 
 ing, as the building in Porters'-lane did, until 
 the town wall was ereded, a beautiful view of the 
 fea, with a fouthern expofition, and a fheltered 
 fituation. The hiflory of Canute's rebuke to 
 the impious flattery of his courtiers, and which 
 the mod authentic hiftorians ftate to have
 
 ( 85 ) 
 
 taken place at Southampton, proves that the 
 town was of confequence in his time; and it 
 is much more probable that the regal chair 
 was placed on the Tandy fhore of the South- 
 ampton river, than in the black and oozy bed 
 of the Itchen at Northam, where fome have 
 fixed the fcene of this ftriking and cha- 
 racfteriftic ftory. 
 
 The very ancient hofpital of God*s-houfe, 
 whofe round-arched gate, and very obtufely 
 pointed double-headed window over it, place 
 its ere6lion early in the twelfth century; was 
 probably built before the exiftence of the 
 prefent wall, which makes an odd and irre- 
 gular curve outwards, feemingly with a view 
 to leave a paflage, though a narrow one, 
 before the church, which once had a door 
 and porch projecting into the ftreet. 
 
 But independent of all conjedlure, there 
 exifts an indifputable proof of the early confe- 
 quence of the prefent town of Southampton. 
 Henry II, in a charter given by Dugdale in 
 his Monaflicon (vol. ii. p. lOQ), gives to 
 the priory of St. Dionyfius, the churches of St. 
 Michael, Holy Rood, St. Lawrence, and All 
 Saints, in the following words:
 
 ( 86 ) . 
 
 '' Sciatis me dedifle et conceffifle Deo ct 
 **Ecclefiae San6li Dionylii juxta Hamtonam, 
 "&c. Capellas meas quas habebam infra 
 " Burgum de Hamptona, &c. fcilicet Capellam 
 "San6li Michaelis, et Cap. Sanc^ae Crucis, 
 " et Cap. San<fli Laurentii, et Cap. Omnium 
 "San6lorum. Quare 'volo, &c." 
 
 This charter fully proves that the four 
 prefent churches were in exiflence fo early as 
 the reign of Henry II, nor are they fpoken of 
 at all as new ere6lions, but as having been 
 fome time in the gift of the crown ; " quas 
 habebam." It may alfo be remarked, that 
 they are all called "CapellaB," Chapels; St., 
 Mary's being probably confidered as the " Ec- 
 ** clefia," or Church, within whofe parifh they 
 were eredled. St. Michael's is alfo named 
 firfl:, as having then, as it now has, the prece- 
 dence over the reft. 
 
 We cannot defire fuller proof, that the town 
 was then nearly or quite as large as it now is. 
 With refpe61: to the date of the building of 
 the wall as we now fee it, difficulties arife 
 in my mind. It is certain, that the nor- 
 thern, eaftern, and that part of the fouth- 
 ern wall weft of the Water-gate, bear every 
 mark of uniform regularity in their ftrudturc;
 
 < 87 ) 
 
 and the gates of the town are apparently of 
 the fame date with the walls, and much re- 
 femble each other in the mafly flat form of 
 their pointed arches, which rife at an angle 
 from their piers, being ft ruck from centres 
 below the level of their fpring; a mode of 
 conftru6lion ufed about the time of Edward 
 II; yet the remains of femicircular towers 
 ftill vifible on attentive infpe<5tion of the Bar- 
 gate, and which flanked its round arch, very 
 much refembling, in form and mode of build- 
 ing, the towers of the north and eaft wall, lead 
 me to fufpedl, that the wall, on the land 
 iide at leaft, is of higher antiquity than the 
 time of the Edwards, and that the prefent 
 gates were built later than the erection of the 
 wall. The very lingular lituation of the 
 Water-gate, which retires thirty feet behind 
 the line of the eaftern part of the fouth wall ; 
 and the odd pofttion of the fouth gate, at the 
 very angle of the wall ; fecm to indicate that 
 thefe gates were not of the original defign. 
 
 From the fouth-weft angle of the wall quite 
 to the Bridle-gate, which was clofe to the 
 ballium of the caftle, the whole wall is a mafs 
 of irregular and almoft inexplicable conftruc- 
 tion. I cannot help being fufpicious, that this
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 fide of the town, prote6led as it was by the 
 caftle, and covered by the fea, was not at all, 
 or very llightly, fortified, until the fatal expe- 
 rience of the fack of the town, by the French 
 invaders, had proved that fome further defence 
 was neceflary. This conje6lure receives con- 
 fiderable ftrength from the appellation of " the 
 Gravel," mentioned before to have been given 
 to the lower end of Bugle-ftreet, and which 
 can fcarcely be referred to any other origin, 
 but this part of the town having been long 
 open to the fea, and free from buildings. It 
 may alfo be obferved, that both French and 
 Bugle ftreets now terminate moft awkwardly 
 againft the wall, which comes fo near as to 
 leave only a very narrow lane of communica- 
 tion between them, and feems to have been 
 eredled long after thefe flreets were built and 
 inhabited. 
 
 At this part I conceive the invaders to have 
 attacked and entered the town ; and the build- 
 ings incorporated in the wall near Wefl-gato 
 and Bridle- gate, were perhaps fo far ruined by 
 their fires, as to be deferted by their inhabi- 
 tants, and relinquifhed by them for the purpofe 
 of fortifying this vulnerable part of the town. 
 Although, at this diflance of time, no great
 
 ( 89 ) 
 
 ftrefs can be laid on the appearance of walls Co 
 long ekpofed to the weather, yet it is certain, 
 that the eaftcrn wall of the very ancient 
 edifice forming part of the town wall and 
 flanking Blue-anchor-lane, has very much 
 the appearance of having been reddened by 
 violent fire. 
 
 The line of wall fouth of the Weft-gate 
 is irregular in its conftrudlion; and the wall 
 between Wefl: and Bridle gates, which has 
 been already defcribed, bears evident marks 
 of having been built in the moft hafty 
 manner, and with the greateft economy of 
 materials; which feems the only way of 
 accounting for the raifing the parapet on 
 thofe fingular arches we now fee, and the 
 forming the wall of old fronts of edifices full of 
 apertures, which muft of neceflity weaken 
 walls even without them not very thick or 
 folid. This wall, in its prefent form, I con- 
 ceive to have been built about that period, 
 when the old hiftorians ftate Richard II. to 
 have fortified the town, and built the caftle ; 
 which he probably repaired and firengthened, 
 but which evidently had been built feveral 
 centuries before his time. 
 
