New initiatives see Southampton’s heritage venues on the map

A new grouping of Southampton’s heritage venues aiming to promote the City’s rich heritage has been launched. The ‘Southampton Heritage Experience’ has seen Solent Sky, SeaCity and Tudor House, SS Shieldhall, The Hythe Ferry, The Mayflower 400 Project and See Southampton guides collaborate to produce heritage maps and vouchers that will encourage visitors to the city to stay longer and spend more.

‘We feel we can add value and reach out to a wider audience by pooling the resources of our attractions’ said See Southampton chairman Godfrey Collyer. ‘For the first time, the city now has a heritage map with welcoming copy in seven languages – English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, German and Russian. And when anyone purchases a full priced ticket for any of our venues they will be offered a discount card containing reduced price entry and offers to the other partners.’

The raising of the City’s heritage profile comes at a time when the new arts complex is also nearing completion. ‘This is an exciting time for the City’ said The Marketing Collective’s Jo Andrews, who has produced the map and also prints the ‘Southampton Pocket Guide’. ‘We are adding to the reasons why people should stay. You can take a stroll with a See Southampton guide and learn about why the historic walls were built and enter some of the city vaults; tour SeaCity Museum with its Titanic Gallery and Southampton seafaring links; explore Solent Sky Museum and climb aboard a flying boat; experience an air raid at the Tudor House Museum; take to the water on the vintage steamship Shieldhall or travel on the Hythe Ferry and its pier railway. We are also offering taster walks looking ahead to the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower departing Southampton in 1620 with the Mayflower 400 team. Southampton has a rich seam of heritage and we encourage everyone to discover the rich and varied stories the City has to tell’.