Waypoints

1. S : km 0 - alt. 11 m - Start on Above Bar Street
2. 2 : km 0 - alt. 11 m - Welcome to this walk which will explore Southampton's civic buildings, parks and houses, many of which appeared in the 19th century at a time of rapid growth for the town triggered by the importance of its docks. There is a separate walk for exploring this era and that of the medieval town beyond the Bargate but this walk will concentrate on the areas of the city centre to the N of the old town before heading to Highfield Campus to provide a (hopefully) interesting route home for anyone who lives in the N of Southampton. First of all, to the NE of Bargate on Above Bar Street are a range of shops dating from 1954 - a visible marker of the town's post-war rebuilding. A bomb landed in the centre of the street during Southampton Blitz while a further two exploded very near Bargate.
3. 3 : km 0.01 - alt. 10 m - Keep right onto Bargate Street
4. 4 : km 0.03 - alt. 10 m - Turn sharp right onto Above Bar Street
5. 5 : km 0.03 - alt. 10 m - Turn left
6. 6 : km 0.12 - alt. 10 m - Turn right onto Portland Terrace
7. 7 : km 0.3 - alt. 12 m - Turn right onto Portland Street
8. 8 : km 0.3 - alt. 12 m - 8-16 Portland Terrace date from c.1835, a time when many new streets were being laid out, reflecting Southampton's growth as a spa town and as a port, with the building of its first modern docks half a decade later. Numbers 23 and 25 Portland Terrace and 1-13 Portland Street around the corner are slightly earlier, from 1830. Beyond these is a bank from the 1890s facing onto Above Bar Street.
9. 9 : km 0.41 - alt. 14 m - Turn left onto Above Bar Street
10. 10 : km 0.44 - alt. 14 m - Turn left onto Above Bar Street
11. 11 : km 0.51 - alt. 15 m - Down Ogle Road are the Sun Buildings, built for commercial purposes from the mid 19th century in Italianate style. Further up Above Bar Road are numbers 97-101 (odd numbers) dating from later in the same century, also as commercial buildings.
12. 12 : km 0.67 - alt. 15 m - Turn left onto Civic Centre Road
13. 13 : km 0.79 - alt. 15 m - Keep right onto Civic Centre Road
14. 14 : km 0.81 - alt. 15 m - The iconic Civic Centre was built between 1928 and 1939, opening just before the outbreak of the Second World War, when it was strategically targeted by the Luftwaffe. Although 12 bombs were dropped on it, the bulk of the building survived and it continues to house municipal offices, law courts, the Guildhall, an art gallery, a museum and a library. It is built directly over a railway tunnel.
15. 15 : km 0.85 - alt. 15 m - Turn sharp left onto Portland Terrace
16. 16 : km 0.89 - alt. 14 m - Turn left
17. 17 : km 0.9 - alt. 14 m - Turn sharp right onto Havelock Road
18. 18 : km 1.07 - alt. 14 m - Keep right onto Cumberland Place, A3024
19. 19 : km 1.11 - alt. 14 m - Turn left onto Commercial Road
20. 20 : km 1.23 - alt. 10 m - On the right of this road, we take a temporary break from appreciating the history of the more recent centuries and instead take a look at a nearly 14th century medieval building. This was a conduit house which collected water from wells and springs to supply the town. The water supply was originally controlled by Southampton's Franciscan Friary (further information about the friary and the remains of its gateway and reredorter can be found on the medieval Southampton walk) but was handed over to the town in 1420, making it possibly the earliest municipal water supply system in medieval England. The lord of Shirley Manor had allowed the Friars to use the water on springs from his land, and other supplies came from elsewhere in the Polygon area, met here and ran down to the Friary. From the Shirey spring, the distance of this water system was an impressive 1.7km. A little further to the W is St. Peter's Church, dating from 1845-6 in a neo-Norman style while opposite is the Gaumont Cinema, originally opened as a theatre in 1928 before being converted to its present function in 1933. It is large, with a capacity of 2,250 and retains many original features such as standing boxes. W of it is Wyndam Court, a complex of flats dating from 1966-69. This may seem very recent for a listed building, but is featured because it won an Architectural Design Project Award in 1966, in part due to its sympathetic reflection of older surrounding buildings but asserting a new urban style, with Southampton having achieved city status in 1964. The flats were sold at above average rates reflecting the prestige of the complex and are regarded as the most successful building project of the Southampton City Corporation.
