Southampton Bargate

November 2024 update

Major work was undertaken on the roof of the Bargate in 2024 as part of Phase 2 of the Heritage Assets Repairs Programme (HARP) following investigations into the leaks along the parapet and raised walkway on the north side in 2023.

Further repairs were carried out on the exterior stonework (including the stone shields on the north face). More work needs to be done on the metal railings and gates on the ground floor to keep out the rats and the pigeons that are damaging the ancient building.

Inside, cracks and small areas of stonework have been raked out and repointed in lime mortar. Some stonework around the inside of south facing windows has been refaced and pinned.

Bargate shields

We are often asked where the shields on the north face of the Bargate have gone. It is a complex issue that dates back over 50 years.

Originally, they were carved in Ventnor Stone, which weathers badly, and then some of them were replaced with blocks of Caen stone from northern France. This stone also erodes easily. As the stone has decayed over the years the damaged areas have been repaired and repainted with heraldic designs many times. They had a major refurbishment in 1946 and again in the 1970s.

In 1971 the old Bargate roof was replaced with a flat concrete roof. This might be when the problem we are dealing with today really started. The problem has been that the rain has been getting into the parapet somehow and the north face has not been able to dry out properly for decades.

The last time the shields were repainted was in 1998 when an historic buildings conservator replaced the damaged areas of the shields and repainted the designs. The special paint was supposed to last 20 years, but within five, much of it had gone and the mortar repairs had begun to drop off.

There have been three attempts to reduce the amount of rainwater getting into the north wall since then. We hope that the further work on the roof in 2024 will allow the stone to dry out to the extent that it will be possible for the shields to be rebuilt and repainted once again in the future.