Southampton

The Bargate is a Grade I listed medieval gatehouse in the city centre of Southampton, England. Constructed in Norman times as part of the Southampton town walls, it was the main gateway to the city. The building is a scheduled monument, which has served as a temporary exhibition and event space for Southampton Solent University since 2012.

All Saints' Church was a church building in Southampton City Centre, located on the corner of the High Street and East Street, a short distance south of the Bargate. The original church on the site was named All Hallows, and was constructed in medieval times on land granted by the monarch at the time, Henry II, to the monks of St. Denys Priory. This building fell into disrepair and in the 1790s a new church building was constructed and the church renamed to All Saints. The old church was demolished in 1791 and the new building was completed in 1795, following two acts of Parliament allowing trustees of the church to raise funds from rates on property and rents in the parish. The All Hallows catacombs were incorporated into the All Saints building, and a separate graveyard was established. The church was regularly attended by author Jane Austen while she lived in Southampton and painter Sir John Everett Millais was baptised there. A new organ was installed in the church in 1861 and a substantial refurbishment programme took place in 1872. All Saints was heavily damaged in the Southampton Blitz and was subsequently demolished. The All Saints building was designed by architect Willey Reveley and featured an arched ceiling that spanned the whole sanctuary, some 90 feet (27 m) long and 60 feet (18 m) wide, without the use of any supporting pillars. The neoclassical frontage of the church was dominated by four columns supporting Grecian pilasters and a triangular pediment. The catacombs were the resting place of a chancellor of the Exchequer and two notable Royal Navy officers among others. In August 1944 the remains of all 403 people buried in the catacombs were transferred to a communal grave elsewhere in Southampton.

Southampton City Centre is the commercial and organisational centre of the City of Southampton, and the transport hub of the city. Because Southampton is on the South Coast of England, the city centre is not at the geometric centre of the city, but at the southern extremity. The traditional heart of the city is the High Street, which runs from the Town Quay to the Bargate, which was once the northern gateway to the walled city. As the city grew, this primary commercial area spread to the north of the Bargate, into Above Bar Street. Subsequent reclamation of land from Southampton Water to the west of the High Street meant further expansion in that direction, forming an area now known as West Quay and dominated by the modern Westquay shopping centre. When it opened, Westquay was the largest city-centre shopping centre in Europe, with around 100 shops.

Southampton's town walls are a sequence of defensive structures built around the town in southern England. Although earlier Roman and Anglo-Saxon settlements around Southampton had been fortified with walls or ditches, the later walls originate with the move of the town to the current site in the 10th century. This new town was defended by banks, ditches and the natural curve of the river and coastline. The Normans built a castle in Southampton but made no attempts to improve the wider defences of the town until the early 13th century, when Southampton's growing prosperity as a trading centre and conflict with France encouraged the construction of a number of gatehouses and stone walls to the north and east sides of the settlement. In 1338 Southampton was raided by French forces; the town's defences proved inadequate, particularly along the quays on the west and south of the city. Edward III ordered some immediate improvements to Southampton's town walls but it was not until the 1360s that substantial work began. Over the coming decades the town was entirely enclosed by a 2 km (1.25-mile) long stone wall, with 29 towers and eight gates. With the advent of gunpowder weapons in the 1360s and 1370s, Southampton was one of the first towns in England to install the new technology to existing fortifications and to build new towers specifically to house cannon. Southampton's town walls remained an important defensive feature during the 15th century, the gatehouses sometimes being used as important civic facilities, including acting as the town's guildhall and housing the town's gaol. From the end of the 17th century their importance steadily declined and the walls were slowly demolished or adapted for other uses throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. This process continued into the early 20th century until, in the post-war years, the walls were recognised as an important historical feature of Southampton. Conservation projects have since occurred and the walls are now promoted as a tourist attraction.

Southampton Castle was located in the town of Southampton in Hampshire, England. Constructed after the Norman conquest of England, it was located in the north-west corner of the town overlooking the River Test, initially as a wooden motte and bailey design. By the late 12th century the royal castle had been largely converted to stone, playing an important part in the wine trade conducted through the Southampton docks. By the end of the 13th century the castle was in decline, but the threat of French raids in the 1370s led Richard II to undertake extensive rebuilding. The result was a powerfully defended castle, one of the first in England to be equipped with cannon. The castle declined again in the 16th century and was sold off to property speculators in 1618. After being used for various purposes, including the construction of a Gothic mansion in the early 19th century, the site was flattened and largely redeveloped. Only a few elements of the castle still remain visible in Southampton.

