Phase two

February 2025 update

The eleven heraldic shields on the north face were examined in detail during 2024. The stone on which they were painted is continuing to deteriorate, particularly the five shields in between the buttresses. We are waiting to see if the recent repairs to the roof are allowing the stone to dry out sufficiently for the shields to be rebuilt and repainted. Various methods are being considered and costs calculated before a decision can be made.

November 2024 update

Major work was undertaken on the roof of the Bargate in 2024 as part of Phase 2 of the Heritage Assets Repairs Programme (HARP) following investigations into the leaks along the parapet and raised walkway on the north side in 2023.

Further repairs were carried out on the exterior stonework (including the stone shields on the north face). More work needs to be done on the metal railings and gates on the ground floor to keep out the rats and the pigeons that are damaging the ancient building.

Inside, cracks and small areas of stonework have been raked out and repointed in lime mortar. Some stonework around the inside of south facing windows has been refaced and pinned.

Canute’s Palace is the name given to the remains of a late 12th century, two-storey, upper hall house located in Town Quay Park. It is on the north side of Porters Lane, northeast of the Watergate. To the east, only low walls around one metre high remain. To the west the remains are more substantial with much of it rising to two storeys.

The walls are built of stone from the Isle of Wight and Caen.

February 2025 update

These remains of one of the earliest medieval houses in Southampton were comprehensively repointed in 2024. The west gable wall needed particular attention despite the fact that it was partly rebuilt in the 1950s after it collapsed. The building had been burnt down during the Southampton Blitz in 1940.

Conduit House is a small stone building on the corner of Commercial Road and Water Lane, previously known as Goswell Lane. The single storey building of uncoursed stonework has an unusual solid stone pitched roof of Bembridge and Purbeck limestone. On the east elevation there is one slit window which has been blocked in, and beneath this a low-level doorway with a timber boarded door.

February 2025 update

Conduit House in Commercial Road was the last building to be repointed in 2024. Several small sycamore samplings and a thick layer of moss had to be removed from the roof before the badly cracked, cement-based mortar was raked out and replaced with the lime-based mortar matching that which was used in the medieval period.

Even though this 15th century building has been repaired and rebuilt throughout its long history, it is possible for conservation masons to find samples of its original mortar within its core. These samples are analysed by specialist suppliers of the matching mortars.

Holy Rood Church stands on the corner of Bernard Street and High Street. Located in the centre of medieval Southampton, the church remains an important focal point.

Holy Rood Church today is a ruin, with an impressive medieval tower and chancel. The entrance to the church is through the west door in the fire-damaged, mid-19th century west end. The interior is mostly one large space, as the nave arcades fell after the church was burnt in the Southampton Blitz.

February 2025 update

The repairs to Holy Rood Church and the Titanic Crew Memorial started in April and were completed well before the onset of the winter weather. Lime mortar can only be used effectively when temperatures remain above 5°C and heavy rainfall can prevent it from curing.

Extensive work was carried out on the east window and the brickwork on the exterior of the north and east walls of the church. Some of the brickwork belonged to the ‘great house’ that was built on the land to the north and east of the church in 1551.

The Taunton family tomb located next to the church was repointed and some cracks in the stones were filled. The tomb was moved to its current location in 1958. Richard Taunton (1684-1752), founder of the Southampton school, was buried in this tomb when it was in its original location in St Johns churchyard, which used to be off French Street.

May update

The team from Paye has removed all the hard, cement-rich mortar that was used to repoint the building in the past and sampled the medieval mortar behind it. These samples have been sent off to be analysed. The results will determine what kind of lime mortar should be mixed up for the masons to use for the repointing.

What work is being done in Holy Rood Church?

More conservation work is being carried out in Holy Rood Church this year than in any of the other historic buildings in Southampton. Preserving it as a ruined building presents its own challenges.

The exposed 19th century Caen stone columns that were badly burnt during the Southampton Blitz are particularly vulnerable to frost damage. Many years ago, they were repaired using resin. This is now failing and needs to be replaced with a lime-based grout strengthened with very carefully inserted steel pins.

In common with many of the other monuments much of the building was repointed in cementitious mortar in the past and this is causing pointing to fail and some stones to crumble. A lot of this hard mortar is to be raked out and repointed this year. A few stones are also being replaced.

The memorial to the crew of the Titanic is also being treated. Even though the memorial is now in a sheltered spot beneath the church tower, the fixings inside the columns have corroded and have damaged the Portland stone. These will be cut out and replaced with new stainless-steel pins. The stone will then be pinned back in place.

Some cracks in the two Richard Taunton tombs will also be filled.

February 2025 update

The Castle Vault reopened in December 2024 once the cracks in the ceiling had been filled and the south wall had been partially repointed. Visitors to the vault will now be dripped on less frequently but it is unlikely that it will ever be free of damp. This is because the vault was built into the gravel cliff that the castle and the rest of the medieval town were built on.

March 2024 update

The Castle Vault will be closed during the summer for about a month so that some of the damp problems can be addressed.

Quilter’s Vault in the High Street is now safe to enter again, but care is needed on the steep steps into the vault. Safety checks have been completed on the roof and some of the stonework has been repointed and cracks filled.

February 2025 update

Two important elements of the royal castle complex were repaired in 2024 – the Castle Hall and the Castle Vault along the Western Esplanade.

Castle Hall is the largest of the Castle’s buildings that still survives. It was excavated and conserved in the 1980s. The archaeologists discovered that its timber first-floor was replaced by a stone vault in the early 1200s and subsequently had part of the vault rebuilt. So that this building can still tell its complicated story, oak beams that had been positioned in some of the recesses in the east wall were replaced, and the stonework repointed.

The lime mortar is mixed to match the medieval mortar as closely as possible.

2024

Repairs to Southampton Castle in 2024 include:

• Castle Hall
• Castle Vault

February 2025 update

In 2024 the stretch of the western walls that often acts as a dramatic backdrop to special events, such as the Christmas skating rink, was extensively repointed and a number of decaying stones were replaced. The removal of the cement-based mortar will help to preserve the stonework in future.

Similar work was then carried out along the town wall that has survived on the south side of the medieval town on Town Quay. The stonework often has to be steam cleaned using a low-pressure system before repointing to remove the algae and deposits left by air pollution.

The Watergate, also on Town Quay, was once the main gate in the south wall – at the opposite end of the High Street from the Bargate. It was demolished in 1804 but the important medieval buildings on the west side of the gateway survived having been incorporated in later buildings. These needed repair, especially some large limestone blocks that are very exposed to strong winds.

Finally, the most impressive section of the east walls and the Round Tower to the north of God’s House Tower were repaired. Many of the capping stones had become loose, mainly due to the effects of the weather but also because people have been tempted to climb the walls occasionally in the past. This is not a practice that we want to see in the future.

March 2024 update

The most heavily eroded greensand stone blocks in four of the arches in the Arcades have been replaced with new Shaftesbury Green Sandstone blocks. This is the closest match that we were able to find to the original Upper Greensand stone from the Isle of Wight, which is no longer available.

Hidden from view, except to those using the Pig-in-the-Wall carpark, is a long length of Town Wall that was in urgent need of repair. Over four tons of lime mortar were used to fill voids behind the face and repoint the wall.

The roof of the West Gate is now watertight. When the contractors lifted the old lead sheeting, they found a small lead plaque and a copy of the Southern Daily Echo dated 1937 underneath. This is the only evidence we have for when the roof was last repaired. The plaque says that the lead was laid by F Pitcher, Plumber. We now know that he worked for the Borough of Southampton, lived in Freemantle and still has relatives in the area.