21. 21 : km 1.38 - alt. 6 m - There is an optional detour here to a drinking fountain of 1888 by a roundabout.
22. 22 : km 1.45 - alt. 9 m - Turn slight right onto Morris Road
23. 23 : km 1.51 - alt. 13 m - Turn left onto Handel Terrace
24. 24 : km 1.67 - alt. 16 m - Turn left onto Newcombe Road
25. 25 : km 1.74 - alt. 15 m - Turn left onto Sandhurst Road
26. 26 : km 1.83 - alt. 11 m - Turn left
27. 27 : km 1.89 - alt. 9 m - Keep right
28. 28 : km 1.97 - alt. 7 m - The conduit head for the medieval friary's water supply mentioned earlier, in the grounds of the former Shirley Manor is situated under a modern building to the W. Part of the spring however, is still covered by a conduit house built in c.1290 when the water supply system was first constructed. The area is overgrown and rather tricky to access, but it is possible.
29. 29 : km 2.13 - alt. 9 m - Turn sharp right
30. 30 : km 2.26 - alt. 14 m - Turn left
31. 31 : km 2.26 - alt. 14 m - Turn right onto Handel Terrace
32. 32 : km 2.42 - alt. 15 m - The Polygon was originally planned in 1768 for Southampton's wealthy visitors but only three houses and a hotel were built, all of which were subsequently demolished. The area finally began to see some development c.1840 with the arrival of the railway and enlargement of the docks. The odd numbers 21-27 were built at this time.
33. 33 : km 2.56 - alt. 16 m - Turn right onto Devonshire Road
34. 34 : km 2.59 - alt. 16 m - Turn left onto Cumberland Place, A3024
35. 35 : km 2.69 - alt. 17 m - 5-7 Cumberland Place were built in the early 19th century while 8-11 date from a few decades later overlooking Southampton's listed central parks which began to be laid out in 1846 as an early urban improvement scheme, whose form has changed little in the time since. This park here specifically is West Park (Watts Park). The parks' formation principally follows the medieval fields around the town where Burgesses held lammas rights (meaning these freemen could use these fields as common land for most of the year). When the town council acquired these lands, they faced protests over them being sold off to private investors so were forced to keep 21 hectares for parkland. West Park (including the site of what is now the civic centre) was together with East Park, West and East Marlands of Magdalens, land granted for the maintenance of the leper hospital of St. Magdalene. West Park contains a statue of hymn writer Isaac Watts erected in 1861 by public demand, and further E, Southampton Cenotaph, deigned by renowned architect Sir Edward Lutyens who also designed the Whitehall Cenotaph. It was unveiled on 6th November 1919, almost a year after WW1's end and featured 1,793 names, which would rise to 1,997 in the following years as more families came forward with further names of their fallen relatives. In 2011, extra panels around the monument were added to commemorate the dead of WW2. To the SW of the park next to the civic centre is a Titanic Memorial Garden named after a survivor of the disaster unveiled in 2012.
