Ancient and Modern

Southampton’s West Quay, the 150-shop city centre shopping mall stands cheek by jowl to the city walls, one of England’s best preserved medieval town walls.
These huge town walls were first built to provide a defence from attack from land and were erected in stages over 300 years from about 1290 and this particular stretch which once fronted the sea was added after a devastating raid by the French in 1338. At that time King Edward 111 ordered the walls to be built to close the town.
By contrast the West Quay centre was not opened until 2000, and development has just started on its latest phase, the multi-million pound Watermark West Quay, which is intended to include a cinema, restaurants, a park, and a new high rise building to dominate the city centre skyline.
Today the old town walls provide a complete circular walk round what once was the old town, and take in eight gates and 29 towers and stretch for just over a mile round the old town. These days about half of the walls still stand and 13 of the original towers and six gates still remain.
City historians say the old town district near the waterfront has over 90 listed buildings and more than 30 ancient monuments with medieval wine vaults, medieval churches and fine Georgian buildings.