Highlights

Leather Jug

This interesting exhibit is a leather wine flagon in the shape of an Elizabethan lady, and made principally from vegetable tanned leather. The underskirt features an embossed pattern of interlaced foliage and mythical beasts. The lace collar, sleeve-ends and the lower edge of the skirt were probably made from light-coloured, possibly oil-tanned leather. The bodice and overskirt were also possibly from different coloured leathers. The face and upper chest area have been painted.

The jug has been restored painstakingly and sensitively to retain its patina and original character and can be found in the Banqueting Hall. It is essential that we keep it in humidity-controlled conditions as leather – especially old leather – is very sensitive to changes in humidity, which could cause irreparable damage. We also have to protect it from direct sunlight and sources of heat.

Stocks – by Aaron Matthews (Volunteer)

The stocks were used as punishment from the Middle Ages through to the 1800s in Britain. Not to be confused with the pillory which held a prisoner’s head and arms in the standing position, the stocks were used to hold a prisoner’s legs in the sitting position. They were generally used to publicly hold prisoners who had committed minor offences, serving not only as a form of corporal punishment but also as a form of psychological torture by publicly shaming them.
Built of wood or metal, stocks held the ankles in place so that the prisoner sat with their legs outstretched, unable to move and preventing the blood from circulating which would have been uncomfortable to say the least. Extra chains and weights were sometimes used to make the punishment even more uncomfortable whilst passers-by would add to the humiliation by throwing rotten fruits and vegetables at the unfortunate offender. Although not the intended goal of a spell in the stocks, occasionally prisoners would die whilst held in them, particularly from exposure to the elements if left in them for too long a period.
The stocks at Tudor House would have been used to punish offenders for minor crimes and disturbances of the peace such as public drunkenness, fighting, vagrancy and trespass. Each parish in Southampton, such as All Saints, Above Bar, St Michael’s, Holy Rood and St Mary’s would have been entitled to its own set of stocks, although their exact locations remain unknown.

The Southampton Book of Hours

One of the treasures of Southampton’s collection, this tiny 13cm by 9cm book is too fragile to be displayed permanently. However, the technology in Tudor House’s new displays allows us to show visitors some pages from this beautiful book, as part of the programme on the Guida Rotate (a 360º, projected interactive video display) in the Rich Room.

The Book of Hours is a personal prayer book, dating to the late 15th century. It was consulted during the day to help the owner carry out her daily devotions. It is written in Flemish, with some Latin, and was probably made in the Netherlands around 1480.

These books tended to contain the same core elements, although no two are exactly the same. Our book contains a descriptive and illustrated calendar of the fixed festivals of the Christian church with descriptions and illustrations of medieval people carrying out their occupations and leisure pursuits of particular months. It also contains the Hours of the Virgin – rules for the recital of certain prayers at specific times of the day – and the Office of the Dead, a collection of psalms and readings intended to be said around the coffin of a deceased person.

Ship Engravings

Recent restoration of the first floor room now known as The Trade Room has revealed a rare and significant collection of late 16th – early 17th Century graffiti.

Unlike the present day when most graffiti is considered a form of vandalism, in earlier centuries the drawing of graffiti was widely tolerated and is found in many historic buildings. It was usually small-scale, scratched or marked on a surface, and most of the individuals who created it were not trained artists but ordinary people, doodling or sometimes making detailed drawings that represented aspect of their lives.

Tudor House and Garden stands close the former waterfront of Tudor and Stuart Southampton, and belonged to ship owners in the late 1500s and early 1600s, when the town was a base for privateers and pirates. The graffiti in the room includes many different kinds of images of ships and people, caricatures of people in authority, sketches of animals and symbols and other shapes. The types of ships and costume enable us to date them with reasonable accuracy. Many of the images are probably the work of sailors, and reflect the daily reality of life as lived by people 400 years ago.