building was more extensive; it was probably quadrangular, and in some measure fortified, or at least thoroughly enclosed, and isolated from surrounding edifices; a fact which seems to be indicated by a direction to the bailiff's, in 1223, to make a "gateway to the courtyard of the king's house[1]." Reiterated orders during the years 1224 and 1225, for the repair of the house and quay, shew that either the bailiffs had failed to obey previous directions, or that the works had been imperfectly executed[2]. In the latter year the bishop of Winchester had the custody of the house, at an annual fee of fifteen shillings[3].
Besides containing a hall, a chapel[4], and the several apartments necessary for royal use, it is probable that this building included a cellar in which the prisage butts were stored[5]. The various operations connected with the proper care of a large stock of wine, required space for their exercise, and thus an extensive quay was adapted not only to the personal convenience of the king, but to the landing of his wines, and to the accommodation of the coopers, guagers, sealers, carters, and boatmen, who were employed about the royal stores in those times when our princes were accustomed to dispose of their superfluous stock.
It may be necessary to remark that the "king's house" was certainly a building distinct from the castle of Southampton; this is proved by the document already cited, which shews that the former might be injured by the dilapidated state of the quay on which it stood; therefore it could not have been much above high water mark; whereas "the elevated position of the castle must have effectually secured it from all risk of having even its base washed by the most violent waves which a storm could raise in the land-locked harbour which it overlooked[6]." The "king's houses in the castle" are frequently mentioned in early records, and to readers who are not con-
- ↑ Rot. Claus. 8 Hen. III. p. 1. m. 10.
- ↑ Rot. Claus. 9 Hen. III. p. 2. m. 1, 3.
- ↑ Ibid., m. 13.
- ↑ "Et in reparatione capelle Regis de Suhamton', et domorum Regis ibidem et gutterarum earundem, lxiij.s. vj.d. ob."—Rot. Pip. 14 Hen. III.
- ↑ The king's cellar at Southampton was of ample dimensions; it is mentioned as containing a hundred and twenty tuns of wine: but so large was the stock accumulated at times, that the sheriff, or butler, was obliged to rent cellars. See the Pipe Roll already cited. It is hardly necessary to observe that in medieval days cellars were not always under ground.
- ↑ "Sketches of Hampshire," by the late John Duthy, Esq., p. 145. I gladly take this opportunity of calling attention to a provincial work exhibiting considerable research, much ingenious conjecture, and written in a remarkably agreeable style. The notice of Southampton, supplied after Mr. Duthy's decease, is scarcely equal to the rest of the volume.
