HISTORIC monuments across Southampton will be given a health check as part of plans to unlock the city's rich heritage.

More than 100 historic attractions and heritage sites will be inspected in what civic chiefs are calling Southampton's "biggest condition survey in decades".

Monuments such as the the vaults, the city walls and God's House Tower will all be given the once-over.

Civic chiefs will then use the results to plan possible repairs or alternative ways in which the attractions can be managed.

Southampton City Council's cabinet member for communities, culture and leisure, Satvir Kaur, said: "We haven't had a survey like this in Southampton in decades.

"Earlier this year we as a council wanted a more strategic approach to our heritage sites and so I asked or this survey.

"It will give us a complete oversight and clearer picture of the challenges we face and we can work on a strategy going forward."

Councillors debated the survey, which was launched in September and is due to be completed by February next year, during a discussion about the city's tourism plans last week.

Civic chiefs hope the inspections will eventually allow them to open up a number of monuments that are currently closed to members of the public.

Discussion focused on Southampton's numerous historic vaults, some of which date back to the 12th century.

They were described in the meeting as the city's "hidden heritage" by former councillor Linda Norris – a leading light behind Music in the City.

She said how the event had previously utilised eight council owned venues across the city.

However, she said that over the last seven years that several of the venues had fallen into disrepair.

This included Undercroft, on Upper Bugle Street, which suffered falling masonry and Castle vault, near the Bargate, which was previously closed due to a water leak.

She encouraged the council to seek out grants in the hope of repairing the vaults and other historical venues.

The discussion was prompted after Conservative councillor Nigel Hecks submitted a motion to full council last week hoping to encourage the authority to make more of the city's heritage.

After an amendment from Labour, which recognised the authority's actions so far, the motion was given cross-party support.

Leader Simon Letts said he hoped by making the most of the historical attractions, Southampton could become "more than a weekend city".

He said: "We've got some of the eateries and a Premier League football team, unlike our neighbours.

"We've got some of the best shopping in the South East of England.

"I think we've got more then enough for a weekend.

"Let's get them here and lets get them spending money and get them understanding what a great city Southampton is."

But a council spokesperson said the list of sites to be inspected is "provisional" and added: "We are doing a survey of the monuments / buildings that are in our ownership so we can fully understand their condition. There is no decision yet on which ones we will address".

But local history expert and tour guide Godfrey Collyer's said the five sites that he would prioritise are: Quilter's Vault; The Weigh House; The Undercroft; Castle Vault; and The Bargate. He added: "The Bargate is a tremendous resource but it's gathering dust".