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Description: | A view of Southampton across West Bay, showing the town walls from Arundel Tower to the quay. It captures the remarkable but short-lived Strawberry Hill gothic castle built by the Marquis of Lansdowne in 1805 to replace the old Henry VIII castle. The Marquis died in 1809, but his widow continued in occupation until 1811. It was put up for sale in 1816, and demolished in 1818, and the mound lowered. As James Edward Austen (Jane Austen's nephew) wrote in his memoir, "it vanished like the baseless fabric of a dream".
A contemporary description of the castle appears in Gentleman's Magazine, Supplement for the Year 1809, p. 1200-1. The Marquis "considered it a delightful residence during the summer months. It is built with brick, covered with a white compositionÂ…. The round-tower and upper apartments command a fine view of Southampton Estuary, the river Itchin [sic: Test], and the adjacent country; but it has no ground, and the base is entirely blocked up with small houses belonging to the poorer inhabitants, and it is with difficulty that any door of entrance can be discovered: it seems a type of its noble owner's heart, and though not fortified, bids defiance to all who would approach, whether friend or stranger."
The prominent house may be that in which Jane Austen lived whilst in Southampton. | Format: | image/jpeg | License: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.exe?a=query&p=gateway&f=generic_sitetext%2ehtm&_IXFIRST_=1&_IXMAXHITS_=1&cms_con_core_subtype%3acms_con_text_what=copyright&%3acms_sys_group=%22sopse%22 | Subjects: | Jane Austen church Arundel Tower Marquis of Lansdowne Holy Rood St Michael town defences castle town walls Southampton Castle | Temporal: | start=1805-01-01; end=1818-12-31; | Source: | Sense of place SE | Identifier: | http://www.sopse.org.uk/ixbin/hixclient.... | Language: | en-GB | Format: | image/jpeg | Go to resource |
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