Southampton Castle (The Gatehouse Record)

Description

The establishment of a castle at Southampton, soon after the Conquest, probably marked the inception of the Mediaeval town. The earliest castle was a motte (some 200ft. in diameter) surrounded by a deep ditch and probably surmounted by a timber fort and with a defensive bailey, within a palisaded bank and ditch, on its northern side.
Major attention was paid to the castle throughout Henry IIIs reign, particularly to the King's cellars, the adjacent quay, and the royal lodgings. However, little attention seems to have been given to the defences of the castle, which Henry appears to have regarded more as a residence and wine depot rather than a defensible work. In 1286 the castle was said to be ruinous, and despite almost continual work on the towns defences, and the french raid of 1338, little provision was made for the castle's defences. The castle was granted to, and held by successive Queens as a dower house, until Queen Philippa demised it to Thomas West in 1333, and then to John de Beauchamp in 1343. In 1359 Philippa surrendered the castle to Edward III, who promptly granted it to the custody of first, Richard of Pembridge, and then in 1372 to John of Foxley.
In 1376 the men of the town of Southampton petitioned the King to take the town and its defence into his own hands, which led to the rebuilding of the keep, the creation of a mantlet and barbican, the works being completed in 1380. In 1386, Thomas Tredyngdon was appointed as keeper because of his expertise in artillery, several artillery pieces being kept within the castle. By 1585, the castle was described as ruinous.
The whole palisaded defence was replaced by stone by the latter half of the 12th.c. but the keep probably remained a timber structure until the end of the 13th.c. A new keep, with four turrets, was built 1378-80. In 1618 the ruined castle was sold to private hands and in 1804 the ruins were incorporated in a Gothic 'castle'. This was removed in 1818 and the mound was lowered in 1822. The site is now occupied by a block of flats. (PastScape)

Late C14 remains of the drum towers flanking the principal gateway to Southampton's Mediaeval Castle. These twin drum towers were added to the defensive bailey wall of the Royal Castle. Stone rubble walls to a height of nearly 20 ft with several arches, some now blocked. (Listed Building Report)

Sources of information, references and further reading

National Heritage List for England Scheduled Monument Number 1001888, Legacy Scheduled Monument Number sp241
National Heritage List for England Listed Building number(s) 1178677
Historic England (PastScape) Defra or Monument number(s) 230568.
County Historic Environment Record (or Sites and Monuments Record) number(s) MSH23.

