At the heart of old Southampton, in Hampshire, this late-fifteenth-century timber-framed town house is today the oldest museum in the town. The home of powerful men linked to the port and the royal navy, it opens a window on the merchant and maritime world of Tudor England.
The house of a man of the port
The house was created in 1491 by Sir John Dawtrey, who joined three medieval dwellings into a single house. Dawtrey was no ordinary man: controller of customs and steward of the port of Southampton, he received large sums from Henry VIII to victual the royal navy — a crucial role in an England where naval power was beginning to be built. His house, with its great hall and its minstrels' gallery, reflects the wealth and power of those servants of the Crown enriched by maritime trade. At his death in 1518, the house passed to Sir Richard Lyster, Lord Chief Justice, who embellished it further.
A window on maritime Southampton
Southampton was one of the great ports of Tudor England, a gateway of trade with the continent and a base for the navy. Tudor House is its domestic witness: its rooms restore the daily life of a rich urban house, with its banqueting hall, its wine cellar and its Tudor knot garden (recreated). Nearby survives the 'King John's Palace', a Norman house. The museum also keeps an exceptional set of maritime graffiti discovered during the restoration. To see: the great hall with its minstrels' gallery, the banqueting hall, the Tudor knot garden (recreation), the neighbouring King John's Palace, the wine cellar.
Did you know?
During the restoration of the house in 2007, graffiti carved between 1570 and 1620 were discovered: ships, caricatures, animals, traced on the walls by the inhabitants and guests of the Elizabethan age. It is one of the richest sets of Tudor maritime graffiti in England — a spontaneous journal, carved in wood and stone, of the people of a great port.
Notes
Tudor House and Garden lies on Bugle Street, St Michael's Square, Southampton, Hampshire; a municipal museum open to the public. Hours to check.
Quiz
- Who created the house in 1491?
- Sir John Dawtrey, controller of customs
- Cardinal Wolsey
- Francis Drake
- What role did Dawtrey play for Henry VIII?
- Victualling the royal navy
- Painting portraits
- Commanding the army
- What was discovered during the 2007 restoration?
- Maritime graffiti of 1570-1620
- A hoard of gold coins
- A royal tomb