Medieval Merchants House

The Medieval Merchants House is an English Heritage site in the historic part of Southampton. It is a small building (
), with a dirt floor on the ground level, and some upstairs rooms and a cellar. Considering the overall size of the property, the entrance fee seems a bit steep. The audio guide is fairly lengthy, describing the typical life of the inhabitants: a wealthy Southampton wine merchant and his family, and guests. Actually, the audio guide is really lengthy, which is good for the history fans, but not great when you’ve got small kids in your group.
The site staff did open up the large wine cellar for us, under the building, and let us inside it. Overall, while the history is great (you can get a good sense of what Southampton was like as a port in the Middle Ages), the site is pretty small — like 5 rooms total, plus the cellar. For history fans, it’s cool, but for random entertainment, its value per admission isn’t great.
OPENING TIMES: we must have lucky in our trip, since according to the English Heritage website, the Medieval Merchant’s House is only open on Sundays (noon to five pm).
Accessibility note: since it is an old building with a dirt floor, strollers aren’t admitted, but can be left with the museum staff in the entry room/​gift shop. Steep stairs for the upstairs and for the wine cellar.