The Dolphin Hotel is a Grade II* listed 4-star hotel, which is the oldest in Southampton, Hampshire. Recorded mentions of the hotel date back to 1454 although it is believed to older than this and remnants of the original medieval timbers, and stone vaulting are extant.The hotel was a famous coaching inn during the 17th-century and became quite fashionable during the city's stint as a spa-town from 1750 to 1820. The Georgian frontage, complete with coaching entrance and oriel windows, said to be the biggest in England, was added about 1760.After a period of closure the hotel reopened on 4 May 2010 following a £4 million redevelopment programme.

Above Bar Church is an evangelical church in Southampton, affiliated to the Fellowship of Independent Evangelical Churches. The building is on the corner of Above Bar Street and Ogle Road in Southampton City Centre, with shops on the ground level and the auditorium and other rooms above them.

Westquay (formerly WestQuay) is a shopping centre in Southampton, England. It has an area of 95,600 m2 (1,029,000 sq ft) of retail and leisure space and contains around 130 shops, including major retailers such as John Lewis and Partners, Marks and Spencer, Zara, Schuh, Waterstone's, Hollister Co., Apple, and others. It is situated in the city centre, close to the docks, with entrances on the main High Street (Above Bar Street), on Portland Terrace, through Waterstone's and through John Lewis, and on Harbour Parade, through the new (2016-2017) Westquay South. There is a built-in multi-storey car park with an entrance into the centre along with a 3 tier car park beneath. Building work began in 1997 as the former Daily Echo building and Pirelli Cable Works were demolished to make way for the centre. Westquay North was opened on 28 September 2000. The building is heated using geothermal energy, as is the civic centre. A centralised plant uses heat from an aquifer underground and then distributes it to the buildings in the city centre via a district heating scheme. The John Lewis store replaced the local department store Tyrrell & Green (a branch of the John Lewis Partnership), which met with mixed emotions from the local people. Marks & Spencer relocated from Above Bar Street to take the second anchor store. There have been a few major changes to Westquay North's shops since its opening. Tower Records (which faced fierce competition from the HMV store across the street) was replaced with a Nike store, which closed after just a few months. This unit is now Pret A Manger, a sandwich retailer. Waitrose moved to Portswood in 2006 and the old Waitrose space has now been replaced by New Look, which was originally located in a smaller store a floor above. The former New Look store is now River Island. In early 2019 River Island relocated to Above Bar Street and the Unit was divided into two with Lego taking one of the newly-created units. Waitrose did return, however, to Westquay North in 2015 within the lower ground floor of the John Lewis store, branded as Little Waitrose. In mid-May 2009 the first Hollister store to be opened outside the extended London area opened in Westquay North: this is considered a major coup for Westquay as it reflects well on the strength of the retail offering available. During the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic Westquay was closed for the first time other than on Christmas Day and Easter Sunday.

Holyrood Church (or Holy Rood Church) was one of the original five churches serving the old walled town of Southampton, England. Built in 1320, the church was destroyed by enemy bombing during the blitz in November 1940. In 1957 the shell of the church was dedicated as a memorial to the sailors of the Merchant Navy. It is a Grade II* listed building.

St. Michael the Archangel Church is the oldest building still in use in the city of Southampton, England, having been founded in 1070, and is the only church still active of the five originally in the medieval walled town. The church is a Grade I Listed building.

The Castle Snooker Club was a billiard hall at 57-59 Castle Way, Southampton, England, opened in 1970 by professional snooker player Bernard Bennett. Snooker historian Clive Everton described it as "the earliest of the new-style snooker establishments which were to replace the dingy, disreputable billiard halls of old." It was the venue for Bennett's 1971 challenge match against Rex Williams for the World Billiards Championship. Williams retained the title, winning by 9,250 point to 4,058. The 1972 World Snooker Championship qualifying match between Bennett and Graham Miles was held at the club; Miles won 15–6. As of 1999, professional player Duncan Moore coached at the club. Bennett died in 2002, having seen the Club resognised as an accredited centre by snooker's governing body. The club closed in June 2007.

Tudor House and Garden is a historic building, museum, tourist attraction, and Grade I listed building in Southampton, England. Established as Southampton's first museum in 1912, the house was closed for nine years between 2002 and 2011 during an extensive renovation.The house is located in Bugle Street, opposite St. Michael's Square, in Southampton's Old Town.