36. 36 : km 2.75 - alt. 17 m - Turn right
37. 37 : km 2.79 - alt. 17 m - Turn left
38. 38 : km 2.82 - alt. 17 m - Turn left
39. 39 : km 2.86 - alt. 17 m - Turn right
40. 40 : km 2.87 - alt. 17 m - Turn slight left
41. 41 : km 2.91 - alt. 18 m - Turn right
42. 42 : km 2.92 - alt. 18 m - Turn left onto Above Bar Street
43. 43 : km 3 - alt. 18 m - Turn right
44. 44 : km 3.03 - alt. 18 m - Keep right
45. 45 : km 3.06 - alt. 18 m - Turn left
46. 46 : km 3.11 - alt. 18 m - Turn right
47. 47 : km 3.12 - alt. 19 m - The East (Andrews) Park has several listed and locally listed buildings to the N of it. 1, Brunswick Place is a house of c.1835. 2 and 3 were built sometime between 1869 and 1895 while number 4 may be slightly earlier than the latter. 16-20 meanwhile, are also of c.1840. The park itself contains a monument of 1860 to Richard Andrews, five times Mayor of Southampton who was an internationally renowned coachmaker and had a manufactury on Above Bar Street. There is also a Monument to the Engineers of the Titanic from 1912 and a sundial of 1902 to commemorate the coronation of Edward VII in the vicinity. The NW corner of the park has a rock garden with waterfalls from 1935 while there are also tennis courts, a pavilion and a fountain.
48. 48 : km 3.13 - alt. 19 m - Turn right
49. 49 : km 3.14 - alt. 19 m - Turn slight left
50. 50 : km 3.16 - alt. 18 m - Turn right
51. 51 : km 3.37 - alt. 16 m - Turn left
52. 52 : km 3.38 - alt. 16 m - Turn right
53. 53 : km 3.53 - alt. 11 m - To the E of Palmerston Park are the early 19th century 30-33 Palmerston Road and just N of the m on the corner, the mid to late 19th century 2 New Road, all built as houses. Palmerston Park itself houses a 1869 statue of former PM Lord Palmerston and an avenue of trees planted in 1862 and forming the main walkway through this park as well as East and Houndwell Parks.
54. 54 : km 3.64 - alt. 14 m - Turn left
55. 55 : km 3.71 - alt. 14 m - Turn left
56. 56 : km 3.74 - alt. 13 m - Keep left
57. 57 : km 3.9 - alt. 6 m - Turn sharp left onto Palmerston Road
58. 58 : km 3.92 - alt. 6 m - Turn right
59. 59 : km 3.96 - alt. 5 m - Turn right
60. 60 : km 4 - alt. 5 m - Turn left
61. 61 : km 4.01 - alt. 5 m - Turn right onto Cossack Green
62. 62 : km 4.06 - alt. 5 m - The Adam and Eve statues here were built in 1951 and may look rather ordinary but were one of the first examples of public art erected in a post-war housing estate.
63. 63 : km 4.11 - alt. 5 m - Turn right onto South Front
64. 64 : km 4.18 - alt. 6 m - Turn left
65. 65 : km 4.19 - alt. 6 m - Turn slight right
66. 66 : km 4.32 - alt. 6 m - There is evidence of Roman occupation in the W of Houndswell Park but this is not visible today. What is visible however is a public drinking fountain built in 1859, an early example of its kind, given that the first in the country were installed in Liverpool only five years previously. These were, like SOuthampton's example, installed by philanthropist Charles Pierre Melly who promoted physical fitness and the Olympic movement in Britain. Further S is a gas column of 1829, originally erected elsewhere in the town to commemorate the installation of gas lighting in the town in 1822.
67. 67 : km 4.32 - alt. 6 m - Turn sharp right
68. 68 : km 4.48 - alt. 4 m - Turn left
69. 69 : km 4.61 - alt. 4 m - The eastern part of Hoglands Park overlies the original Saxon settlement of Hamwic in the 8th-9th century, while a small part of the boundary earthwork that originally marked out Houndswell field (consisting of the later Palmerston and Houndswell Parks) on its W. This bank doubled up as a parish boundary marker and dates from the 13th-14th centuries. Cricket has been played in the park uninterrupted since 1867 and the park's cricket pavilion dates from between 1896-1908.
