Page:The National Gazetteer - A Topographical Dictionary of the British Islands, Volume 2.djvu/189

Rh HAMPSHIRE. 181 HAMPSHIRE. Winchester Castle in the hands of the Empress Maud, who, when hard pressed in the siege, made her escape by being carried in a coffin through the lines of the opposing army. In the reign of John, Odiham Castle was taken by the barons, and in the reign of Edward III., South- ampton was taken and sacked by the combined fleets of France, Genoa, and Spain, about the same time that New- town and Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight were burned by the French, and Carisbrook Castle besieged, but ineffectually. In the subsequent reigns of Henry V. and Henry VIII., the French again attacked the Isle of Wight, but were repulsed, and in 1554 the city of Win- chester was the scene of the marriage of Mary with Philip II. of Spain. In the reign of Charles I., George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, was stabbed at Ports- mouth, whilst attending the departure of the fleet for Cadiz ; and later in the same reign this county was the scene of hostilities between the royalists and the parlia- mentary forces. In December, 1643, Sir William Waller defeated the royalists, but failed in hia attempts to storm Basing House, near Basingstoke, which was nobly defended for two years by its owner, John Paulett, Marquis of Winchester, against all the attempts of the parliamentarians, till October, 1645, when it was stormed by Cromwell, who burnt it to the ground. Two years later, Charles took shelter in Titchfield House, after his escape from Hampton Court, and eventually delivered himself up to the governor of the Isle of Wight, Colonel Hammond, when ho was imprisoned at Carisbrook, and afterwards at Hurst Castle. Hampshire has always been an agricultural county, and although much of the soil is poor, yet the produce is large, the tillage being in general good. It yields large crops of wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, and trefoil ; also fruit, honey, and hops, the last being chiefly grown in the Wealden district. The meadows are small, but the chalk downs afford excellent pasture for sheep, which are extensively reared, as are also hogs. These last are fed in the extensive forests on the W. and E. borders, comprising still 100,000 acres, though much waste land has been taken in of late years. The principal forests are the New Forest, in the western part of the county, covering upwards of 63,000 acres, Bere Forest in the S.E., 11,000, Woolmer in the N.E., about 5,949, Alice Holt in the E., 2,744, Waltham Chase, near Bere, 2,000, and Harewood Forest, near Audover, 2,000. The whole shire rests on a bed of chalk, which shows itself near the middle of the county, the chalk land stretching from Basingstoke to Win- chester, and rising into downs 900 feet high at Butser Hill and High Clere Beacon. The land beyond Win- chester towards the N. is rich and fruitful, being mainly white or plastic clay, and in some places London clay ; while the land to the S. and S.W. of Romsey, being mainly sand and gravel, is still covered with wood or waste. The whole of the S. part of the county, with the Isle of Wight and the intervening channel, forms a basin called by geologists the Hampshire basin, resem- bling in the arrangement of its strata the London and Paris basins. The county in the N.E. extends into the London basin, and in the E. includes part of the Wealden formation. The watershed is towards the S. The Itchen, which has been made navigable from South- ampton to Winchester, the Hamble, Titchfield, Boldre, Test or Anton, Exor Beaulieu, and the Avon and Stonr, which two last enter the county from Wiltshire, all fall into the English Channel, or into tho Southampton W.i U r, which runs for 8 miles up the middle of the shire, to the town of Southampton, at the junction of the Test and Itchen. The northern portion of the county, which belongs to the London basin, is watered by the Auborne, the Wey, and tho Loddon, small tributaries of the Thames. The county is intersected by three canals viz. the Andovor, which, commencing at Andover, runs in a southerly direction for 22 miles, past Stockbridgo and .y, to Redbridge on tho Southampton Water, with a branch to Salisbury ; the Basingstoke canal commences near Basingstoke, and is carried on one level in an easterly direction for 22 miles to