History of portsmouth and the development of Somers Town

The first development of a city at Portsmouth dates back to the 16th century and has arisen from initial developments of “The Garrison Tower of Portsmouth”. Before this construction, Portsey Island was largely rural with small hamlets working farmland and gathering fish for food, yet concerns of foreign invasion had prompted King Henry VIII to instigate defences along the south coast and provide infrastructure to support a fast developing navy. The garrison occupied the site now referred to as Historic Portsmouth and complemented the defences around Southsea castle. With huge earth mounds, moats and heavy masonry structures, each defence had substantial fortifications built to protect the Navy from any landward attack.

Further into Portsmouth haven the King developed store houses for goods entering and leaving the country from Portsey Island, yet until the 1820’s, with an ever increasing threat of foreign invasion, growth and expansion of both the countries Navy and its fortifications along the south coast saw this site developed into the now Historical Dockyard, with construction of many slipways, docks, stores and barracks. These in turn were also protected from the mainland side through similar fortifications used on the earlier sites, with only the gun wharf quays and a significantly large mill pond segregating these areas from one another. In order to support the Navy, families of the people working in the dockyards developed homes on the opposite side of the fortifications, along the main routes serving the docks, of which is now the Commercial Road area. The fortifications though hindered supply for the growth of this city, for which a canal was constructed to bring goods from ships landing on the east coast of Portsey Island. By 1850 though, this canal was already made redundant as the invention of the railway provided better communications with the rest of the country, bringing goods and equipment for both the community in the city and the naval dockyards.

In its conception, the railway was easy to construct, with a main terminus arising to form the current Portsmouth and Southsea station, however, with the size and scale of the Navy’s fortifications, the tracks would have to circumnavigate much of the dockyards in order to penetrate them for supply. These fortifications also hindered development in the dockyards directly as growth was restricted from growing outwards and could only be developed to a higher density. In contrast the public community of Portsmouth was unrestrained and in its role for support of the Navy, was able to develop southwards towards Southsea Common.

By 1873 the fortification were realised as too much of a hindrance to both the Navy and the growth of the City as a whole and were demolished, with the rubble filling up all the moats along with the millpond. With additional opportunities emerging to improve the infrastructure, the new, open land was adopted by the railway to extend the mainline right to the coast, where the first passengers could disembark for ferries to Europe and the Isle of White. Rather than leave the dockyards bisected into two sites by this development, the Navy saw new opportunities to develop new facilities in the Northern sector by building out into the harbour itself, leaving the Southern quarter for public purchase of residential and industrial fishing services. With further improvements of public transport connections, Portsmouth developed additional industries along the railway with goods yards opening up both in the City Centre and at Fratton Stations. From Fratton, the city opened itself up to tourism, with an additional branch line taking holidaymakers onto the pier and associated developments to the south at Southsea. At this stage our site in Somers Town has begun development, with many industries arising from the railway and its goods yards, together with residential terraced housing for the workers. However, the area still contains huge open spaces with Priory Farm Situated to the East.

1911 saw growth and industrial development increase both the size and the density of the city. The fortification sites were now populated by the Navy to the North and our Somers Town Site was densely populated with Victorian terraced housing forming tight, narrow public spaces in the form of streets as Portsmouth and Southsea join together. Amongst the Navy development a new hospital occupies today’s University sites around the Portland building and Victoria Park emerges in connecting it to the city. Grandeur is attempted with construction of the Guildhall at the main station terminus in front of the railway’s goods yards.

By 1931 development on the old fortification sites means Portsmouth’s individual growth points are becoming indistinguishable and blend together to form one single community. This development too has continued to increase the density of Somers Town with developments and extensions to the rear of individual dwellings beginning t form much larger, density community blocks. This is a process which is still continuing today. Down Landsdown Street, rear garages have sprung up on many properties and many of these are being converted further, to extend upwards to form new dwellings or office accommodation.


This unity though is short lived as by the time the Second World War has ended much of the city has been destroyed, with our Somers Town area requiring much demolition and being left more or less vacant. Without the industry in this area, the railway station is reduced in size, with the goods yard being relocated to Fratton, whilst the existing site in front of the Guildhall is turned into car park facilities by the 1970’s. At this stage Modern living has changed the habits of much of the public who now not only travel by car more regularly, but often prefer to travel abroad for holidays. As a result the Southsea branch line is closed and developed upon.