 M
 
 ( 90 ) 
 
 Whatever may be the opinion of different 
 perfons, rerpe6^ing the age of the feveral parts 
 of the town and its walls already mentioned, 
 one thing is indifputably certain, that the town 
 was not removed to its prefent lite, as has 
 been aflerted by Leland, and after him by 
 Grofe in his Antiquities, in confequence of the 
 deftru(5lion of the old town at St. Mary's, by 
 the French or Genoefe, in the year 1338. 
 Indeed, the roll of parliament quoted by 
 Grofe, ordering the town to be fortified in the 
 very next year, is a full proof of itfelf that the 
 difafler happened to the prefent town ; as it 
 would have been impoflible for the inhabitants, 
 ruined by pillage and fire, in that fpace of time 
 to have built a large town from the ground, 
 on a new fite; whereas the repairs of a place 
 which had fuffered, however feverely, from 
 plunder and conflagration, are done with 
 much lefs expenfe, and in a very fhort period. 
 It is, however, highly probable, that the old 
 town of St. Mary's, never very confiderable, 
 and which would naturally decline in propor- 
 tion to the increafe of the new town, being to- 
 tally deftitute of defence, fufFered yet more fe- 
 verely than Southampton itfelf; and its def- 
 trudlion might be much accelerated by this
 
 ( 91 ) 
 
 difailer ; as few would rebuild their houfes 
 without the walls, who could by any means 
 find habitations within them. 
 
 From this period to the prefent time, the 
 hiftory of the town as a fortified place, may be 
 comprifed in a few words. Edward VI. fpeaks 
 of repairs done to the walls by the citizens for 
 his reception ; and from his time to the pre- 
 fent day, they have probably never been 
 touched but for their deftrudlion. The in- 
 crealing flrength of the nation, and yet more 
 the augmented fize of fhipsofwar, now too 
 large to enter with fafety thofe rivers and 
 creeks, which formerly were the moft fecure 
 havens, have combined to infure from attack 
 the ancient ports of this country ; and the 
 walls of our cities are, by a felicity on which 
 every Englifhman will reflect with gratitude 
 and refpe61, rendered merely ornaments to 
 thofe towns where every houfe is a caftle to its 
 owner, fenced by laws ftronger than the bra- 
 zen walls of Merlin. That this glorious bul- 
 wark may be alfo " aere perennius," is a wifh 
 in which all, I trufi:, will join, but the anti- 
 quary with peculiar feeling, who views it not 
 merely as a prefent impregnable guard, but as 
 the venerable work of his forefathers.
 
 ^PPEJVBIX.
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF AN - 
 
 ^JVCIEJVT MUII.JDIJVG 
 
 IN 
 
 SOUTHAMPTON. 
 Bj/Sir IL a E^'GLEFIELD, Bart. F. R.S. S{ V.P.A.S. 
 
 Read before the Society of Antiquaries of London, April i6, i8ot.
 
 JUUsh'ei oFtkeyii
 
 \^Jeut' /<Pc>Sin^ THaixr tC Son. SouXHatrtfUo,
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF AN 
 
 ^JVCIEJVT MUILJDIJVG 
 
 In SOUTHAMPTON, &c. 
 
 The building, of which I have now the 
 honour to lay before the Society the meafured 
 drawings, is fituated in the fouthern part of the 
 town of Southampton, in a narrow ftreet called 
 Porters'-lane, not far from the Water-gate at 
 the bottom of the High-ftreet. 
 
 That it has hitherto efcaped the notice of 
 the curious, is probably owing to its prefent very 
 confined (ituation. The ftreet in which it (lands 
 is barely wide enough to admit a cart, and is 
 generally full of carriages of burthen ; and a 
 footpath has been gained out of the ground- 
 floor of warehoufes on the oppofite (ide of the 
 way, which forms an open gallery, but fo low, 
 that from it a pafTenger can only fee the lower 
 part of the building in queftion ; which is fo 
 N
 
 ( 98 ) 
 
 defaced by modern openings for doors aqd 
 windows, as to excite in the inattentive pafler 
 by, no curiofity for a further infpe6lion. The 
 whole of the building is now converted into 
 ftables below, and haylofts above ; and of fo 
 difficiilt and dirty accefs, that it is not an eafy 
 matter to take either meafures or drawings of 
 it. 
 
 Although its prefent fite is fo confined, at 
 the period of its eredlion it enjoyed an open 
 and beautiful view of the Southampton river 
 apd oppofite Ihore ; as the town wall, which 
 at prefent runs parallel with its front, is evi- 
 dently of a date very much more modern ; and 
 the large windows feem calculated for the full 
 enjoyment both of the air and fouthern fun, to 
 which it is diredtly expofed. 
 
 No part of the prefent remains has the ap- 
 pearance either of having been conftru(9:ed for 
 religious purpofes, or for thofe of defence ; 
 nor is there any trace of a religious eftablifli- 
 ment having at any period exifted in this part 
 of the town ; the building was therefore, pro- 
 bably, conftru6led for a dwelling- houfe, and 
 its lize and magnificence may juftly entitle it 
 to the name of a palace.
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 The front extends one hundred and cletren 
 feet, and, as the angles of the wall are in fome 
 parts perfe6t at each end, it is certain that this 
 was the original extent of the front of the 
 building. The prefent height from the 
 ground to the top of the wall is feventeen 
 feet. There is reafon to think that the wall 
 never was much, if at all, higher ; but it is al- 
 mod certain that the bottom of the building is 
 buried at leaft two feet, as the jamb of the an- 
 cient flat-arclied door is now only four feet fix 
 inches above the pavement, which is much too 
 low for the common purpofes of life. The 
 elevation is, however, from the prefent level of 
 the ftreet. 
 
 At ten feet from the ground runs a faibia, 
 which divides the external front into two fto- 
 ries. In the lower ftory are the remains of 
 two ancient doors, irregularly placed ; of thefc, 
 however, one does not feem coeval with the 
 original building. 
 
 Above the fafcia the wall rifes feven feet, 
 and, with the exception of a fmall window at 
 the weft end, it is perfedlly regular in its de- 
 fign, and the diftances and openings of the 
 windows.
 
 ( 100 ) 
 
 Three magnificent windows occupy the 
 centre of the front. Of thefe, two only now 
 remain ; but as the defign is totally irregular if 
 a third be not fuppofed, and perfe(5\ly regular 
 if it be, and as triple openings were almoil 
 conftantly ufed in our ancient buildings, there 
 can be no doubt that there were originally 
 three windows. 
 
 The opening of thefe windows is, in front, 
 feven feet feven inches high, and five feet 
 five inches wide, and the pier, which divides 
 them, is two feet two inches broad; their 
 arched head is very little flatter than a femi- 
 circle. A very neat moulding ranges over 
 the arches. The angle of the wall is round- 
 ed off, fo as almoft to have the appearance of 
 a quarter column. Ten inches and a half 
 from the front, the wall breaks in, fix inches, 
 and reduces the opening of the real window to 
 four feet four inches wide, and feven feet one 
 inch high. 
 
 The bottom of thefe windows is built up, fo 
 that the exa6t termination of them is not eafily 
 afcertained. They, however, certainly def- 
 cend two feet below the general line of the 
 fafcia before mentioned.
 
 ( 101 ) 
 
 The interior face of thefe windows is quite 
 plain, except that the angle, like the exterior 
 ones, is chamfered off. 
 
