Final plans submitted for Southampton's medieval walls revamp

The 1980s Bargate shopping centre and multi-storey car park are among the buildings demolished to make way for the redevelopment

Final plans for a multimillion-pound scheme to redevelop an area in central Southampton have been submitted.

The plans for the city's Bargate Quarter were revised following the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The developer, Tellon Capital, altered the scheme last month to drop a 240-bedroom hotel and add more flats suitable for "home-working".

The number of flats has gone up from 287 to 519 and the shopping area has been scaled back to about a third.

The plans feature a boulevard and garden areas in the city's medieval walls

The hotel was added to the previous plans a year ago instead of 185 units of student accommodation.

Tellon Capital said the changes had been made to focus on the positive aspects of the Covid-19 pandemic, "such as the fact more people are walking and cycling".

It said the final plans include secure cycle spaces and electric vehicle charging points, with garden areas to make a feature of the medieval walls.

Buildings along Queensway and East Street and the Bargate Shopping Centre have already been demolished ahead of work starting on the redevelopment.

Southampton's town walls

• The oldest sections, Bargate and Eastgate, date from 1180 - alterations were made in about 1290

• They were extended following the devastating French raid of 1338. Edward III ordered that walls be built to "close the town", with the western walls completed in 1380

• The walls - including eight gates and 29 towers - stretched for one-and-a-quarter miles, with the Bargate as the entrance to the medieval town

• In the late 19th Century an idea to demolish the Bargate as an impediment to traffic was defeated following a public campaign. But in the 1930s the adjoining walls were removed to allow traffic to flow on either side

• Roughly half of the walls, 13 of the original towers and six gates are standing, making them some of the most complete medieval town walls in the country

Source: Southampton City Council