God's House Tower facts for kids
Quick facts for kids God's House Tower |
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God's House tower looking west from The Platform
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| General information | |
| Type | Gateway |
| Architectural style | Medieval |
| Location | Winkle Street/Town Quay, Southampton |
| Coordinates | 50°53′47″N 1°24′10″W / 50.8963°N 1.4029°W |
| Current tenants | a space arts |
| Construction started | circa 1300 |
| Completed | early 15th century |
| Owner | Southampton City Council |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 2/3 |
| References | |
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Listed Building – Grade I
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| Official name | God's House Gate |
| Designated | 14 July 1953 |
| Reference no. | 1340004 |
God's House Tower is an old gatehouse, built around the late 1200s. It was once an important entrance to the historic town of Southampton, England. You can find it at the southeast corner of the town walls. It allowed people to enter the town from the Platform and Town Quay areas.
Today, God's House Tower is a cool place for art and history events. In the past, it was used as the town's prison and even housed a museum about archaeology. This building is very important, so it's protected as a Grade I listed site and a scheduled ancient monument. This means it's a special historical place.
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History of the Tower
The first gatehouse here was quite simple. It was built in the late 1200s and was known as the Saltmarsh Gate. This was because it led out to marshy lands outside the town.
It was also very close to God's House Hospital. This hospital was founded in 1168 to help travelers. Because of this, the gateway soon became known as the God's House gateway.
Strengthening Town Defences
In 1338, French forces attacked Southampton. After this attack, the town's defences needed to be much stronger. So, the God's House gateway was made much more secure.
In 1417, the tower was made even bigger. A two-story gallery and a three-story tower were added to the east side of the gateway. This new part was one of the first forts built specifically to hold cannons! It had eight openings for cannons and places on the roof for firing.
This new section helped the town's gunner protect the sluices. Sluices were gates that controlled seawater flowing into a tidal moat. This moat helped power a water mill under the tower. The town gunner also made gunpowder and cannonballs. He stored them, along with the cannons, in the tower's gallery.
From Prison to Storage
By the early 1600s, the tower was starting to fall apart. The town didn't need such strong defences anymore. In 1707, part of the building was even used as a "house of correction." This was a place where minor offenders were sent.
From 1786, it became the town's prison, or "gaol." At this time, people called the tower the "Lambcote Tower." But in 1855, a new prison opened elsewhere, and the tower's prison closed down.
The building was empty for a while. Then, in 1876, the Southampton Harbour Board took it over to use for storage. The ground floor of the gatehouse was kept as a place to store bodies before burial. During this time, the building was cleaned up and repaired.
Museum of Archaeology
In 1957, there was a plan to turn the tower into a museum. Four years later, in 1961, the Museum of Archaeology opened its doors to the public. It stayed open until September 2011.
The museum had three main areas. They told the story of Southampton during Roman, Saxon, and Medieval times. In 2011, the museum closed, and its exhibits moved to the new SeaCity Museum. This new museum opened in April 2012.
Statue of Prince Albert
In 1877, Sir Frederick Perkins, who was a Member of Parliament for Southampton, gave the town a statue. It was a terracotta statue of Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband. It was placed at the eastern end of the building.
Perkins had bought the statue in 1869. He first gave it to a hospital, but when the hospital closed, he donated it to Southampton. The statue was designed by William Theed and made from terracotta clay.
By 1912, the statue was in bad shape. To avoid upsetting Kaiser William II, who was Prince Albert's grandson and visiting the town, the statue was removed and put away. Sadly, during the First World War, the statue was destroyed by soldiers from the Royal Engineers who found it in a storage yard.
God's House Tower Today
In 2019, God's House Tower reopened as a place for arts and history. It has a permanent gallery that tells the story of the building itself. There are also two new galleries that show modern art and important artworks from collections along the South Coast. You can even go up to the roof for amazing views! There's also a branch of Hoxton Bakery inside.
Salisbury and Southampton Canal
There was once a canal called the Salisbury and Southampton Canal. It was only open for a short time, from 1802 to 1808. This canal connected to the River Test through a lock right next to God's House Tower.
The canal company said they built "an arch under the Debtors Gaol in Southampton." This arch was wide enough for barges to go from the lock into open water. The actual lock was just north of the tower. From there, the canal followed a path just outside the town walls, heading north. It met another branch of the canal at what is now Palmerston Park.
Architecture of the Tower
Exterior Features
The gatehouse and tower are built from "rubble" stone. This means they used rough, unshaped stones. The building is two or three stories high. The arched gateway once had a double "portcullis." A portcullis is a heavy, strong gate that drops down to block an entrance. You can still see the grooves where these gates used to slide.
The windows have special shapes, described as "trefoil or cinquefoil headed lights." In the upper part of the tower and the connecting gallery, you can see windows with two sections and gunports shaped like keyholes. These gunports were opened up again in the late 1800s, when the window designs were also fixed. The roof of the tower is new.
Inside the Tower
Before it was restored in 1961, the gallery inside was just an empty shell. The floor and stairs had disappeared a long time ago. A new staircase was built, and an extra floor was added between the two main floors. You can still see parts of an old stairway built into the wall. This stairway used to lead to a walkway on the roof.
Nearby Historic Buildings
Right across from the gateway, on Winkle Street, you'll find the Church of St. Julien. This is the only other large part of the original God's House Hospital that still stands.
Just outside the gate is the Southampton Old Bowling Green. This is the oldest bowling green in the world! It has been there since at least 1299.
Tower House is next to the gateway on the west side. It was built in the 1800s, replacing an older building. This is also a Grade II listed building, meaning it's historically important. In 2012, a group called "a space arts" used it. They provided studio space for new artists.
