Southampton in Hampshire
It is likely that there have been settlements on the present site of Southampton since the
stone age. It is now the largest city in Hampshire and
became the major port for travel between
the then capital of England, Winchester, and Normandy after 1066.
Southampton Castle was built in the 12th
century.
By the 13th century Southampton had become a leading port, particularly involved in
the trade of French Wine in exchange for English cloth and wool.
Southampton city walls include God's House Tower, built in 1417,
the first purpose-built artillery fortification in England.
Over the years it has been used as home to the city's gunner and as, the
Town Jail.
Today, it is open as the Museum of Archaeology.
The walls were completed in the 15th century, but later development of several
new fortifications along Southampton Water and the Solent by Henry VIII,
meant that Southampton was no longer dependent upon its fortifications.
The Black Death
In 1348, the Black Death
reached England via merchant vessels calling at Southampton. This Black
Plague was one of the deadliest pandemics in human history and it existed
in England for hundreds of years.
The Great Plague of London (1665–1666) which killed over 75,000 people in
is generally recognized as one of the last major outbreaks. The plague was blamed upon
the French at the time (although later this was strongly disputed) as, in April 1665,
two infected French sailors were
said
to have collapsed and died at the junction of Drury Lane and Long Acre in London.
The British outbreak is actually thought to have originated from the
Netherlands, where the bubonic plague had existed since 1599.
Pilgrims' voyage
Southampton port was the original point of departure for the Pilgrim Fathers aboard
the Mayflower in 1620 - the famous voyage to Plymouth, Massachusetts.
Initially, the plan was for the voyage to be made in two vessels, the other being the smaller
Speedwell. The first voyage of the ships departed Southampton on August 5, 1620,
but the Speedwell developed a leak, and had to be refitted at Dartmouth.
On the second attempt, the ships reached the Atlantic Ocean but again were forced to return to
Plymouth because of the Speedwell's leak.
It would later be revealed that there was in fact nothing wrong with the Speedwell. The crew had
sabotaged it in order to escape the year-long commitment of their contract.
The final sixty-six day voyage was made by the Mayflower alone, leaving from
near to the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England on September 6th.
A small party of religious separatists who comprised about half of the
passengers on the ship wanted a life where they could practice their religion freely.
This symbol of religious freedom resonates in US society today and the story of the Mayflower
is a staple of any American history textbook. Americans whose roots are traceable
back to New England often believe themselves to be descended from Mayflower passengers.
Today a replica of the original Mayflower, The Mayflower II is,
built in the 1950s can be visited in Plymouth harbour where many tourists every year, climb aboard and get to tour the magnificent ship.
Titanic
The Titanic was a four funnelled ocean liner built
for the transatlantic passenger and mail service between Southampton and New York.
On Wednesday, 10 April 1912 she sailed from Southampton on her maiden voyage
bound for New York City, New York.
As the Titanic left her berth, her
wake caused the liner New York, which was docked nearby, to break away from her moorings and was
drawn dangerously close (about four feet) to the Titanic before a tugboat towed the New York away.
The near accident delayed departure for one hour.
The Titanic stopped at Cherbourg, France, to board additional passengers and stopped again the next day at
Queenstown (Cobh), Ireland, before continuing towards New York with 2,240 people
aboard.
At 11:40 pm a large iceberg directly ahead of the ship was seen.
An
abrupt turn to port (left) and full speed astern began the process of stopping and reversing
the ship's engines but a collision was inevitable and the iceberg brushed the ship's starboard
(right) side, buckling the hull in several places and popping out rivets below the waterline over
a length of 300 feet.
The ship had been designed to be able to stay afloat with four flooded compartments but
five filled with water and weighed down the ship so that the tops of the forward watertight
bulkheads fell below the ship's waterline, allowing water to pour into additional compartments.
The closest ship was Cunard Line's RMS Carpathia 58 miles away, which arrived too late to rescue
all of Titanic's passengers. As the forward funnel collapsed it crushed people in the water.
Nearly every first-class woman survived, compared to 86% of those in second class and less than half of those in third class.
The people of Southampton were deeply affected by the sinking of the Titanic. According to the Hampshire Chronicle on April 20, 1912,
almost 1,000 local families were directly affected. Almost every street in the Chapel district of the town lost more than
one resident and over 500 households lost a member.
RMS Queen Mary & RMS Queen Elizabeth
Southampton was later the home port for the transatlantic passenger services operated by
Cunard and their Blue Riband liner RMS Queen Mary and her sister ship RMS Queen Elizabeth.
|
Solent Sites Hampshire Business Directory & Hampshire Information
