Southampton
is a seaport standing on the peninsula between the mouths of the rivers
Test and Itchen. The Romans built a port at Southampton in the 1st
century AD. The port was developed by William the Conqueror who used
it to transport goods between England and Normandy. William also arranged
for Southampton to be protected by walls and towers. The walls were
mainly destroyed by the French in 1338 but the towers remain.
English kings used Southampton when launching an invasion of the French
coast and Richard the Lionheart sailed from Southampton on the way
to the Crusades. In 1620 the Pilgrim Fathers embarked for America
from Southampton.
Southampton was in decline until it was revived by the coming of the
railways. The London & Southampton Railway Company was formed
in 1831 but it took several years to persuade the House
of Commons to give permission for the line to be built. Joseph
Locke was recruited as chief engineer and trains began transporting
people and goods between Southampton and London
in 1837. Five years later the Southampton Dock Company built the first
dock in the city.
(1)
Daniel Defoe, A Tour Through the Whole
Island of Great Britain (1724)
Southampton is a truly ancient town,
for it is in a manner dying with age; the decay of the trade is the
real decay of the town; and all the business of moment that is transacted
there, is the trade between us and the islands of Jersey and Guernsey.
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