Kingshall Green: where Portsmouth became a royal town

In the spring of 1194, King Richard I - Richard the Lionheart - arrived in Portsmouth as he prepared to cross the Channel with men, ships and military supplies. Delayed by poor weather, the King remained in the town for several days. During this visit, Portsmouth’s future as a royal borough was secured. 

That same year, Richard granted Portsmouth its first royal charter, establishing it as a royal borough with significant independence from county control. The charter allowed the town to hold an annual fair and a weekly market, granted exemptions from many tolls, and gave it the right to administer justice within its boundaries. Portsmouth thus joined the ranks of England’s chartered towns, while the Crown secured firm control over a strategically vital south coast port. 

The Pipe Rolls - the annual financial records of the English Exchequer, still held at The National Archives - show that work on royal accommodation began almost immediately. Known as the King’s House or King’s Hall, and believed to have been a moated manor house, the buildings were constructed at the top of Penny Street, on a site now approximately occupied by The Portsmouth Grammar School’s Music School and the David Russell Theatre. In 1197–98, £2 18s. 3d. was spent on improvements to the King’s accommodation at Portsmouth. By the late 1200s, however, it had fallen into such disrepair that it was said to be in danger of collapse. An inquisition was taken into its value, and the hall, together with certain adjoining houses, was assessed at £40 before the site was sold. 

Although the royal buildings themselves disappeared centuries ago, their memory endured in the name Kingshall Green. Today, the site forms a direct link between the School and the moment when Portsmouth first emerged as a royal town. Pupils and teachers now play music and eat their lunch where kings once planned campaigns - a powerful reminder of how deeply the School is rooted in the city’s earliest history.