Southampton's historic monuments set for £6.7m revamp

The city is bidding to become UK City of Culture 2025

Southampton's historic Bargate
Author: Maria Zaccaro, Local Democracy Reporting ServicePublished 21st Oct 2021

The Bargate and medieval vaults in Southampton could reopen to the public following a multimillion-pound investment.

Fifty-three monuments in the city – including the Bargate and Holyrood Church – are set for a £6.7m revamp.

The investment was approved by city leaders in the summer but the full list of the sites set to be repaired has just been released.

Details of the work and exact timescales are yet to be confirmed.

But Cllr Spiros Vassiliou, cabinet member for culture and heritage, said the 53 sites will be restored and regenerated.

He also confirmed that sites such as the Bargate and the vaults could then be reopened to the public.

The announcement comes as earlier this month Southampton was named as one of eight places in the running for the title of the UK City of Culture 2025.

The Bargate, Town Walls, Castle Bailey Wall North, Castle Eastgate, Weigh House and William Nichol Tower are all among the monuments set for repair

Cllr Vassiliou said city leaders will then look at reopening some sites such as the vaults and the Bargate to the public.

He said the roof of the Bargate needs to be repaired and there will be a tender process once work is completed “to see what ideas are put forward” for the site.

“I would personally love to see some sort of cafe in there and open the roof up as a viewing platform,” he added.

The medieval vaults could instead be leased to organisations to host events such as wine tasting and art and music events.

However, Cllr Vassiliou said the first step would be to make the sites safe as part of the multi-million pound investment.

He added: “We have heritage assets to rival other cities, and this plays a big part of our bid to become UK City of Culture 2025. It’s incredibly important that we look after our heritage assets, repair them and regenerate them for the public to use in the future.”

He described the restoration work as “detailed and complex”.

“This means we are unable to give exact timescales and the full complexity of some of the work is not always apparent until you get started,” he added.

As reported, the £6.7m investment was announced in the summer by the new administration at Southampton City Council as they set out the mid-year budget.

Cllr Vassiliou said a review of the assets started under the previous administration.

But he said the new administration put the money in the budget to fund the scheme and “to ensure that it gets done”.

Cllr Satvir Kaur, leader of the opposition on the city council, said the investment is “very welcome”.

She added: “Irrespective of who was running the council this would have happened, as an important step towards our UK City of Culture bid, which started under Labour. We had already planned and identified key sites and monuments, so it’s encouraging the new administration are carrying on with the work we started.”

THESE ARE THE HERITAGE ASSETS SET TO BE REPAIRED OR REGENERATED:

Bargate

Buttress to the south of Cement Terrace

Canute’s Palace

Castle Bailey Wall North

Castle Bailey Wall South

Castle Eastgate

Castle Hall and Castle Garderobe

Castle Hall South Wall

Castle Vault

Cellars at 90 and 91 High Street

Conduit House and Head

Coping stones south of the Garderobe Tower

Corn Store Ruin

Forty Steps

Four medieval wine vaults at 95-98 High Street

God’s House Tower and Gate

Holy Rood Church

King John’s Palace

Lankester’s Vault

Norman Town House Ruin

North section of The Arcades

Quilter’s Vault

Section of netted wall to west of Castle Way

Square Tower at Bugle Street

St Denys Priory Arch

St Mary’s Churchyard Wall

St Michael’s Prison Vault

The Undercroft

Tower House and Solent House

Town wall adjacent to Westgate Hall

Town wall between Westgate Hall and South Arcades

Town Wall from west of Bargate to South Limit of Castle

Town Wall: Bargate Quarter including Polymond Tower

Town Wall: from God’s House Tower to Briton Street, including Friary Gate, Round Tower and Friary Garderobe

Town wall: Section between Bugle Street and Bugle Tower

Town wall: section between Simnel Street and the site of the Bugle Tower excluding the West Gate

Town Wall: Section south of East Street

Tudor House

Vault at 11 St Michael’s SquareCross House

Vault at 79 High Street

Vault at 86 High Street

Vault at 88 High Street

Vault at 94 High Street

Vault at High Street and Castle Way Corner

Vault under St Michael’s Square adjoining Church

Vaults at 46 and 48 High Street

Watergate

Weigh House

Weigh House Vault

Westgate Hall

Westgate Tower

William Nicholl Tower

Wool House

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