 At nine feet from the exterior angles of 
 thefe windows, are two others, one on each 
 lide. Thefe windows are four feet ten inches 
 wide from out to out, and five feet high; and 
 their bottom refts on the fafcia. They are 
 covered by a very flat elliptical arch, whofe 
 rife is only one foot feven inches and a half. 
 The arch fprings from a plain impod, and a 
 moulding of the fame defign ranges round 
 each arch. Thefe windows are divided into 
 two lights, as was ufual in the Saxon and Nor- 
 man buildings. Thefe lights are four feet 
 high, and one foot fix inches wide, in the 
 clear. All the angles of thefe windows are 
 neatly chamfered off. The decoration of the 
 interior of thefe windows is very fingular; a 
 very neat column, with a regular bafe and 
 a capital adorned with leaves, and furmounted 
 with a fhort cornice or import, adorns each 
 angle. Thefe columns are excavated as it 
 were out of the angle, and do not proje6l 
 beyond the faces of the wall. The whole 
 air and proportion of thefe columns, are more 
 like that of the early Gothic, than the Nor-
 
 ( 102 ) 
 
 man ftyle; and the little rib which runs down 
 the fhaft is almoft peculiar to the early Gothic. 
 It is alfo obferveable, that the very flat arch 
 which covers the window within, and which 
 only rifes ten inches on an opening of fix feet, 
 is the only part of the building which has not 
 its angle chamfered off. Thefe circumftances 
 lead to a doubt whether this decoration, fo 
 different in ftyle from the reft of the building, 
 may not have been an addition at a period 
 later than the original edifice. If this part is 
 coeval with the reft, the building itfelf muft be 
 efteemed of the age of Henry I. or thereabouts ; 
 although, from every other part of it, I (hould 
 have been led to fuppofe it at leaft as old as 
 the Conqueft, if not confiderably more ancient. 
 At eleven feet from thefe windows, are two 
 others, exa6lly fimilar, except that the eaftern 
 window has a double impoft, owing probably 
 to that want of accuracy in execution, of 
 which examples fo frequently occur in ancient 
 ftru6lures. At ten feet from the eaftern win- 
 dow is the eaftern angle of the bujlding. At 
 fourteen feet from the weftern window is a 
 narrow window, three feet wide and about fix 
 feet high, with a femicircular head ; and three 
 feet beyond it, is the weftern angle of the 
 building.
 
 ( 103 ) 
 
 Both the eaftern and weftern angles of the 
 vail are regularly chamfered off in the fame 
 manner with the angles of the windows. This 
 is, as far as I can recolle6l, quite lingular. 
 
 The mafonry of every part of the front now 
 remaining, is of peculiar neatnefs, and the 
 jftones are cut to a fize nearly-fimilar to each 
 other, and very fmall. They are laid in regu- 
 lar and unbroken courfes. This fort of accu- 
 racy is almoft peculiar to the Siaxon and early 
 Norman architecture. 
 
 The front wall is two feet nine inches in 
 thicknefs. At fixteen feet eight inches within 
 it is a wall, which, though much ruined, 
 appears to be the original one. There is not 
 the leaft trace of any partition wall, and the 
 whole fpace within was probably one large 
 hall or gallery of about one hundred and five 
 feet long, by lixteen feet eight inches wide. 
 The eaftern gable is completely demolifhed, 
 and replaced by houfcs. In the weftern gable 
 is a double-headed window, much defaced, but 
 of a defign fimilar to thofe already defcribed, 
 though rather fmaller : its bottom was nearly 
 level with the top of the front wall. It is not 
 eafy to decide whether there originally wns a 
 floor in the building ; but, from the circum-
 
 (. 104 ) 
 
 fiance of the central windows defcending two 
 feet lower than the lateral ones, I am inclined 
 to think that there was, and that thefe win- 
 dows opened quite down to it, forming a fort 
 of open portico towards the fea. For what- 
 ever purpofe this edifice was defigned, its 
 whole ftyle and difpofition differ fo materially 
 from any other with which I am acquainted, 
 that I cannot but confider it as an obje6l of 
 confiderable curiofity. If, as I fuppofe, it was 
 a dwelling or palace, it is among the few re- 
 mains yet exifting of the habitations of our an- 
 ceftors, diftindl from monaftic or caftellated 
 manfions. Perhaps I indulge but a fond 
 conje6^ure, when I confider it as pofi[ibly the 
 hall from which Canute, furrounded by his 
 courtiers, viewed the rifing tide ; and from 
 whence he defcended to the beach, according 
 to that moft interefting narrative of our old 
 hiftorians, to reprefs, by a ftriking and impref- 
 five lefibn, their impious flattery.
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OF 
 
 DISCOVERED AT THE 
 
 ANCIENT MOMAN STATION, 
 
 CLAUSENTUM (now BITTERN), 
 
 Bm "Southampton ; 
 
 In a Letter to the Condu6)or of the Hampshire Repository : 
 
 WITH 
 
 ADDITIONAL PARTICULARS, 
 RELATING TO SOME RECENT DISCOVERIES. 
 
 By Sir H. C. ENGLE FIELD, Bart
 
 ACCOUNT 
 
 OP 
 
 ^JVTiqUITIES 
 
 DISCOVERED 
 
 At CLAUSENTUM, &c. 
 
 To the Condudlor of the Hampshire Repository, 
 
 Southampton, Jan. 1800. 
 Dear Sir, 
 
 In compliance with your wifti I fend you the 
 drawings I have made of the antiquities now 
 exifting at Bittern, and fuch few obfervations 
 on them as I have been able to make. 
 
 It does not appear to me , that any Hones 
 have been difcovered that ever formed part of 
 a column or femi-column. Thofe which have 
 been taken for femi-columns, one of which is 
 given in the plate, fig. 5, are evidently parts of 
 the coping of fome large edifice ; for their 
 curve is reverfed, and dies away againd the 
 (boulder like a cima. But fig. 6 puts the
 
 ( 108 ) 
 
 matter beyond a doubt ; for this is the corner 
 Hone of the fame coping ; and the convex part 
 goes off two ways at a right angle ; and the 
 fquare die at their union has probably had 
 fome ornament affixed to it, as cramp holes 
 appear in it. The coping (tones are of dif- 
 ferent lengths, from three to four feet, and are 
 twelve in number, including fome which fiill 
 remain in the foundation of a fmall turret or 
 baflion projecting outwards from the line of 
 the eaftern Roman wall, and from which foun- 
 dation thofe lying loofe at prefent have been 
 lately dug. Near thefe, in the foundation of 
 a part of the fame turret, remains a fmall frag- 
 ment of a very mutilated cornice, fig. 4, 
 which probably belonged to the fmall edifice 
 next mentioned. 
 
