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Message: <blockquote data-quote="garyh" data-source="post: 1052641" data-attributes="member: 6078">From <a href="http://www.southampton.gov.uk/about_soton.html" target="_blank">http://www.southampton.gov.uk/about_soton.html</a> :Southampton has been around for longer than most people think, and a lot of significant events have taken place here. From its beginnings as a Roman settlement to the busy thriving port and commercial centre it is today, there is more to Southampton than meets the eye. Before the Romans arrived, the Southampton area was dotted with small Iron Age farmsteads. The Romans built the first settlement at Bitterne Manor.  Southampton was then known as Clausentum. Southampton became known as Hamwic in the eighth century when it was situated around St Mary’s, the Chapel and Kingsland areas.  The burial of a Saxon prince, perhaps the founder of the settlement, was found by archaeologists on the new football stadium site.  As Hamwic spread into the Above Bar area, it became known as Hamtun, meaning fortified place. In 1014, Canute was proclaimed King in Southampton.  Canute is famous for his command to the sea to come no further inland – he got his feet wet. When William the Conqueror became King of England, Winchester became the capital of the country.  This meant that the port of Southampton became even more important as it lay between Winchester and Normandy. Southampton’s medieval castle had a flushing toilet that was big enough to accommodate fifty people at once. In the fourteenth century, having suffered a major attack from the French, Genoese and Sicilians, the town was refortified so that eventually the walls were as high as thirty feet, and had seven gateways and twenty nine towers. In 1415, Henry V and his army left Southampton on their way to Agincourt and victory over the French. In the 16th century, Southampton was home to privateers such as Drake and Raleigh, and in 1558, Southampton sent three ships to fight the Armada.  One was used as a fire ship to scatter the Spanish fleet. In 1620, the Mayflower and Speedwell left Southampton for the New World.  The Mayflower gave its name to the park at the water’s edge. Southampton enjoyed a brief period in 1740s as a spa town but declined due to the popularity of Brighton with the Prince Regent.  In 1761, the circular saw was patented by Walter Taylor, a Southampton inventor. Jane Austen and her family lived in Castle Square from 1806 – 1809.  She went to balls at the Dolphin Hotel in the High Street. In 1820, gas was first piped to the city from the Northam area, where the gas holders are still located today.  They will be a landmark for the new Southampton Football Club stadium currently being developed on the old gasworks site in Britannia Road. In 1836, the Floating Bridge was built across the Itchen and remained in operation until 1977 when it was finally replaced after 141 years by the magnificent Itchen Bridge. In 1841, the Ordnance Survey relocated from London, and has been a major employer in the city ever since. In 1888, the world’s first true submarine was built in Southampton by Day, Summers and Co. In 1912, the “unsinkable” Titanic left Southampton for New York on its maiden voyage, never to reach it destination due to an encounter with an iceberg. Over 1500 lives were lost, and as a result, the International Ice Patrol was started and continues to operate to this day. In the 1920s, Southampton was the biggest port in the country. In 1923, Southampton became the home of the first regular flying boat service. Southampton is the home of the Spitfire.  It was developed in Woolston by R J Mitchell and took its maiden flight on 5th March 1936 from nearby Eastleigh Airport, now Southampton International Airport, which has been voted ninth best airport in the world by readers of the Daily Telegraph. The Civic Centre, built in the 1930s, was the first ever building to bear that name.  It has subsequently been adopted by cities across the world. In 1944, three million allied troops passed through Southampton on their way to Normandy and D-Day; two million of them were American.  Already a cosmopolitan city, there was a tremendous influx of immigrants in the latter half of the 20th century.  There are now well-established West Indian and Indian sub-continent communities in the city. Southampton won the FA cup in 1976. In 1986, Southampton led the way in the development of the first geothermal energy and combined heat & power (CHP) district heat and chilling scheme in the UK. The Civic Centre, Southampton Institute, BBC South headquarters, four hotels, the Royal South Hants Hospital, Skandia Life and the new West Quay Shopping Centre among others are all heated by the scheme. Southampton is a major centre for learning.  The University was founded in 1952, and has been joined by Southampton Institute, Europe’s principal Centre for Oceanographic Studies and Southampton City College.  The city also has ninety schools. Southampton’s parks make it the Greenest City in the UK.  Southampton still has a close affinity with the sea.  It has hosted Tall Ships 2000 and the European Sailing Ryder Cup, and regularly hosts the Whitbread Round the World Race, the BT Global Challenge, and the Southampton International Boat Show, Europe’s largest on water boat show. The city covers an area of 50 square kilometres and has a population of  215,000 people. The city’s largest employer is the City Council with 8,500 employees.  From the 1991 census, 60,000 people both live and work in the city.  41,000 people commute into the city to work, and 23,000 people who live in Southampton commute out to work elsewhere. Nearly twenty five percent of employees in Southampton work in banking, insurance, real estate and other business services.</blockquote>

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