Crossing over the New Forest back to the Southampton Water on its
eastern border, the river Itchen debouches on the farther shore near the
head of the estuary, making a peninsula; and here is the celebrated port
of Southampton, located between the river Itchen and the river Test, and
having an excellent harbor. The Southampton Water extends from the Red
Bridge, a short distance above the city, to Calshot Castle, about seven
miles below, and varies in breadth from a mile and a half to two miles,
the entrance being well protected by the Isle of Wight, which gives the
harbor the peculiarity of four tides in the twenty-four hours--double
the usual number, owing to the island intercepting a portion of the
tidal wave in its flow both ways along the Channel. Southampton comes
down from the Romans, and remains of their camp, Clausentum, now known
as Bittern Manor, are still to be seen in the suburbs, while parts of
the Saxon walls and two of the old gates of the town are yet preserved.
The Danes sacked it in the tenth century, and afterwards it was the
occasional residence of Canute, its shore being said to be the scene of
his rebuke to his courtiers when he commanded the tide to cease
advancing and it disobeyed. Southampton was destroyed by foreign
invaders in the fourteenth century, and rebuilt by Richard II. and
strongly fortified. For many years it was a watering-place, but within
half a century extensive docks have been built, and it has become a
great seaport, being the point of departure for steamship-lines to all
parts of the world, especially the East Indies and America, as it is but
seventy miles south-west of London, and thus shortens the sea voyage for
trade from the metropolis. The harbor is a fine one, the channel being
deep and straight, and affording good anchorage. In exploring the
antiquities of Southampton the visitor will be attracted by an ancient
house of the Plantagenet period located on St. Michael's Square, said to
have been occupied by Henry VIII. and Anne Boleyn, and the remains of
the town-walls. The old Bargate in these walls crosses the High Street,
dividing it into "Above Bar" and "Below Bar." In the ancient walls are
the antique towers known as Arundel Tower and Catch-Cold Tower, and also
a house (one of the oldest in England) built anterior to the twelfth
century, and known as King John's Palace. Southampton Park, called the
Common, is a pretty enclosure of three hundred and sixty acres just
north of the city. The picturesque ruins of Netley Abbey are about three
miles south of the city, and near them is the Royal Victoria Hospital,
established just after the Crimean War, both of them on the eastern bank
of Southampton Water.