 With thefe (tones lies the one figured 1, 2, 
 and 3. This formed half the front of fome 
 fmall projecting building, or niche for the re- 
 ception of a ftatue. Fig. 2 (hows, by the re- 
 turn of the fluted architrave, and fome part of 
 an ornament on the frieze, that it was a corner 
 ftonc. The curvature of the niche proves that 
 it was half the frontifpiece. The central part 
 of the frieze is excavated to receive a thin flab, 
 probably of marble, with an infcription. This
 
 BtSlisk'd as t^^ct ciirscts Jofd /SOS fy TMajIcer Sc Son. SotUkamfUBn..
 
 ( 109 ) 
 
 was faftened by cramps, the holes of which 
 are vifible in fig. 1 and 3, and from one of 
 which I took a piece of lead which had faftened 
 the iron. The top of the ftone, fig. 1, has, 
 befides the cramp hole in front, a larger to- 
 wards the back, which fixed it to the wall; and 
 a deeper hole, which either was a lewis hole for 
 raifing it, or ferved to connect it by a pin or 
 tenon with the cornice. Fig 3, the end view 
 of the ftone, (hows the depth of the hollowed 
 part of the frieze where the tablet was placed. 
 The fculpture of this ftone is not very bad : 
 the lunated (hield often occurs on fepulchral 
 ftones. The flutings or grooves in the archi- 
 trave, which die away againft the niche, are of 
 a fingular and very corrupt tafte. The niche 
 was formed into a fhell ; which is an ornament, I 
 believe, only ufed in the later ages. Probably 
 this building, for whatever ufe intended, may 
 be of the age of Aurelian ; an infcription to 
 whofe honour I (hall prcfently mention. 
 
 Fig 7 is as exa6l a copy as I could make of 
 an infcription which was dug up fome time 
 iince, and is now preferved in the farm houfe 
 at Bittern. The ftone does not appear to 
 have been fquared, or even regularly cut, 
 except on the face on which the infcription is
 
 ( 110 ) 
 
 engraved ; yet, from its upright form, it does 
 not feem adapted to have been part of a wall. It 
 evidently never was wider than it is, nor pro- 
 bably much higher. The infcription is in 
 letter of tolerably good form, and, except the 
 laft word, which is much effaced, probably by 
 the point of the pickaxe that difcovered it, is 
 perfedlly legible. This laft word by accurate 
 infpc^lion may ftill be traced, and the infcrip- 
 tion is as follows. IMP C^S LVCIO DO- 
 MITIO AVRELIANO. In the drawing I 
 have been particularly attentive to mark the 
 fmall remains of the connedled letters AVR 
 and EL that it may be feen how far this read- 
 ing is juftified. There can however be very 
 little doubt refpedling the word, when it is 
 confidered that the only perfon who afRimed 
 the purple with the names of Lucius Domitius, 
 was an Egyptian ufurper, of the name of 
 Lucius Domitius Domitian, in the time of 
 Dioclefian, who for two or three years main- 
 tained his rebellion at Alexandria. It is ut- 
 terly improbable that fuch a ufurper (liould 
 haye been commemorated in this remote ifland. 
 On the beach lies a very rude capital, which 
 was worked into the Roman weft wall. The 
 leaver are juft marked out, and the whole is fa
 
 ( 111 ) 
 
 very bad, both in delign and execution, that I 
 am much in doubt whether it is not fome 
 Saxon capital ftuck in to mend a breach in 
 the wall, in the period when this ancient 
 Aation was a caftellated manfion. 
 
 In the farm houfe is another fmall ftone, 
 which feems to have had four letters cut on it, 
 I only mention it to fay, that it is totally, and, 
 I believe, irrecoverably illegible. 
 
 The Roman wall itfelf is fingular in its con- 
 ftru6lion. Its height cannot be afcertained. 
 Its thicknefs is about nine feet, and its mate- 
 rials flint, faced very roughly with fquare fmall 
 ftones, and a bending courfe of large flat 
 bricks running through its interior part; but 
 it is extraordinary that it has no foundation 
 whatever, but is literally fet down on the fur- 
 face of the ground, and is therefore under- 
 mined by the waters of the Itchen, which only 
 reach it at fpring tides. A large bank of 
 earth is thrown up againfl: it on the inner fide; 
 and, in the only place where I have been able 
 to examine its interior conftrudlion, it feems 
 as if, at a diftance of about nine feet within 
 the outer wall, another wall of about two feet 
 thick has been erected, fecmingly as a fort of 
 ftrenprthening to the rampart of earth. Of
 
 ( 112 ) 
 
 this however I do not fpeak with certainty^ 
 Within the area of the ancient wall, the re- 
 mains of two very coarfe pavements, or rather 
 plaifter floors, are vifible: one in the bank to 
 the left of the new road, which has been in 
 part wafhed away by the Itchen ; the other in 
 the ditch to the right of the road, about mid- 
 way between the two walls. In digging very 
 lately in the field, a fragment of plaifter was 
 thrown up, painted with a durable red colour, 
 with a narrow white ftripe on ir. It feems not 
 unworthy of remark, that the whole foil, as 
 well within the wall as between the wall and 
 outer ditch marked in your Plan^ is full, not 
 only of fragments of bricks and tiles of various 
 forms, but of fmall pieces of that beautiful 
 earthen ware, the colour, polifh, and grain of 
 which when broken, refemble fine fealing wax 
 more than any fubflance I know of. The 
 ditches dug through thefe fields for the new 
 road have afforded me near a hundred pieces 
 of this ware; fome of them plain, fome em- 
 bofTed with aniinals, malks, thyrfi, lyres, ears 
 of corn, and poppies. As this ware is not un- 
 commonly found in Roman ftations in this 
 country, and more perfect fpecimens than 
 any of mine have been engraved, I have not
 
 ( 113 ) 
 
 fent you any drawings of them. The fubjeifts 
 appear to be nearly (imilar in all that have 
 been found, and are evidently of a myftic ten- 
 dency. An ornament at the top of the em* 
 bofled part, like a deep feftooned fringe with 
 taffels between each feftoon, is almoft uni- 
 vcrfal in them. Thofe fragments that are 
 plain appear to be of forms not much adapted 
 to the ufes of common life, being moltly^ 
 difhes from 6 to 10 inches diameter, with a 
 low upright rim, and Handing on a fmall foot, 
 not unlike old-fafhioned lilver falvers. It has 
 been therefore imagined that thefe were all of 
 them facred utenfils, and probably imported 
 into this country for the purpofe, of facrifice. 
 One of the fragments in my poffeffion has 
 been perforated with very neat radiated holes, 
 in regular order, fo as to ferve as a cullender. 
 Thefe holes have been drilled after the vefTel 
 was baked. A few fragments have occurred of 
 a fine black ware, nearly as thin as Wedg* 
 wood's ware, and covered with a metallic 
 luftre; this is perhaps owing to long lying 
 under ground. Fragments of vafes, of a coarfe 
 earth, not finer than our garden pots, are 
 pretty common ; and fome of thefe appear to 
 have been of very confiderable fize. The 
 
 P
 
 ( 114 ) 
 
 lapgeft were red, fome others of a dirty brown, 
 like unbaked clay. Thofe in which afhes and 
 coins have been found were of the latter fort. 
 One of thefe, the fragments of which are now 
 in the pofTeflion of Mr. Waring, the proprie- 
 tor of Bittern, prefented, when found, a mod 
 lingular appearance. The veflel containing 
 the bones and afhes, was enclofed within an- 
 other which nearly fitted it, and whofe mouth 
 was fo narrow as by no means to have ad- 
 mitted it in its hardened ftate : of this Mr. 
 Waring aflured me from his own infpedlion. 
 The fragments which I faw are now fo muti- 
 lated, as not to allow means of afcertaining the 
 f&6i by meaCurement of the diameters of the 
 veffels or their mouths ; but both of them bear 
 marks of the potter's lathe, both within and 
 without, and therefore muft have been fepa- 
 rately made. Probably the outer veflel muft 
 have been originally broken, and then its parts 
 placed round the inner one when buried, by 
 way of fecurity from injury. 
 