70. 70 : km 4.62 - alt. 4 m - Turn right
71. 71 : km 4.72 - alt. 4 m - Turn slight left
72. 72 : km 4.73 - alt. 3 m - Turn right onto St Mary's Place, A33
73. 73 : km 4.8 - alt. 3 m - Turn left
74. 74 : km 4.82 - alt. 3 m - Turn right onto Evans Street, A33
75. 75 : km 4.85 - alt. 3 m - After passing Capella House, a building of the 1920s or 30s which formerly acted as a hostel, then warehouse before becoming offices, you will see Methodist Central Hall Community Church of 1925.
76. 76 : km 4.89 - alt. 3 m - Turn left onto St Mary Street
77. 77 : km 5.05 - alt. 3 m - To the S are two sections of medieval wall, one with an arch in it. These may be the remains of the Chantry of St. Mary, first recorded in 1251. Chantries are small chapels for specifically praying for the souls of the dead. The first Church built at St. Mary's was in the 7th century and this has been followed by five others. Outlines of two of the former churches can be seen in the ground of the present one dating from 1878-84. It is huge, the largest church in Southampton; a precedent set by the collegiate status of the former medieval church. It was partly rebuilt in the 1950s after being bombed in WW2.
78. 78 : km 5.06 - alt. 3 m - Turn left
79. 79 : km 5.11 - alt. 5 m - Turn left
80. 80 : km 5.12 - alt. 5 m - Turn right
81. 81 : km 5.21 - alt. 4 m - Turn right onto St Mary Street
82. 82 : km 5.25 - alt. 5 m - Located here is Southampton Technical College, part of which is in an 18th century house. Behind is Southampton City College, housed in former workhouse buildings of the 1860s. Across the street from the 18th century building is a student accommodation building also built in the 1860s, originally as a pub until 1998.
83. 83 : km 5.42 - alt. 4 m - Keep right
84. 84 : km 5.43 - alt. 4 m - Turn sharp left onto St Mary Street
85. 85 : km 5.45 - alt. 5 m - Before the junction with James Street is a mid 19th century pub on the right (number 141) with glazed tile advertisements form the 1880s. At the junction itself is number 135 with some Art Noveau styling from the early 20th century, but dates from the mid 19th century. Just down James Street is an Evangelical Church of 1965 with a distinctive tent like design. Further up St. Mary's Street meanwhile, are a Buddhist Centre originally built as a pub in the 1930s (numbers 73 and 74), a lamp standard of 1882 erected by a wealthy local man whose on had been elected MP St. Mary's Hall, further N on the left - a masonic lodge of 1884 which from 1889-1905 was Southampton's first public library and later a temperance hall with early 20th century additions. Finally, on the corner with Ascupart Street is a late 19th century bakery with a very distinctive shopfront.
86. 86 : km 5.49 - alt. 5 m - Turn left
87. 87 : km 5.5 - alt. 5 m - Turn right
88. 88 : km 5.56 - alt. 4 m - Keep right
89. 89 : km 5.64 - alt. 4 m - Turn left onto Golden Grove
90. 90 : km 5.82 - alt. 5 m - Further S along this road was St. Mary's School, the oldest part of which was built in 1882, and the rest in 1909.
91. 91 : km 6 - alt. 4 m - Turn left
92. 92 : km 6.03 - alt. 5 m - Turn left
93. 93 : km 6.09 - alt. 5 m - On the S side of this road lies a line of 10 locally listed buildings. 92-74 (even numbers, excluding 82A) are all examples of 19th century shops, while 72 is a house of the same era. Across the road, is a purpose built late 19th century pub while down the road to the W is number 2, a former mid 19th century pub.
94. 94 : km 6.13 - alt. 5 m - Turn slight left onto Northam Road
95. 95 : km 6.21 - alt. 5 m - Turn left onto Northam Road
96. 96 : km 6.46 - alt. 5 m - Turn left onto Brintons Road
97. 97 : km 6.56 - alt. 7 m - Turn right onto Brintons Road
98. 98 : km 6.56 - alt. 7 m - St. Matthew's Church, now used as a club, dates from 1870 and is in the neo-Norman style. Further up the road, on a promontory with St. Mary's Road is the former Oxford Hotel, now flats, of the mid-19th century. It was a lucky survivor of the Blitz as despite having a bomb dropped directly on it and another fall mere metres away, neither exploded. Looking down Argyle Road, you can see a building of 1895 that was once a school and is now a mosque.
