Southampton City Council Archaeology Unit

19/03/2024

👇 Fantastic news about the heritage project 👇

🥳 We are pleased to announce that the second phase of the Heritage Assets Repair Programme will begin this spring.

👷 Paye Stonework & Restoration Ltd has been appointed as the contractors to carry out the next phase of the project.

30 locations across the city will benefit from the works, including:

🦁 Bargate
⛪ Holyrood Church
🏰 Castle Hall
🧱 Canute’s Palace

Find out more about the next phase of the project 👉https://soton.cc/heritageprojectphasetwo

17/10/2023

Heritage project update 👇

15/08/2023

Works to Tudor House begin this Friday 👇

As part of our commitment to maintain Tudor House as a place for all to enjoy, we will be carrying out works to repair and conserve the venue from Friday 18 August to the end of October 2023.

Tudor House will remain open for visitors during this time. However, please be advised that scaffolding will be in place and we will seek to minimise the impact on visitors within the house as much as we can. We look forward to welcoming you to this lovely historic house and gardens.

This is part of a major programme of works to conserve Southampton’s nationally important heritage assets.

02/08/2023

Visit some of Southampton's Vaults for Heritage Open Day! On 16 September you can visit 3 of the City's newly restored Vaults and Monuments. The Weigh House and the Weigh House Vault, St Michaels Prison Vault, and 11 St Michaels Square Vault will be open from 10:30 – 15:30.

This is an excellent opportunity to discover part of Southampton history and celebrate the restoration of ancient monuments.

Discover more here - https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/southampton-vaults

31/07/2023

Step inside of one of Southampton most famous monuments, the Bargate for Heritage Open Days. Open 8 9 September, 10.30am - 15.30pm.

Within the Bargate you will be able to see the larger-than-life paintings of Bevois and Ascupart, Queen Anne’s Statue, still missing an arm. There's lots of information and history about the building and conservation works, also there's an interactive map with 3D, digital models of old buildings and monuments around Southampton.

This will be the first time it has been open to the public since the Bargate Monument Gallery closed in 2012.

Discover more info here - https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/southampton-bargate

06/06/2023

02/06/2023

Fantastic news for the heritage project! 🥳👇🏻

We’re pleased to announce that Traditional Stone Restoration has been appointed to carry out repairs to and conserve many of Southampton’s fantastic and much-loved historic monuments 🥳

The first phase of this work will start on Monday and will include high-profile monuments including the Town Walls and St Mary’s Churchyard.

Forty Steps near Western Esplanade will be closed to the public from early June and is expected to reopen later this summer.

Stay up to date on the project here: soton.cc/heritage

30/05/2023

🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🦁🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

The conservators of the Bargate Lions are today returning the St George’s flags to their rightful place, including the flag that went missing!

A condition check has also been carried out on both of the lions as it has been two years since they were restored.

CCTV is in place to continue to monitor our Bargate Lions and their flags.

18/05/2023

Repairs have recently been completed to the Ransom Drinking Fountain, located at the southern end of Asylum Green, the Avenue.

The repairs were carried out by Historic Buildings Conservators and Stonemasons, Nick Johnston of Iron Hill Building, Conservation & Restoration Ltd.

Back in September 2022, the fountain was damaged, probably by a passing vehicle. Several of the large Purbeck limestone steps were badly cracked and more stones were dislodged. New stones were ordered from one of the Purbeck limestone quarries in Dorset to match the existing stones.

The Ransom Drinking Fountain was unveiled in 1865. Councillor John Ransom, who was one of Southampton’s shipbuilders and repairers gifted the fountain to his local town.

30/03/2023

Great news! The Bargate Lion flag that went missing has been returned in good condition! 🦁 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Thank you to those who made sure it came back home – we really appreciate your help in getting them returned so that the Lions can be complete once again.

Before the flag can be re-installed, some minor repairs and paint work will be carried out.

The conservators will return the second flag and do the repair work at the same time. A condition check will also be carried out on both of the lions as it is two years since they were restored!

CCTV is in place to monitor our Bargate Lions and their flags.

06/02/2023

We are investing over £6 million to repair and conserve many of our heritage assets in Southampton.

Led by Southampton’s Culture team, as part of this investment, new lights have now been installed in two of the medieval wine vaults hidden under the Old Town area.

The light fittings were designed and installed by Southampton City Council electricians to cope with very damp conditions.

New handrails are now being made and we anticipate that they will be installed in spring this year. Once installed, guided tours around the Old Town will be able to visit nine Medieval vaults in total.

As well as guided tours, four of the vaults are available for hire.

Find out more and hire a vault here: soton.cc/medievalvaults

15/12/2022

Southampton is full of history and as a council, we work all year round to preserve it so it can continue to tell our city’s stories for generations to come.

The Westgate, built after the French raid of 1338 once defended the entrance to the West Quay, the town’s only commercial quay.
As part of our commitment to maintain and protect our nationally important heritage, today the roof was swept and the gutters cleared to prevent blockages that might cause leaks or floods. The roof tower was also surveyed in preparation for repair works that will take place next year.

If you would like to discover more about the building, why not book a tour with SEE Southampton and visit the Mayflower 400 exhibition inside Westgate tower. Find out more https://www.seesouthampton.co.uk/