Southampton’s vaults are medieval stone cellars hidden beneath the Old Town, most of them at least 650 years old, built when the port was at the centre of England’s wine trade with France. They are scheduled monuments, protected by law as sites of national importance, and you can only go inside on guided walks, which leave the Bargate on weekends and cost £12.50.

History of the Southampton Vaults

Southampton’s vaults were built as wine cellars for the town’s merchants, at a time when most of the wine imported from France came through the port on its way to London and the rest of the country, according to Southampton City Council. The council’s Tudor House and Garden museum describes medieval Southampton as a busy port that exported wool and stored its imported French wine underground. The council records that the vaults were showrooms as well as stores: the wine was mostly sold wholesale to the butlers of aristocratic households, sent to Southampton by their masters to buy a cask or two at a time.

The vaults vary in age and style. Historic England’s list entry for Quilter’s Vault on the High Street dates it to the late 13th century, with a window of about 1300 and a fireplace into which an oven was later built. Southampton City Council’s vault records describe the Undercroft on Simnel Street as particularly elaborate, with a vaulted ceiling, carved human heads, a large fireplace and traces of paint that suggest it was once richly decorated, probably to impress buyers. The council dates the vault at 94 High Street to around 1350 and notes that Lankester’s Vault, built of Bembridge stone from the Isle of Wight, has blocks carved with Roman numerals giving their thickness in inches.

According to the council, the vaults’ thick stone walls and vaulted ceilings carried them through attacks on the town, centuries of rebuilding in the streets above and repeated bombing in the Second World War, when several were turned into air-raid shelters. The vaults are now scheduled monuments in the council’s care. They are among the many castles and historic attractions worth seeking out in England.

Southampton Castle and the Castle Vault

Southampton Castle’s Castle Vault on Western Esplanade is the biggest, and one of the oldest, vaults in the city, built just behind the castle wall around 1180 to store the King’s wine, according to Southampton City Council. The council records that ships could unload casks onto a quay directly outside, because the water came right up to this stretch of wall in the medieval period. The Heritage Open Days listing for the vault explains that the king took 10% of all wine imported into England, and that the King’s butler in Southampton sent it on to royal castles and palaces. The same listing describes the vault as the only part of the castle’s buildings to survive intact, and records its use as an air-raid shelter for up to 200 people in the Second World War.

Southampton Town Walls

Southampton’s town walls were built up after a destructive French raid in 1338, when Edward III ordered new defences, according to the council’s Tudor House and Garden museum, which says the walls were finished by the early 1420s. The raid changed the vaults beside the water too. The Heritage Open Days listing for Castle Hall, next to the Castle Vault, records that its two large wine doorways onto the Castle Quay were blocked after the raid and turned into gun emplacements.

Medieval Merchant’s House

The Medieval Merchant’s House at 58 French Street shows how a vault sat beneath a merchant’s home. Southampton City Council’s list of scheduled monuments describes it as a medieval house with a vaulted undercroft, built in the late 13th or early 14th century, and the most complete surviving medieval house in Southampton.

Visiting the Southampton Vaults: Practical Information

• How to visit: The vaults are seen on guided walks of the Old Town, which visit the medieval walls and a selection of vaults. Six vaults can also be hired from Southampton City Council for small events.
• See Southampton walks: 90-minute walks on Saturdays and Sundays, 10.30am–12pm in May, July and September, and 1.30pm–3pm in February, April, June, August, October and December. There are no walks on 26 or 27 December 2026.
• Southampton Tourist Guides Association walks: The Overground & Underground walk runs on Saturdays and Sundays at 1.30pm in November, January and March. Other dates are available on request.
• Meeting point: The north side of the Bargate, High Street, Southampton SO14 2DJ, beside the stone lions.
• Tickets: £12.50 per person for both organisations. See Southampton walks can be booked online or paid for on the day by cash or card.
• Booking: Not required for See Southampton walks, as you can pay on the day. Southampton Tourist Guides Association walks are booked online through WeGotTickets.
• Discount: A walk ticket gets you 20% off entry to SeaCity Museum and Tudor House. For Southampton Tourist Guides Association walks, this applies to WeGotTickets bookings only.
• Suggested visit length: About 90 minutes for a guided walk, or around 10,000 steps.
• Best time to visit: A weekend, when the guided walks run. December walks with See Southampton add stories of Christmas in Southampton through the centuries.
• Accessibility: Walks include uneven paving, heights, and spiral and stone staircases down into the vaults. Inside, floors are uneven and often damp, and there are no toilets. See Southampton offers bespoke accessible tours and an accessible walk map.
• Nearest station: Southampton Central.
• Getting there from London: Direct South Western Railway trains run from London Waterloo to Southampton Central in about 1 hour 20 minutes. Southern trains from London Victoria take about 2 hours 30 minutes.
• Managed by: Southampton City Council cares for the vaults. Guided walks are run by See Southampton and the Southampton Tourist Guides Association.
• Nearby attractions: The Bargate, the West Gate (open Sundays 10am–12pm and 1pm–3pm, free) and Tudor House and Garden.

Prices last checked: October 2026.

Opening hours last checked: October 2026.

Sources: See Southampton, Southampton Tourist Guides Association, Southampton City Council: medieval vault hire, Southampton City Council: medieval vaults, Visit Southampton: getting here.

Where to book: Book See Southampton walks through the See Southampton tours and events page, or Southampton Tourist Guides Association walks through WeGotTickets.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Start your walk at the Southampton Bargate, then visit Tudor House and Garden with your walk discount, or head to the Southampton Titanic Memorial.