the river Loddon, which U crosses, and continues its further course through part of VOL. n. the county of Surrey to the navigable part of the river Wey, near its junction with the Thames ; the third canal crosses tho eastern part of the county from Arundel by Chichester to Portsmouth, thus connecting the Thames with the harbour of Portsmouth. This important harbour forms part of the extensive bay, or inlet, indenting the eastern coast of the county, which here lies low, and is divided into three ports, or harbours, called Chichester, Langston, and Portsmouth harbours, by the islands of Hayling -and Portsea. This last is about 4 miles long from N. to S., and nearly 3 broad, containing the borough of Portsmouth and the town of Port- sea, with its royal dockyard. Tho coast then takes a north-westerly direction, and occasionally rises into low cliffs, till it comes to tho opening of the inlet called Southampton Water, which is near 2 miles broad when the tide is up, but only half a mile at low water. Tho coast then bends to tho S.W., and becomes nearly level, offering facilities for the extensive salt-works which arc here carried on, and at length stretches out into a long neck of sand, at the point of which is situated Hurst Castle. The coast then suddenly becomes high and abrupt, with the shallow bay of Christchurch and Hengistbury Head, facing the Isle of Wight, which will be described under its own heading. The principal ports on this coast are Christchurch, Emsworth, Fareham, Hamble, Havant, Lymington, Portsmouth, Redbridge, Southampton, and Titchfield, besides Brading, Cowes, Newport, Ryde, and Yarmouth, in tho Isle of Wight. The principal naval dockyard in England is at Portsmouth and Portsea, where also are the convict hulks; but the extensive steam-docks are at Southampton, from which steamships depart to almost all parts of the world, and emigrant vessels sail for Australia, New Zealand, &c. Cowes is celebrated for its ship-building yards, and for being the station of the Royal Yacht squadron ; whilst the Isle of Wight and several of tho towns along the coast, as Anglesea, Bournemouth, Fareham, Hayling, Lymington, and Southampton, arc frequented during the season by visitors for sea-bathing. By ancient prescription, Win- chester, though now tho third town in population, is considered tho capital of the county, having been made a city on the first conversion of the West Saxon kings to Christianity, who richly endowed tho see, and fixed here tho seat of tho cathedral and the bishop's palace. It is also the assize town for that part of the county not included within the liberties of Southampton, which has assizes for its own shire. Besides the city of Winchester there are seven boroughs Andover, Christchurch, Ly- mington, Newport, Petersfield, Portsmouth, and South- ampton, which return members to parliament. These, with 13 others, viz. Alresford, Alton, Basingstoke, Bishop's Waltham, Fareham, Fordingbridge, Gosport, Havant, Kingsclere, Odiham, Romsey, Stockbridge, and Whit- church, are market towns. Tho most populous are Ports- mouth, containing 94,799 inhabitants ; Southampton, 46,960 ; Winchester, 14,776 ; Christchurch, 9,368 ; Ryde, 9,269 ; Newport, 7,934, and Gosport, 7,789. Besides these there are many smaller towns, and about 277 townships and parishes. These are comprised in the 39 hundreds and 11 liberties into which the county is divided, besides the three separate jurisdictions of Winchester, Ports- mouth, and Southampton. For parliamentary purposes the county forms three electoral districts, North and South Hampshire, and tho Isle of Wight, the two first returning each two members, and the last one, the places of elec- tion being respectively Winchester, Southampton, and Newport. It is comprised within the Western Circuit, and the district of the London Court of Bankruptcy, and forms part of tho province of Canterbury, being an archdeaconry in the diocese of Winchester. The county magistrates have further divided it into 14 districts viz. Alton in the E. ; Andovor, W. ; Basingstoko, N.E. ; Drox- ford and Fareham, S.E. ; Kingsclere, N. ; Lymington, S. W.; Odiham, N.E.; Petersfield, Ringwood, and Romsey, S.W. ; Southampton, S. ; Winchester in the middle, and the Isle of Wight in the S. It likewise forms 25 Poor- law Unions and registration districts. The principal seats are Osborne House, of her Majesty Queen Victoria ;