THESE days it is a quiet byway, tucked away from the busy streets of 21st century Southampton, but there was a time when Simnel Street was packed with desperate families, and an area where few wandered on their own.

One of the oldest streets in the city, Simnel Street had a reputation and at the same time a fascination, it was picturesque but dilapidated.

Today’s local people who only know the Southampton of recent decades can only imagine the extraordinary character of the street that now runs from Western Esplanade to Castle Way.

At one point Simnel Street was only 5ft 8in wide, and near the Western Esplanade end the ancient houses were prevented from collapsing on the home opposite by improvised wooden beams, which spanned the way just above the heads of the passer- by below. There were also various courts and alleys leading off the street.

The name is usually supposed to have something to do with the manufacture of simnel cakes. It may, however, have come from the old French word simenel, meaning fine flour, which gave its name to the cakes, because in the Middle Ages there was a windmill close by.

In previous centuries Simnel Street was known as one of the roughest areas around and the ordinary citizen seldom went there, and never, if it could be helped, after dark.

According to the history books: “Simnel Street consisted largely of common lodging houses, whose occupants included some of the poorest and most notorious men and women in the town; and Saturday night fights were sometimes alarming affairs.”

Many of Simnel Street houses dated from Elizabethan times, some belonging to an even earlier period, and in the foundations there were treasures of medieval masonry. The oldest homes were known to be dark, with their great beams of centuries- old oak and chestnut.

Many of these buildings were swept away in the 1920s and 1930s, but one of the last to go was a property owned by a Miss Potts, who made candles on the site. The old candles were made by dipping the wicks into boiling tallow, taking them out until it cooled, then plunging them back in again and so on until the candles were complete.

Miss Potts was an elderly lady, quite a character and much liked in the neighbourhood and well known for her kindness.

“She was of middle height and upright in her carriage,” according to one description.

“She had beautiful white hair, brushed very smooth and parted carefully in the middle. Although very pleasant in her manner, her expression of face was rather severe.