 Several ivory or bone pins were found in 
 the fame field, fuch as Sir Chriftopher Wren 
 mentions having difcovered in digging the 
 foundation of St. Paul's. Thefe are from 
 three to four inches in length, with blunt
 
 ( 115 ) 
 
 points and round heads, and were probably 
 ufed for faftening the fhrouds in which bodies 
 were buried. 
 
 A fine and perfect glafs urn was alfo found^^ 
 but it has been unfortunately deftroyed. ^ 
 
 I cannot clofe this fubje^l without taking 
 fome notice of the more modern remains ex- 
 tant on this curious fpot, particularly as they 
 probably will not exift much longer in their 
 prefent ftate. The farm houfe, though very 
 old, is built in the ruined walls of a (lately 
 Saxon or Norman edifice. Some columns 
 half buried, but of very neat work, and parts 
 of two ornamented round-headed windows, 
 fubfift at the weft end of the houfe; and 
 in the weft front of the barn are four windows,* 
 of peculiarly excellent mafonry, and very un- 
 common form. The part of the gateway, yet 
 fublifting, is probably of the fame date, 
 and equally good work. 
 
 Few fpots can be found more interefting, 
 either to an antiquary or a painter, than 
 Bittern in its prefent ftate. From the Roman 
 wall we fee the Saxon remains mingled with 
 
 This barn has lately been taken down.
 
 ( H6 ) 
 
 thofe of the 15th century. On the oppofitc 
 {hore is the old brick manlion ofNortham, 
 with its elegant fluted chinrinies. A little fur- 
 ther, on the eaft, the white gable of St. Dlony- 
 fius's ruined chapel attra6ts the eye; while the 
 fpires and towers of the venerable Southamp- 
 ton, full of curious and undefcribed* remains 
 of antiquity, of almoft every date, from the 
 carlieft Saxon to the age of James the Firft, 
 form a diftance to the weft. 
 
 The fweeps of the Itchen, with their bold 
 ihores covered with hanging woods of noble 
 oaks, prefent on every fide fcenes of unrivalled 
 beauty; and the name of Bevis Mount unites 
 the recollection of an old, and perhaps fabu- 
 lous, Britifli hero, with that of a man whofe 
 courage and adventures were fcarcely lefs ro- 
 mantic than thofe of the moft famous Paladins, 
 and who, to thefe high qualities, added a re- 
 fined tafte for elegant art and polite literature. 
 What Englifbman can look without refpedl on 
 the fhades where the Earl of Peterborough 
 walked with Arbuthnot and Pope ! Your 
 Hamplhire readers will, I truft, forgive me, if 
 
 * This was written before the publication of ihe 
 " Walk through Southampton."
 
 { "7 ) 
 
 I add, with peculiar and perfonal intereft, that 
 this claflicai fpot has not long fince been 
 haunted by another poet. 
 
 I hope, Sir, you will excufe a digreffion 
 from the principal obje6l of this letter, which 
 has been fuggefted by the fenfations I have 
 experienced in the many vifits I have paid to 
 this interefting fpot ; and believe me 
 
 Yours, &c. 
 
 H. C. ENGLEFIELD.
 
 ( 118 ) 
 
 ADDITIONAL DISCOVERIES 
 
 MADE AT BITTERN, 
 
 In 1804 and 1805. 
 
 DURING the courfe of the laft fummer, 
 confiderable difcoveries have been made at 
 Bittern, by the prefent proprietor, Henry 
 Simpfon, efq ; who has with laudable care 
 preferved every fragment of antiquity brought 
 to light in the courfe of the excavations made 
 by him for various purpofes of improvement : 
 and to the politenefs of that gentleman, and 
 the obfervations made on the fpot by my 
 friend Dr. Latham, of Romfey, I am indebted 
 for the information now added to my former 
 account of Bittern. 
 
 The whole of the ground was full of frag- 
 ments of the fame fine red pottery already def- 
 cribed, but nothing particularly worthy of no-
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 tice among them occurred, excepting one 
 fragment of a large (hallow veflel, which had a 
 perforation in its fide, ornamented externally 
 with a lion's head, of coarfe work, which feems 
 to have ferved for a fpout. On the bottom of 
 many of the fragments were imprefled names, 
 probably of the makers ; of thefe Dr. Latham 
 fentmethe following: CRESCENI ; SEVE- 
 RI; MALIVRN; AMATICICI; SACRIOF; 
 LVPIM; AESFIVINA; CVFF; ACOM; 
 LVPPA; CEN...; MACIOF; DOECA; 
 EPPN; OF-SAB; ADIECTIM; OFNIGRI. 
 And on the fide of one large fragment, repre- 
 fenting a flag hunt, is the word ADVOCISI, 
 in a larger and fairer letter than the other 
 ftamps. 
 
 Several coins were found, moftly of the 
 lower empire, but none which appear to be cu- 
 rious or rare. 
 
 On the north fide of the new road, and 
 nearly half way between the wall and the 
 bridge, a very confiderable number of fke- 
 letons was found, not lefs than fifty. They 
 were laid eafl: and weft, and had apparently 
 been buried in coffins of wood faftened with 
 iron nails, of which a great many were found 
 with fmall portions of wood adhering to them.
 
 ( 120 ) 
 
 It is remarkable that all the teeth in every one 
 of the jaws were quite perfe6t, a circumftance 
 which feems to indicate that the bodies were of 
 young men, probably of foldiers, (lain in fome 
 engagement ; evidently, however, by the mode 
 of fepulture, at a period later than the Roman 
 inhabitancy of the fpot. 
 
 Juft within the outer fofle, and a little fouth 
 of the road, a hollow has been found, which 
 ieems to have been either a well or a fmall 
 winding ftaircafe. Within the inner fofle an- 
 other well has been difcovered, about two feet 
 and a naif in diameter. When found, it was 
 ^mpty to about eight feet deep ; in it was a 
 human ikeleton, under the neck of which was 
 a large ftone with a hole in it. This circum- 
 llance renders it probable, that the perfon, 
 whofe remains were thus found, had been 
 murdered by drowning in the well, with a 
 ftone faliened to the neck. 
 
