The Wool House is a medieval building in

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, England which was built to serve the

wool trade Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. As ...

. It has since had various uses. The Wool House was built in the late 14th century to store wool for export to Italy. In the early 19th century it was used as a prison for Napoleonic French prisoners of war. The building was restored by Southampton City Corporation and adapted to house the Southampton

Maritime Museum A maritime museum (sometimes nautical museum) is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water. A subcategory of maritime museums are naval museums, which focus on navies and the milita ...

, which opened in June 1966 and moved to

SeaCity Museum The SeaCity Museum is a museum in Southampton, England, which opened on 10 April 2012 to mark the centenary of RMS ''Titanics departure from the city. It is housed within a part of the Grade II* listed civic centre building which previously h ...

in January 2012. It is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. A plaque on the wall of The Wool House records its history: 'The Wool House' plaque - geograph

''This building was erected in the 14th century for the storage of wool before export to the continent in the galleys and carracks of Venice and Genoa. The wool trade was the basis of Southampton's prosperity in the middle ages. During the Napoleonic wars The Wool House was used to accommodate French prisoners of war, some of whose names may be seen carved on the beams of the roof. This building was restored by the city corporation and opened as a Maritime Museum in June 1966.''

During the early part of the 20th century, the premises were occupied by The Moonbeam Engineering Company Limited who built motor launches and later expanded to include the sale of wrought iron propellers and marine engines for export around the world.

Edwin Moon Squadron Leader Edwin Rowland Moon DSO* (8 June 1886 – 29 April 1920) was an English aviation pioneer who served in the Royal Naval Air Service and Royal Air Force during the First World War. He was a prisoner of war and he was twice awarded a ...

used a corner of the workshop to realise his dream of constructing and flying an aircraft of his own design which he flew from land at

North Stoneham North Stoneham is a settlement and ecclesiastical parish located in between Eastleigh and Southampton in south Hampshire, England. It was formerly an ancient estate and manor. Until the nineteenth century, it was a rural community comprising a nu ...

in 1910, on fields which subsequently became Southampton International Airport. The Maritime Museum, housed here from 1966 to 2012, documented the maritime heritage of Southampton and the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...

area, its history as a base for

ocean liners An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). C ...

and in particular its connections to RMS ''Titanic''. Its mission statement was: "To collect, preserve, display and interpret artefacts and information to reflect the widest range of history of the city and its people; to promote enjoyment, awareness of the engagement with Southampton's heritage, via the presentation of the life of the city and its people." In June 2013, The Wool House was opened up by Element Arts, a pop-up arts organisation, who used the space as a gallery and community arts venue featuring exhibitions and live events - music, dance, poetry, theatre, plus workshops for all ages. Element Arts had the Wool House for a short time on a rolling month by month basis. Plans were approved in 2014 to allow the Dancing Man Brewery to turn the building into a microbrewery and pub. The Wool House reopened on 27 February 2015 as a brewpub/restaurant.

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*
Images of England: photo

Port Cities: Southampton

Titanic CitiesElement Arts
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wool House Museums in Southampton The Solent 1966 establishments in England Museums established in 1966 Grade I listed buildings in Hampshire Museums disestablished in 2012 Defunct museums in England Defunct prisons in England Wool trade

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