About

Hello and welcome to historicsouthampton.co.uk.

My name is Russell Masters and I’m passionate about Southampton and its rich history.

I grew up in Netley and as a child I spent many a happy hour exploring the ruins of Netley Abbey or playing in the shadow of the chapel at the Royal Victoria Country Park. I remember family walks around Southampton’s medieval town walls, being taken to the city’s museums, and wanting to go inside the ruins of Holyrood Church every time we passed it in the car.

I have had an interest in local history since childhood, and after discovering hundreds of years worth of ancestry in Southampton, I started the @HistoricalSoton Twitter account in October 2015 as a hobby. People seem to enjoy the tweets, so I thought I would create a website where I could go into a bit more detail with blog posts and other things, such as interactive maps.

You can contact me at historicsouthampton@outlook.com.

Thanks for visiting and I hope you enjoy the website.