 The well has (ince been cleared out to the 
 depth of ten or twelve feet ; and in it were 
 found two ancient iron keys, much corroded ; 
 and a perfect metal jug, holding three pints, 
 and nearly of the form of an old-fafliioned 
 ewer. Its form does not induce me to fup- 
 pofe it Roman.
 
 ( 121 ) 
 
 'The moft material difcoveries, however, were 
 made by Mr. Simpfon in the courfe of level- 
 ling and filling the inner fofle, north of the 
 road, for the purpofe of making a kitchen gar- 
 den. The whole of the ancient eaftern wall 
 has by this means been traced. It terminated 
 to the north in a round tower of folid mafonry. 
 This tower was about eighteen feet in diame- 
 ter ; and Mr. Simpfon has difcovered traces of 
 a fimilar tower at the fouthern extremity of 
 the wall. Thefe two towers were probably 
 Roman, and parts of the original wall ; but at 
 the diftance of about feventy-eight feet from 
 the northern tower, another femicircqlar 
 tower or buttrefs was difcovered, of twenty- 
 four feet in diameter ; whofe foundations were 
 compofed of very large ftones, taken from fome 
 more ancient building. Several of thefe were 
 fimilar to thofe which were defcribed in my 
 former paper, and which I have fuppofed to be 
 coping fiones. Several fragments of diflferent 
 cornices were alfo found ; one of them with 
 the mouldings enriched in no contemptible 
 tafte. 
 
 A rude bafe of a column was alfo dif- 
 covered, and many ftones with infcriptions, 
 fome nearly illegible, others very fair. Of 
 
 a
 
 ( 122 ) 
 
 thefe the mod worthy of notice is a very pdr- 
 fc6l fmall altar, dedicated to the goddefs An- 
 cafta; a deity hitherto unknown to antiqua- 
 ries, and therefore of conliderable curiofity. 
 It is likely that (he was fome local divinity or 
 tutelary nymph, but the name does not lead 
 to a probable furmife to what country fhe be- 
 longed. It would be too bold a conje6lure to 
 fuppofe, from the firft fyllable, that fhe was 
 conne(9:ed with the river An or Ant, of which 
 we have fpoken in the beginning of this work : 
 but it may not, poflibly, be foreign from the 
 fubjedl to obferve that the Gaulilh and Britiih 
 goddefs of victory was called Andate or An- 
 drafte. 
 
 The annexed reprefentation is I believe very 
 accurate : it is to a fcale of an inch to a foot, 
 as are thofe of the other infcriptions. The 
 infcriptions themfelves are copied with great 
 care, after imprellions taken from the ftones 
 themfelves.
 
 < 123 ) 
 
 The infcription may be thus read : DE^ 
 ANCAST^ GEMINVS MANIVS LIBENS 
 MERITO ; for if the letters VSLM, in the 
 laft line, be fuppofed to ftand for " votum fol- 
 vit libens merito," as they often do, the proper 
 name muil be Mani, which ig of an unufual 
 form.
 
 ( 1^4 ) 
 
 The next in point of importance, appears to 
 be a fragment of a miliary column. It is 
 eighteen inches in diameter, of a folid blackifh 
 flone. The back, part is left rough, as if in- 
 tended to be fixed againft a wall. 
 
 I dare not hazard any reading of the infcrip- 
 tion, which is of very rude workmanlhip.
 
 ( 125 ) 
 
 The three following are votive or dedicatory. 
 The firft is to the emperor Gordian, probably 
 the younger. 
 
 It is of very rude work, and may be read as 
 follows : IMPERATORI CESARI MARCO 
 ANTONIO GORDIANO PIO FELICI 
 AVGVSTO.RP,B.I. Of the three Gqr- 
 dians, the youngeft only bore the name of 
 Pius ; but it is poflible that the letter P might 
 not be the name of the emperor, but one of 
 the ufual titles, Pius, Felix.
 
 ( 126 ) 
 
 The next is to the emperors Gallius and 
 Volulianus. 
 
 It is as rude as poffible, but eafily legible; 
 IMPERATORIBVS C^SARIBVS GALLO 
 ET VOLVSIANO AVGVSTIS.
 
 ( m ) 
 
 ^ The laft is to the tyrant Tetricus : it is on a 
 fquare ftone, and of very neat workman (hi p. 
 
 C'/ESVL'O 
 P :^'A/ C '' 
 
 It is not entirely legible, the firft line being 
 much injured. It may fafely be read as fol- 
 lows : AP . CA - - CAIO . .ESVLO . TETRI- 
 CO . PIO . ET . AVGVSTO. 
 
 This infcription is lingular, from the name 
 of ^Efulus preceding that of Tetricus, whofe 
 family name was Pivefus, or Pefuvius, or Pive- 
 fuvius ; but neither the father or fon ever ap- 
 pear to have borne a name approaching to 
 iEfulus ; and though, from the great variety 
 in the fpelling of the name on different me- 
 dals, its orthography appears to have been un- 
 certain, yet ^fulus is too far diftant from all 
 the readings, to render it probable that it was 
 intended for any of them.
 
 ( 128 ) 
 
 On the inrcriptions found at Bittern we may 
 remark, that four of them are votive to the fe- 
 veral emperors named in them. In Horfley's 
 Britannia Romana a few occur in the fame 
 form, generally on ftones approaching more or 
 lefs to a columnar fhape. Horfley calls them 
 Miliary ; which they evidently cannot be, as 
 neither place nor diftance is mentioned on 
 them. Besides, the difcovery of four on one 
 fpot would alone deftroy this fuppofition. 
 From the rudenefs of their form, they cannot 
 be fuppofed to have been the bafes of ftatues ; 
 and indeed they feem too rude to have been 
 placed within any temple or public building. 
 Perhaps they might have been mere memorials 
 of the acceffion of the fovereign whofe name 
 they bear, and placed in the Forum or Cam- 
 pus Martins of the ftation, when its garrifon 
 took the oath of allegiance. This, however, 
 muft be merely matter of conjedlure. 
 
 H. C. ENGLEFIELD. 
 
 Tilnei/ Street, London, 
 August 7, 1805.
 
 ^BJDEJVB^.
 
 NOTES, &c. 
 
 Page 35. 
 
 The precentorftiip was certainly attached to 
 St. Mary's : for, in the Liber Regis, the living 
 is defcribed as the " Precentorfhip in the 
 Church of St. Mary near Southampton, alias 
 the Re6lory of St. Mary's near Southampton ;'* 
 and as the patron of the vicarage of South 
 Stoneham, though incumbent of the former, is 
 again called " the Precentor or Re6lor of St. 
 Mary's near Southampton," might not the 
 Valor of Pope Nicholas IV. probably afford 
 fome further information, as to what this 
 precentorfhip was ; or how it became con- 
 nedled, not with the right of patronage^ which 
 is not uncommon in the cafe of cathedral pre- 
 centorfhips, but with the aHual incumbency of 
 a parifh church, of which I do not at prefent 
 know of another inftance ?
 
