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Summary

The north curtain wall of Southampton Castle ran from the west curtain wall of the castle (now on Forest View) to the motte south of the Castle Eastgate on Castle Lane, enclosing the castle bailey. Much of the wall survives north of the lane, although the far west end was demolished between 1846 and 1870. South of Castle Lane the wall was demolished before 1846, but its line may survive in the parish boundary on the 1846 map. The above-ground wall is scheduled and listed.
Archaeological excavations have been carried out at a few places immediately north of the curtain wall (SOU 132) (SOU 148), outside the Castle East Gate (SOU 147) and just south of the wall (SOU 29). The archaeological evidence suggests that the wall was built into an existing rampart bank (MSH605), probably in the late 13th century or soon after; some late 13th/early 14th century limekilns found on SOU 29 are thought to have been used to produce lime for mortar to be used on the wall. An earlier 13th century date had previously been suggested from the ambiguous documentary evidence.
The top of the curtain wall may have been demolished in 1498-9. The massive foundations of the wall - a series of coursed rubble piers separated by pointed arches - were exposed by the removal of the rampart from the 18th century onwards. The part of the wall above the rampart is faced with ashlar stone, the north face being battered at the base.

Protected Status

• Scheduled Monument 1001888
• Listed Building (II*) 1178677: SOUTHAMPTON CASTLE WALL RUNNING FROM FOREST VIEW TO CASTLE LANE

Other References/Statuses

• HER backup file (new series): SOU 132  paper and digital - not yet LibraryLinked
• HER backup file (new series): SOU 147  (paper & digital), etc
• Old Southampton SMR No/Backup file: SU 4111 NE 6 & 31  
• Old Southampton SMR No/Backup file: SU 4111 SE 83  

Monument Type(s):

• BAILEY (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1325 AD)
• CASTLE (Medieval - 1200 AD to 1325 AD)
• CURTAIN WALL (Built, Medieval - 1200 AD to 1325 AD)

Full description

[9]: Extract from Listed Building Description. CASTLE LANE - Southampton Castle wall running from Forest View to Castle Lane (Grade II*).
.... defensive bailey wall of the Royal Castle. Stone rubble walls to a height of nearly 20 ft with several arches, some now blocked.
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See Parent Record MSH23 for a summary of the documentary and excavation evidence for Southampton Castle, a discussion of the development of the Castle, and a full list of sources. (The summary and indexing on this record is derived from MSH23.) Much of the north curtain wall survives above-ground and is listed and scheduled. The west end, and the part south of Castle Lane has been demolished.

The following are in chronological order.
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[13]: 1454 terrier.
- Tenement No 456: assignment of “the next loop on the north side of the aforesaid Castle, that is next to the Stile there.” (Plan shows “The Stile”.)
- Description of the first part of the First Ward (No 520). 2 loops “from the walls of the King’s Castle, that is at the Stile on the north side of the same Castle, as far as the small tower towards the north”.
- Description of First Ward (No 521). “The First Ward begins at the Stile of the King’s Castle, that is on the north side of the same Castle....”.

[13]: c1488 Description of First Ward (No 525). The First Ward begins at “the Style on the walles of the King’s Castle’ in the north’ parte of the same Castell”.

SCC HER 15/11/09: “The Stile” appears to have been a way over the castle bailey wall, probably at or near the buttress at the far west end of that wall.
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Englefield p71: After describing the Castle East Gate on Castle Lane. “The wall of enclosure is more visible on the right hand, where it passes in a curve line behind some new houses, and continues nearly entire till it meets the town wall. It is about six feet thick, and stands on the top of a high bank, with a deep ditch as its foot. This bank has been dug away, so as to show the manner of the foundation of the wall, which is on large rough flat pointed arches. This was probably done both to save materials, and to diminish the danger of cracks from unequal settlement. The wall on the left hand of the gate is nearly destroyed....”

[11]: 1846 map. The whole of the wall north of the gate is shown, including the west end. The wall ends at the buttress on the western town wall. A small piece of the wall south of the gate may be present; the parish boundary here may follow the former wall line.

[12]: 1870 map. The west end of the wall on Albion Place has been demolished. A small section of the wall south of the Castle Eastgate may be present.

[14]: Davies, 1883. Describing the line of the castle wall around the site of the motte, “...it then started off obliquely with a north-eastern inclination for about 60 feet, then in a north-westerly direction for another 85 feet, crossing at this point Castle Lane (north), where was the principal gate of the castle, destroyed also in the last century..... Beyond this the wall made a curve to the north-west till it struck the curtain, as above described, south of Catchcold. .... (This part of the wall is described.)”

[15]: VCH Hants, 1908. North wall (probably as [14], but not checked).