99. 99 : km 6.84 - alt. 11 m - This building is the large St. Mary's Leisure Centre, once St. Mary's Drill Hall, built in 1889 in a mock-Tudor style for the 1st Hampshire Artillery Volunteers. The latter had come about in 1859 due to fears of war with France and were originally private organisations. Southampton's force was created in 1860 and counted among its ranks Colonel Edward Bance who would become Southampton's mayor in 1890,1904 and 1911. He was instrumental in constructing the drill hall, which the volunteer units had been allowed to build from 1871. Southampton's example was erected in 1889, designed by well known local architect W.H. Mitchell. A rifle range was added in 1905 and in 1974, the building was converted into a sports hall. As for the volunteer units, by 1908 they had been combined with the regular Territorial Army.
100. 100 : km 6.84 - alt. 11 m - Keep left onto St Marys Road
101. 101 : km 7.04 - alt. 16 m - Turn right onto Onslow Road, A335
102. 102 : km 7.04 - alt. 16 m - At this junction, you can look down Onslow Road and see number 5 (N side of road), a mid 19th century villa built in the 1840s, an example of one of the first buildings constructed as this area was being laid out in the mid 19th century. Meanwhile, on Bellevue Terrace, numbers 2,3 and 13 are further examples of earlier houses in this area.
103. 103 : km 7.05 - alt. 17 m - Turn right
104. 104 : km 7.17 - alt. 19 m - Turn sharp right onto Lyon Street
105. 105 : km 7.28 - alt. 17 m - Turn left onto Onslow Road, A335
106. 106 : km 7.29 - alt. 17 m - Turn right onto Lyon Street
107. 107 : km 7.31 - alt. 17 m - On the street corner is the Dorchester Arms pub of 1880, now Board in the City.
108. 108 : km 7.46 - alt. 11 m - Turn left onto Frederick Street
109. 109 : km 7.47 - alt. 11 m - Looking down towards the hospital buildings, you can see the Chapel to the Royal South Hampshire Hospital of 1858, with interior fittings all dating to that period.
110. 110 : km 7.52 - alt. 10 m - Turn right onto Cranbury Avenue
111. 111 : km 7.64 - alt. 15 m - At this junction, you can gain an excellent glimpse into Southampton's mid-19th century past, when this area of the town was developed due to the sheer number of listed buildings present. Back towards your E are 1-11 Cranbury Avenue of c.1840 while the adjoining Church of St. Luke (now a Sikh Gurdwara) dates from 1852-3, except for its 1875 chancel. NE, are 1-3 Denzil Avenue, also survivors of the c.1840 urbanisation of this part of Southampton. On the NW corner of the junction, and continuing down Cranbury Street are numbers 4-11 on the N side, while 1-8 and 20 are on the S side of the street, all dating to around 1835, with these streets being built slightly earlier than those to the E.Dating from the same time and on the N side of the street is Beaulieu House, built to a grander design than the other houses.
112. 112 : km 7.65 - alt. 15 m - Turn left onto Denzil Avenue
113. 113 : km 7.66 - alt. 15 m - Turn left onto Onslow Road, A335
114. 114 : km 7.69 - alt. 16 m - Turn right onto Cranbury Place
115. 115 : km 7.87 - alt. 20 m - Turn left
116. 116 : km 7.88 - alt. 20 m - Turn right onto Dorset Street, A33
117. 117 : km 7.9 - alt. 20 m - The YMCA Hostel here dates to the early 19th century and has been subsequently restored. It is at the base of the Avenue, which contain numerous listed and locally listed buildings...