 ( 13-2 ) 
 
 Page 39. 
 
 Arthur Hammond, efq, has lately difcovered, 
 in the records of the Corporation, a deed, 
 with the feal appendent, dated in 1565. In 
 this earlier impreflion of the feal, the infcrip- 
 tion round the reverfe is ftill legible, and jt 
 runs thus: o .mater . virgo . dei . tv . 
 
 MISERERE . NOBIS. 
 
 Page 70. 
 
 In the north fide of Simnel ftreet, and 
 fronting the lane which forms a communi- 
 cation between that ftreet and St. Mi- 
 chael's fquare, is an ancient and curious 
 vaulted apartment, which has long been ufed 
 as a cellar. It is approached, on the fouth, by 
 a defcent of thirteen ftone fteps; on the fe- 
 venth of which the ancient door was placed, 
 the hooks of its hinges ftill remaining : the 
 prefent door, which is modern, being at the 
 top of the fteps, and level with the ftreet. On 
 entering the apartment, thofe who have feen 
 the ancient room at Netley Abbey, which is 
 called the abbot's kitchen, are ftruck with the
 
 ( 133 ) 
 
 refemblance which the two places bear to each 
 other. 
 
 The length of this room is thirty-four feet 
 ten inches ; the breadth, twenty-one feet feven 
 inches ; the extreme height of the vaulting, 
 thirteen feet three inches. In the four cor- 
 ners, and midway between them, on the north 
 and fouth fides, and at the diftance from the 
 corners of fifteen feet each way, at two feet 
 four inches above the floor, the ribs or ramifi- 
 cations of the pointed arches which fupport the 
 ceiling, rife from their refpe^live groins; which 
 are fupported by heads apparently in their 
 original f^ate rudely cut, and at prefent much 
 defaced. The heads are not uniform, and one 
 appears to have fhoulders fupporting it. On 
 thefe heads are femi-o(Slagonal and very deep 
 mouldings; from which rife, in each corner one 
 ramification, and at each fide three ramifica- 
 tions: thefe interfedl in two places on the ceil- 
 ing, and in the centre of the ceiling another 
 ramification is thrown acrofs. At the inter- 
 fedlion nearefl the eafl end is the ornament of 
 a head with flowing hair and a beard, of toler- 
 able execution. At the other interfedtion is a 
 carved flower, and the fame at the middle ra- 
 mification.
 
 ( 134 ) 
 
 The fouth fide of the building, which forms 
 its front in Simnel flreet, is occupied by the 
 door and windows. The door is in the lower 
 or weftern compartment, and is placed in the 
 middle of one of the arches; the two windows 
 fill up the other. The door way, as was before 
 obferved, is on the feventh ftep below the pre- 
 fent level of the ftreet. It conlifts of a rather 
 obtufe-headed arch, five feet five inches and a 
 half wide, and five feet ten inches high; the 
 fides of the door way going up flraight to the 
 height of four feet four inches, from which 
 height the arch begins to rife. 
 
 In the upper or eaflern compartment of the 
 fouth fide, are two pointed-arched windows, 
 now bricked up. The bottom of thefe is only 
 three feet from the floor; extreme height five 
 feet fix inches ; width inwards five feet fix 
 inches, but narrowing towards the flreet, 
 where the width is only four feet. Width of 
 pier between windows, one foot. In the pre- 
 fent flate of this building, the windows are 
 completely buried, their tops being juft about 
 the level of the flreet. 
 
 In the centre of-the eafl end is an ancient 
 fire place, projecting into the room like that at 
 Ncdey, with a kind of flope like a pent houfe,
 
 ( 135 ) 
 
 terminating with a large and plain moulding, 
 which is fupported by plain pillars. The front 
 of the fire place is now conliderably damaged, 
 but is faid to have been, within memory, ra- 
 ther handfome; the fide pillars having been 
 ornamented with heads below the moulding, 
 and the middle forming an arch. Beyond 
 the pillars, on each fide, are brackets carefully 
 finiihed with neat and deep mouldings, and 
 terminating at the bottom with a fort of fo- 
 liage. The chimney place is five feet eight 
 inches wide, projects into the room two feet 
 ten inches, height from the ground of the 
 moulding below the pent houfe five feet two 
 inches, flope of pent houfe three feet two 
 inches, funnel of chimney three feet by fifteen 
 inches. In the north-eaft corner of the room 
 is a ftone-ftair cafe, now bricked up, but which 
 fcarcely feems to have been part of the original 
 plan. And on the weft fide of the room is a 
 door way into an adjoining cellar, alfo bricked 
 up, but evidently, in its original ftate, a mo- 
 dern perforation, and not conne6^ed with the 
 building as it was firft ere(5led. 
 
 Adjoining this building are fome old cellars ; 
 but a careful infpedlion of them has aflx)rded 
 no light as to their former probable connexion
 
 ( 136 ) 
 
 with this place. The only thing remarkable 
 in them is an aperture fomewhat like the but- 
 tery hatch in ancient buildings, but which is fo 
 obftrudled with brick work that it feems im- 
 poflible to determine whether originally it 
 ferved this purpofe, or was merely a cupboard ; 
 and at any rate it feems unlikely ever to have 
 had any thing to do with this building, as, if 
 ever it led any where, it mull have been to a 
 place below this. 
 
 The following notes were communicated 
 juft as the impreffion of the work was finifhed, 
 by the kindnefs of A. Hammond, efq ; to 
 whom the author of this work is already fo 
 much indebted. They could not therefore 
 appear in their proper places. 
 
 Page 6. 
 
 The' building in Houndwell has been taken 
 down while the work was printing.
 
 ( 137 ) 
 
 This building was originally a public wafh- 
 houfe, and was furnifhed with troughs, &c, for 
 that purpofe. In l634, as appears by the 
 town records, it was ordered to be repaired. 
 It not having been ufed for many years, 
 agreeably to its defign, it was lately judged 
 expedient to take it down. 
 
 Page 8. 
 
 In ancient times, the corporation received a 
 toll, for goods, wares, and merchandifes, paf- 
 fing on the bridge at Bargate : and, by an en- 
 try in their journal, of 1679, it appears that it 
 was given up, in conlideration of a fum of 
 money, raifed by the inhabitants of this and 
 the neighbouring towns. 
 
 Page 9. 
 
 The third coat of arms over Bargate is of 
 Frederick Tylney, efq, who reprefented South- 
 ampton in parliament, in 1702. 
 
 The fourth of Thomas Lewis, efq, who re- 
 prefented it in 1715. He was a conliderable 
 benefadVor to the town. 
 
 S
 
 ( 138 ) 
 
 It feems probable that thefe {bields have at 
 times had a change of arms, in compliment of 
 particular benefadlors. 
 
