Southampton suburbs and their residents

Southampton was founded approximately 2,000 years ago by the Romans as a seaport. Its maritime importance has played a significant part in how it has developed and even today, is integral to the city's identity. Southampton staked its claim in the history books as the port from which the Mayflower set sail for the New World in 1620. It was also from here that the Titanic began her ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. And still today, the city's ports are important docks for the cruise industry.

As Southampton's importance grew, it became a target for foreign armies and marauding pirates. The Normans built a castle and ringed the city with defensive walls and towers to protect themselves against attacks. Walking south from the Central Railway station down the Western Esplanade, it is still possible to see some complete sections of these defences.

Centuries later the city was still important and was targeted by the Luftwaffe and heavily bombed during World War II - large parts of the old city were destroyed as a result. Much of it has since been rebuilt and the heart of the modern city is now based around the Civic Centre.

Outside of the city centre there are a number of districts and suburbs these include:
Bassett
Bitterne
Coxford
Freemantle
Itchen
Lordshill
Millbrook
Northam
Portswood
Shirley
Sholing
Southampton city centre
Swaythling
Woolston

To read an independent profile of these areas select the links from the right hand side of this page.

These profiles are developed by a system called ACORN - ACORN stands for ‘A Classification Of Residential Neighbourhoods.’ The marketing-data firm CACI has produced this classification to include every street in England, Scotland and Wales, fitting them into 17 distinct groups, which, in turn, contain 56 ‘typical’ ACORN neighbourhood categories. The basic idea is that streets of broadly similar people are grouped together. Your postcode is assigned to the type which is the best match with the unique characteristics of your street. Please note that the description is for the type as a whole, not your specific street. When your street matches a type it doesn’t mean the description applies to you, as an individual.