Websites (Gatehouse is not responsible for the content of external websites.)
- Wikipedia entry
  CastlesFortsBattle.co.uk
Books
- Keith D Lilley, 2017, 'The Norman Conquest and its influences on urban landscapes' in Dawn M Hadley and Christopher Dyer, The Archaeology of the 11th Century Continuities and Transformations (Routledge) p. 30-56
  Alex Bayliss, Robert Hedges, Robert Otlet, Roy Switsur, and Jill Walker (eds), 2012, Radiocardon Dates from samples funded by English Heritage between 1981 and 1988 (London: English Heritage) p. 262-263 online copy
  Osborne, Mike, 2011, Defending Hampshire: The Military Landscape from Prehistory to the Present (Stroud: The History Press) p. 27-8, 35, 46-7, 243, 244
  Goodall, John, 2011, The English Castle 1066-1650 (Yale University Press) p. 319-21, 340, 470
  Salter, Mike, 2002, The Castles of Wessex (Malvern: Folly Publications) p. 51
  Keevill, Graham D., 2000, Medieval Palaces, An Archaeology (Stroud; Tempus) p. 71, 149
  Pettifer, A., 1995, English Castles, A guide by counties (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 89-91
  David Jordan, David Haddon-Reece, and Alex Bayliss (eds), 1994, Radiocardon Dates from samples funded by English Heritage and dated before 1981 (London: English Heritage) p. 189 online copy
  Drage, C., 1987, 'Urban castles' in Schofield, J. and Leech, R. (eds) Urban Archaeology in Britain (CBA Research Report 61) p. 117-32 online copy
  Oxley, J. (ed), 1986, Excavations at Southampton Castle (Southampton: Southampton City Museums)
  Barron, W.G., 1985, The Castles of Hampshire and Isle of Wight (Paul Cave) p. 43-6
  King, D.J.C., 1983, Castellarium Anglicanum (London: Kraus) Vol. 1 p. 193
  Fry, P.S., 1980, Castles of the British Isles (David and Charles) p. 299-300
  Renn, D.F., 1973 (2 edn.), Norman Castles of Britain (London: John Baker) p. 313-14
  Pevsner, N., and Lloyd, D., 1967, Buildings of England: Hampshire and the Isle of Wight (London, Penguin) p. 545-6
  Colvin, H.M., Brown, R.Allen and Taylor, A.J., 1963, The history of the King's Works Vol. 2: the Middle Ages (London: HMSO) p. 840-4
  Anon, 1960, Historic Buildings of Southampton (Southampton) p. 27-31
  Harvey, Alfred, 1911, Castles and Walled Towns of England (London: Methuen and Co)
  Page, Wm (ed), 1908, VCH Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Vol. 3 p. 498-500 online transcription
  Mackenzie, J.D., 1896, Castles of England; their story and structure (New York: Macmillan) Vol. 1 p. 212-3 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1884, Mediaeval Military Architecture in England (Wyman and Sons) Vol. 2 p. 479-81 online copy
  Davies, 1883, History of Southampton (Southampton) p. 59-61, 73-84
  Timbs, J. and Gunn, A., 1872, Abbeys, Castles and Ancient Halls of England and Wales Vol. 1 (London) p. 394-5 online copy
Periodical Articles
- Bradley, J and Gaimster, M. (eds), 2004, 'Medieval Britain and Ireland in 2003' Medieval Archaeology Vol. 48 p. 270, 271 download copy
  Hughes, Michael, 1989, 'Hampshire Castles and the Landscape 1066-1216' Landscape History Vol. 2 p. 27-60
  Thompson, M.W., 1986, 'Associated monasteries and castles in the Middle Ages: a tentative list' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 143 p. 315
  Kenyon, J.R., 1981 'Early Artillery Fortifications in England and Wales: a Preliminary Survey and Re-appraisal' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 138 p. 210
  Walker, 1978, Medieval Archaeology Vo22 p. 174 download copy
  King, D.J.Cathcart, 1972, 'The Field Archaeology of mottes; Eine kurze übersicht' Château Gaillard Vol. 5 p. 101-112
  (Aberg), 1962-3, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 6-7 p. 321 download copy
  (Aberg), 1961, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 5 p. 318 download copy
  (Aberg), 1960, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 4 p. 146 download copy
  Brown, R. Allen, 1959, 'A List of Castles, 1154–1216' The English Historical Review Vol. 74 p. 249-280 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press) p. 90-121) view online copy (subscription required)
  1958, Medieval Archaeology Vol. 2 p. 198-9
  Brown, R. Allen, 1955, 'Royal Castle-building in England 1154-1216' The English Historical Review Vol. 70 (Reprinted in Brown, R. Allen, 1989, Castles, conquest and charters: collected papers (Woodbridge: Boydell Press)) p. 19-64
  Stone, P.G., 1932-4, Proceedings of the Hampshire Field Club and Archaeological Society Vol. 12 p. 241-70
  Clark, G.T., 1889, 'Contribution towards a complete list of moated mounds or burhs' The Archaeological Journal Vol. 46 p. 197-217 esp. 204 online copy
  Parker, 1872, The Archaeological Journal Vol. 29 p. 375-6 online copy
  Clark, G.T., 1872, The Builder Vol. 30 p. 1025 (reprinted MMA)
  Kell, E., 1865, 'on the castle and other ancient remains at Southampton' Journal of the British Archaeological Association Vol. 21 p. 197-208, 285-7 online copy
Guidebooks
- Hodgson. J., 1986, Southampton Castle (Southampton: Southampton City Museums)
Primary (Medieval documents or transcriptions of such documents - This section is far from complete and the secondary sources should be consulted for full references.)
- Rymer,T., 1739, _Foedera, conventiones, literæ, et cujuscunque generis acta publica Vol. 1 p. 5 online copy
  Pipe Rolls 1155-6, 1186-7, 1190-3, 1204-8 (see Pipe Roll Society for published references)
  Stubbs, W. (ed), 1880, The Minor Works comprising the Gesta regum with its continuation, the Actus pontificum, and the Mappa mundi, by Gervase, the Monk of Canterbury (London: Longman Rolls series 73) Vol. 2 p. 421 online copy
  Rickard, John, 2002, The Castle Community. The Personnel of English and Welsh Castles, 1272-1422 (Boydell Press) (lists sources for 1272-1422) p. 234-5
  E178/2031 (Survey of 27 Elizabeth) The National Archives reference
  E178/5634 (Survey of 11 Charles I) The National Archives reference
  SP14/49/82 (Survey of 1609) The National Archives reference
Antiquarian (Histories and accounts from late medieval and early modern writers)
- Camden, Wm, 1607, Britannia hypertext critical edition by Dana F. Sutton (2004)
  Chandler, John, 1993, John Leland's Itinerary: travels in Tudor England (Sutton Publishing) p. 204
  Toulmin-Smith, Lucy (ed), 1907, The itinerary of John Leland in or about the years 1535-1543 (London: Bell and Sons) Vol. 1 p. 277 online copy
  Celia Fiennes, 1888, Through England on a Side Saddle in the Time of William and Mary (London: Field and Tuer, The Leadenhall Press) Vision of Britain online transcription
Other sources: Theses; 'grey' literature; in-house reports; unpublished works; etc.
- Fradley, Michael, 2011, The Old in the New: Urban Castle Imposition in Anglo-Norman England, AD1050-1150 (University of Exeter PhD Thesis) available via EThOS

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The bibliography owes much to various bibliographies produced by John Kenyon for the Council for British Archaeology, the Castle Studies Group and others.

Suggestions for finding online and/or hard copies of bibliographical sources can be seen at this link.
Minor archaeological investigations, such as watching brief reports, and some other 'grey' literature is most likely to be held by H.E.R.s but is often poorly referenced and is unlikely to be recorded here, or elsewhere, but some suggestions can be found here.

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*The listed building may not be the actual medieval building, but a building on the site of, or incorporating fragments of, the described site.

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