118. 118 : km 8.08 - alt. 24 m - Numbers 9-10 are examples of the impressive Victorian villas built on the Avenue between 1850-70, matched also by 12-28 and 33-38. The Avenue has more listed buildings on the other side which will be covered in a later walk. The wide road can be appreciated as the grand Victorian thoroughfare with a pleasant green space in the middle of the road. Southampton's trams used this as one of their principal routes in the first half of the 20th century.
119. 119 : km 8.43 - alt. 26 m - Turn right onto Lodge Road
120. 120 : km 8.63 - alt. 22 m - Even numbers 92-112 Lodge Road belong to blocks of 1925 while further down the road is the Honest Lawyer Pub of 1870, now a Chinese restaurant.
121. 121 : km 8.83 - alt. 20 m - Turn left onto Earls Road
122. 122 : km 9.17 - alt. 26 m - Turn right onto Livingstone Road
123. 123 : km 9.41 - alt. 23 m - Turn right onto Gordon Avenue
124. 124 : km 9.47 - alt. 22 m - Turn left onto Gordon Avenue
125. 125 : km 9.6 - alt. 23 m - Turn slight left
126. 126 : km 9.63 - alt. 23 m - Turn right onto Westwood Road
127. 127 : km 9.69 - alt. 22 m - Turn sharp left onto Brookvale Road
128. 128 : km 9.81 - alt. 25 m - Number 24, also known as the 'Dutch House', unsurprisingly in a Dutch architectural design. Built in 1909-10, it, together with 124 Highfield Lane were the prototype houses on the Portswood Estate, intending to set the standard for the rest of the houses on a Garden City design, with each house's garden backing onto a large communal one. In the event, the communal garden behind number 24 has become tennis courts while that behind Highfield Lane is partly allotments and partly a small park.
129. 129 : km 9.91 - alt. 29 m - Turn right onto Brookvale Road
130. 130 : km 10.32 - alt. 29 m - Christ Church, the parish church of Portswood was built in 1846-7 but has some later additions, with a N aisle of 1855, a reconstruction of the E in 1878 and work on the W in 1915.
131. 131 : km 10.52 - alt. 39 m - Looking up Cranford Way, you can see the Old Vicarage, the final historic building on this walk, dating to 1870. It was for the vicar of the nearby Christ Church.
132. 132 : km 10.61 - alt. 41 m - Turn right onto Roselands Gardens
133. 133 : km 10.74 - alt. 37 m - Turn left onto Roselands Gardens
134. 134 : km 10.87 - alt. 37 m - Turn left onto Roselands Gardens
135. 135 : km 10.92 - alt. 38 m - Turn right
136. 136 : km 10.98 - alt. 39 m - Turn right onto Hawthorn Road
137. 137 : km 11.05 - alt. 40 m - Turn left onto Chamberlain Road
138. 138 : km 11.08 - alt. 40 m - Turn right
139. 139 : km 11.13 - alt. 41 m - Turn right
140. 140 : km 11.13 - alt. 41 m - Turn left
141. 141 : km 11.13 - alt. 41 m - Turn left
142. 142 : km 11.16 - alt. 41 m - Turn right
143. 143 : km 11.18 - alt. 41 m - Turn left
144. 144 : km 11.18 - alt. 41 m - Turn right
145. 145 : km 11.24 - alt. 39 m - Turn right
146. 146 : km 11.25 - alt. 39 m - Turn slight right
147. 147 : km 11.3 - alt. 36 m - Keep left
148. 148 : km 11.32 - alt. 37 m - Keep left
149. 149 : km 11.32 - alt. 38 m - Turn left
150. 150 : km 11.33 - alt. 39 m - Keep right
151. E : km 11.5 - alt. 43 m - Thank you for walking this route; a further walk exploring the Polygon and the atmospheric Old Cemetery in the S of the Common will be out soon.

Useful Information

Always stay careful and alert while following a route. Visorando and the author of this walk cannot be held responsible in the event of an accident during this route.