 There are no means of afcertaining when 
 they were firft put up ; but, in 1702, there is 
 an order " that the king's arms, fcutcheons, 
 gyants, and the dial, at Bargate, be repaired.'* 
 At that time, we may prefume, fome other 
 arms gave way to thofe of Tylney, he having 
 then prefented to the corporation a grand fil- 
 ver tankard, wafhed with gold. 
 
 The fhield occupied by the arms of Wynd- 
 ham was probably painted in compliment to 
 Sir Charles Wyndham, elected a member for 
 this town in 1679. 
 
 Two, of his name, appear to have been re- 
 corders of this town ; one chofen in 1690, the 
 other (his brother) in 1696. 
 
 Page 33. 
 
 Holy Rood Church, about 1321, flood in 
 the middle of the High-ftrcet ; and, on its re- 
 moval, the old audit houfe probably was built 
 on the fame fite: Long fubfequent to this, 
 it was greatly defaced by the ere6lion of but- 
 chers' ihambles around it, which theretofore
 
 ( 139 ) 
 
 were near the friary, now Gloucefter-fquare : 
 and the wardens of the butchers were, in 
 1634, diredled to confine to, either the friars* 
 gate, or New-corner, now called Butcher-row. 
 
 Page 46. 
 
 Among the attendants or fervants of the 
 corporation, formerly, was a band of five mufi- 
 cians, who wore gowns and badges ; and, on 
 the eleventh of December, 1607, it was or- 
 dered, that the muficians fhould give fecurity 
 for their efcutcheons or badges of filver. 
 
 Page 71. 
 
 In 1214, Adam De Port was governor of 
 Southampton caflle. -The family of De Port 
 appears, from Domefday Book, to have been 
 of great diflindlion, and to have pofTefTed 
 large eftates in thefe parts, foon after the 
 Conquefl. 
 
 Page 75. 
 
 The fair ufually called Chapel Fair appears, 
 from the proclamation ufually read on opening
 
 ( 140 ) 
 
 it, to have been granted by Henry VII. In 
 1628 and 1637 it was forbidden to be held, on 
 account of the plague.
 
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PLATES. 
 
 Engraved Title. 
 
 The engraved title page, compofed from 
 fragments extant in the town. 
 
 The arch is that mentioned in page 12, as 
 cxifting in the room in the town hall, adjoin- 
 ing the grand-jury room. 
 
 The has relief of two beads is noticed in 
 page 32. 
 
 The niche work on the flone, on which the 
 upper part of the title is engraved, is copied 
 from that of the conduit in the High-ftreet, 
 near the friary. See page 47. 
 
 The three monograms at the bottom of the 
 plate are mentioned in page 64. The middle 
 one is that in St. Michael's church ; that to 
 the left is in St. Mary's church-yard; that to 
 the right, at Romfey.
 
 ( 142 ) 
 
 The Gothic letter in which the titleis en- 
 graved, is copied from that of the mayoralty 
 feal. 
 
 Page 21. 
 
 Meafured elevation of the five fouthernmoll 
 arches in the town wall, with the more ancient 
 buildings covered by them. This elevation 
 is drawn to a fcale of ten feet to an inch. 
 
 Page 23. 
 
 Another part of the arches in the wall of 
 the town, fhowing the remain of the very fin- 
 gular building, partly deftroyed, and then 
 brought to make a part of the wall. The 
 view comprehends the arches defcribed as 
 eight, nine, ten, and eleven. This elevation is 
 drawn to the fame fcale with the other, being 
 ten feet to an inch.
 
 ( 143 ) 
 
 Page 38. 
 
 The regalia of the corporation. The mace, 
 oar, and fvvord, are not drawn in their real pro- 
 portions, but are each copied exa6lly from the 
 originals. The mace is the moft ancient one 
 belonging to the corporation. On each fide 
 are feals. The (hip is copied as exactly as 
 the fize would allow, from the filver mayoralty 
 feal. The three figures in niches are the re- 
 verfe of the corporation feal now in ufe. 
 
 The fhield in the centre has the arms of the 
 town. 
 
 Page 42. 
 
 The two feals defcribed in the note. The 
 large one is the feal for recognizances. The 
 fmall one the feal of the flaple. 
 
 PagIe 50. 
 
 View looking wefl, in Porters'-lane. The 
 ancient building is on the right. The two re-
 
 ( 144 ) 
 
 maining central windows are Teen, and the two 
 lateral windows beyond them on the weft fide. 
 Between the great opening and the upper 
 window, near the eye, a fmall part of the 
 moulding of the neareft lateral window to the 
 eaft of the centre is vilible. The furtheft 
 eaftern window is out of the pi6lure. To the 
 left are the warehoufes with the covered foot- 
 way running under them. 
 
 Page 63. 
 
 Inlidc view of St. Michael's church, taken 
 from the fouth door, looking north. The 
 gates feen laterally to the right, open into the 
 chancel. The femicircular arches fupport the 
 tower. 
 
 Page 65. 
 
 Font in St. Michael's church. In the 
 compartment to the right of the plate is a 
 fourth part of the top of the font, fhowing its 
 ornaments ; and below, an elevation of the 
 font.
 
 ( 145 ) 
 
 Page 68. 
 
 View up Blue-anchor-lane, fliowing the lidc 
 of the very ancient building mentioned in 
 pages 23 and 68. 
 
 Page 97. 
 
 Elevation of the central part of the building 
 in Portcr's-lane ; comprehending the triple 
 great window, and one of the two fmaller win- 
 dows on each fide of it. The vcftiges of the 
 two doors alfo appear. This elevation extends 
 forty-eight feet, and is drawn to a fcale of a 
 quarter of an inch to a foot. 
 
 Page 105. 
 
 Plan of the Roman ftation at Bittern. The 
 buildings marked houfc and ham are of high 
 
 T
 
 .( 146 ) 
 
 Antiquity. Between the barn and new road 
 was a gateway, now deftroyed. On the other 
 fide of the road the foundation of the tower is 
 marked, out of which the large coping Hones 
 were taken. 
 
 The lighter fhading ihows the ground 
 covered by fpring tides, the darker by or- 
 dinary tides. At low water the whole is a 
 mud bank. 
 
 This plan is in great part taken from that 
 publifhed in the firft volume of the Hampftiire 
 Repolitory. 
 
 Page 108. 
 
 Antiquities found at Bittern. No. l, 2, 
 and 3, are top, fide, and front views of the 
 ftone fuppofed to have been part of the front 
 of an ornamented niche. No. 4 is a muti- 
 lated cornice. No. 5, one of the coping 
 ftones erroneoufly called femicolumns. No. 6, 
 view of a fragment of an angular fione of the 
 fame coping. No. 7, an infcription to Aure-
 
 ( 147 ) 
 
 lian. This laft has been found fome years. 
 No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7, are drawn to a fcale 
 of a quarter of an inch to a foot. 
 
 Btkercnit Plrtcher, rriattrti 
 Hitb^ftrctt, scuthanpun.
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Page 17, line 9, for pensor read fensor. 
 
 Page 4, line 4 from bott6m, for Bumel read Bumel. 
 
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