SOU 132 (Site 3 Albion Place) (excavation in Albion Place in 1953/4):
[1] in [6]: In Trench 4, a section was dug showing the relationship between the castle bank (which contained limited 12th century dating evidence) and the bailey wall. The stone wall was shown to be founded on the bank, resting on a distinct orange gravel bed. No mortar was observed below the bank, suggesting that the stone wall was built later.

SOU 147 (Site 3, the East Gate) (excavation outside the Castle East Gate in 1960 and 1961):
[5] in [6] (see also [7][8]): The remains of the two half-round towers, one on either side of the Castle Eastgate, were investigated. Each tower was found to be in front of an arch in the arcaded bailey (curtain) wall; they were therefore clearly a later build than the bailey wall, and contemporary with the gate passage. Documentary evidence and some archaeological dating evidence suggest the new towers and gate were built in the 14th century.

SOU 148 (Site 4 - the bailey defences, Albion Place) (excavation at Albion Place in 1959/60):
[2] in [6]: Two trenches were excavated against the castle bailey wall, one aligned in order to get a section from the wall across the castle bank and ditch. The piers of the arches of the arcaded front of the bailey wall were found to be carried down to 0.60m below the pre-castle ground surface, represented by an old turf line surviving below the bank. No close dating evidence was found in the turf line, the bank or in the lower fills of the ditch, although the bank and ditch are thought to predate the bailey wall, being the castle's earliest defences.

[17] in [6]: Brief description of north bailey wall.

SOU 29 (excavation in Maddison Street 1980/1981):
[3] in [4]: The truncated remains of the rampart of the northern castle bailey were excavated to the south of the bailey curtain wall; the dating evidence suggested that it was constructed in the 12th or 13th century date (Phase 3C) (see separate record). The rampart may be the original northern boundary of the bailey, or represent a later northern extension of the bailey. The castle bailey wall (which lay north of the excavated area) was later inserted into this rampart, perhaps in Phase 3D; this phase included a series of late 13th/early 14th century limekilns cut into the slope of the rampart, which indicate the production of lime for mortar probably intended for use on the bailey wall.

[4] (concluding chapters): Colvin [16] suggested that the construction of the bailey wall took place between 1201 and 1208. Using documentary and archaeological evidence (including SOU 29 - above), it is suggested that the bailey may originally have been much smaller and only extended to the line of the north bailey rampart after 1241. However the dating evidence does not rule out a 12th century date. The repair of a palisade, perhaps associated with the rampart, was ordered in 1249. The stone curtain wall was probably built in the late 13th century, using lime from the limekilns found on SOU 29. (See castle parent record MSH23 for details.)
In 1498-9 the 'highest of the castle walls' was thrown down. This probably refers to the north wall of the bailey. The existence of a common right of way between the chapel in the castle and Catchcold Tower to the north, and the omission of the bailey north wall from the 1611 map might support this interpretation.

[3] in [4]: Includes description of the north bailey wall, citing [17] (with two photos, plate 7). The wall survives to a considerable height. Its foundations were a series of coursed rubble piers separated by pointed arches. The piers had been set within the rampart. The part of the wall above the rampart was faced with ashlar of Binstead stone. The base of the north face of the wall is battered (photos show that the base of the ashlar face is battered).
The rampart on the north side of the bailey wall had been levelled by 1795, as a plan attached to a deed of that date shows the entire area developed as numbers 9 to 25 Albion Place (SCRO SC4/120/2). In 1865, part of the bank south of the wall remained (citing [18]).

[10]: Popular booklet. Brief description and photo of Bailey North Wall.

SCC HER 24/11/09: Note that the "Norman" buttress MSH3413, at the point where the north curtain wall meets the west curtain wall, is also built of ashlar. Is it also of Binstead stone? Binstead stone is a form of Bembridge limestone.

GIS: The standing remains have been plotted using the OS Mastermap. The west end has been estimated using the 1846 map [11]. The part of the wall south of Castle Lane has been estimated using the parish boundary shown on the 1846 map [11] and ward boundary on the 1870 map [12]. (SCC HER 23/11/09)

Sources / Further Reading

Associated Finds: None recorded

Associated Events

• ESH132 - Excavations in Albion Place in 1953/4 (Site 3 Albion Place) (Ref: SOU 132)
• ESH147 - Excavation outside the Castle Eastgate in 1960 and 1961 (Site 3, the East Gate) (Ref: SOU 147)
• ESH148 - Excavations at Albion Place in 1959/60 (Site 4 - the bailey defences, Albion Place) (Ref: SOU 148)

Related records

Associated Links: None recorded

If you have any feedback or new information about this record, please email the Southampton HER (her@southampton.gov.uk).

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