As population grow increases and inadequate slums are cleared, Somers Town is required for new development. With Modernist ideas through inspiring “fashion” trends in architecture, new concepts are put into practise and in order of celebrating the modern way of life and these architectural ideals, buildings are constantly put on display through implementing a free standing nature. With new buildings being positioned within space, they contradict traditional outcomes where terraced facades are created to form external rooms with individual characteristics of either a public or private domain. This is especially true to the North of the site where the situation worsens, unrestrained by connections to the traditional Victorian terraced housing surrounding the site elsewhere. With each building trying to outperform the last, creating a unique identity for itself, many different styles have arisen which have prevented the area from achieving a collective perception of community identity, other than a negative one of clutter and mismatched high rise development. In a historical trend, it is only the most significant or celebrated buildings of churches or community halls which may be visually isolated, yet these are still contained within the created spaces for the public realm. Complementing this public space, the buildings which form its character in turn create a private space behind, isolated from the community, yet controlled by each individual who occupies the property.

The situation in Somers Town of buildings being constructed in isolation from one another, has removed the definition of private spaces. Here in the public realm, no-one has claim over the land, no-one can take ownership or responsibility for the land, which in turn can result in care and maintenance being left unattended which will degrade the presentation of the area and deprive the community of pride for its situation. In an attempt to address this phenomena, many dwellings now have segregated gardens to introduce private space in which residents can care for, but with high level fencing to protect their efforts, the space surrounding these interventions turn repressive, bringing appearances and senses similar to like that felt in a prison.

With progress into the modern movement, increases in private transport and the development of the motor car changed the way we utilise public space. Where the Victorian terraces within the city were designed for use by only foot traffic, with the occasional horse drawn cart, today’s streets have developed pavements to segregate and permit safe operation of individual cars along the same space, which now, when parked, line the street elevation. With increased traffic and congestion, the aims in the Somers Town development were to reinstate a pleasant, people friendly lifestyle, where traffic is removed from the public realm and communities can utilise the extended spaces free from interruption. The new plans in this area, force all through traffic onto the main arteries of the newly formed Winston Churchill Avenue and Landport Terrace. In doing so, the area has a very different character from that of the traditional gridded city, to much of a laddered or self-contained situation. In this scenario, the Somers Town community are effectively segregated from the rest of the City by means of transport links supposed to connect them, forcing people to utilise either public or private transportation for their journey. In realisation, attempts to re-integrate and re-connect the city have been made with the construction of underpasses under these roads and a footbridge over the railway lines to the North. These however, have introduced additional social problems where illegal acts and attacks on the public are encouraged with dark hiding places, positioned out of the sight of the authorities.

Along these main arteries, the increased load in traffic and therefore potential customers have drawn businesses to the western approach to the city canter, with retail opportunities arising on the approach to the shopping facilities of Albert Road. For similar reasons as the location of businesses, the larger Civic buildings and university centres are located to the North, with easy connection to the City Centre. These two types though are in much segregated, defining areas as the larger scale monolithic nature of the more wealthy, public constructions can afford to create new development on areas cleared by the war. The effect of these facility’s locations further isolate the Somers Town community from other areas in the City, although with scattering of a few convenience stores, public houses and schools, this community is in theory given the essentials for sustaining itself in everyday living.

This effect of segregation and undesirable pedestrian connections have also had an ill-effect on increasing the dependence on motorcars for connection into the City, for which more people have purchased and for which more land is given in order of parking facilities. This intern has removed land from the public realm, eroding the initial concepts for the Somers Town development and together with secure, protective fencing, increases the perception of isolation and restraint within the community. This effect has further been exasperated in the development of Portsmouth, where restrictions in order of protected open spaces, lack of Greenfield sites and risk of flooding, has led to additional development of the Somers Town area, again decreasing the amount of open space available to the public. With increased development in a concept of independent space, the building grain is perceived as disordered, unplanned and chaotic. In this scenario, plans are often realised with undesirable rear and side elevations. Previously hidden in Victorian terrace housing developments, Somers Town places poor elevations on display, literally having the effect of turning backs onto the community. The effects of this not only remove points for social interaction with neighbouring families, but where many places are left unwatched and unguarded, antisocial and disruptive behaviour from some of the residents are unable to be discouraged. This effect is only exasperated in this scenario where cars and well utilised routes are removed from the public realm, enabling considerably smaller requirements for pedestrian routes introduce darker, hidden, isolated areas where the potential for lawlessness and personal attacks are only increased. The many alleys and public corridors created by developing in the initial concept for individually spaced buildings aid any criminal or disruptive activity, where fear is introduced into the community, discouraging people from using the spaces, turning the public realm into an unpleasant, restricted environment, where people dare not enter, or indeed wish to live.

With numerous people living in an unhappy lifestyle and wishing to leave, Portsmouth City Council aim to regenerate the area and introduce new building elements to develop a traditional type of street partition, forming distinctions between public and private spaces with the ideas of uniting buildings to contain both secure and social rooms. However, with additional development of an increased population density, without integration with Portsmouth City as a whole, many of the residents are weary that many of the problems will be left unresolved. In continuing this project I wish to address some of the issues surrounding this site, providing a design solution to help define the community of Somers Town, whilst introducing some of the cultural facilities that are to be found lacking within the community.