Hampshire, or the county of Southampton, is on the south coast of England, forming an irregular square, and lying about midway between the two southern ends of the island. A broad channel lies between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, which is reckoned as a part of the shire. The town of Southampton, with its neighbourhood, forms a shire. Hampshire is bounded on the north by Berks, on the east by Surrey and Sussex, on the south by the English Channel, and on the west by Dorsetshire and Wiltshire. Its length from north to south is about 55 miles, its breadth 40 miles; its area, excluding the Isle of Wight, is 958,320 acres; or with the island, 1,051,664, being the ninth English shire, and ranking among the largest.

The following transfers of parishes between this and the adjoining counties have been made under the “Local Government Boards Provisional Orders Confirmation Acts, 1895—96,” viz., from the county of Wilts, the parishes of Plaitford, West Wellow, Whitsbury, South Damerham, Martin, Toyd Farm, Melchet Park, and part of Bramshaw, and to the county of Berks, the parish of Combe, making the revised area of the county 1,051,664 acres, including the Isle of Wight.

The population in of the shire was, in 1801, 219,290; 1811, 246,514; 1821, 382,897; 1831, 313,976; 1841, 354,682; 1851, 245,370; 1861, 481,815; 1871, 524,836; in 1881, 575,409; and in 1891, 611,425, viz. 301,064 males, and 310,361 females. The number of houses were, inhabited, 114,130; uninhabited, 8,999; and building, 894. These figures are excluding the Isle of Wight.

The Isle of Wight is 22 ½ miles from east to west, 14 from north to south, 60 in circumference and contains 93,342 acres.

Hampshire was first peopled by the Iberians or Euskardians; afterwards by the Celtic Welsh, called Segontiags, who were driven out by the Belgians, of whom three tribes seem to have held Hampshire in the time of the Caesars, namely-the Regni on the coast, the Belgians in the middle, and the Attrebates on the north. In the year 43 of the common era, and in the reign of the Emperor Claudius, the Belgians were overcome, and the Romans became masters. These made towns and roads. Venta Belgarum, now Winchester, was a chief place, with many roads leading from it. Clausentum was near Southampton. Silchester was a great station, and is supposed to have been the Calleva of the Romans, and to have been called by the Welsh Caer Segont. There were other Roman towns and camps not so well marked. Andareon seems to have been at Andover. There are camps at Tuksbury Hill, Egbury, Ladle Hill, Beacon Hill, Woolbury, Bury Hill, Somborne, Quarley Mount, Haydon Hill, Godshill and Castlefield. Some of these were, perhaps, Welsh, Danish, or English.

In the sixth century, the Romans having left, and the Welsh being in power, some of the English chiefs landed. Porta founded Portsmouth. In 519, Cerdic, of the blood of Woden, began the kingdom of the West Saxons, the kings of which were very powerful, and many of them Bretwalds, and afterwards became kings of England. The Isle of Wight formed a small kingdom under Wessex and Sussex. The Meanwara, too, had a commonwealth to themselves in Meon, Mainsbridge and Mainborough. Winchester was the capital of Wessex and for a long time the capital of England. In the ninth and tenth centuries the Danes wasted Hampshire. Winchester, in civil wars, was frequently attacked. In the Parliamentary war, several battles and sieges took place in Hampshire. There are many Roman, monastic and castellated antiquities, some of which are in good preservation. Hampshire is the birth-place of the poets Young, Warton, Dibdin and Watts, of Bishop Wickham, Sir William Petty, Jonas Hanway, Brunei, Charles Dickens, Sir James Lancaster and Pococke.

Although much of the soil is poor, the tillage of Hampshire is, on the whole, good, and the produce is large; it yields much grain, and on the chalk downs sheep are fed and racehorses trained. The meadows are small. The chalk lands are adapted for pasture. Many hogs are fed in the forests, and Hampshire bacon is well known; the shire yields wheat, barley, oats, rye, peas, trefoil, grass, woo], bacon, honey, chalk, lime, whiting and clay. In the Wealden district hops are grown; orchards are extensive, and yield much of their produce for making cider, except on the north side of the South Downs. Much waste land has been taken in, but there are still 100,000 acres of waste and forest on the west border; of this, the New Forest, on the west, is about 92,365 acres, of which, under the Act 40 & 41 Vict. cap. 121, the Crown has a right to plant 1,600 acres, and the plantations are under the superintendence of the Commissioners of Woods and Forests; Woolmer forest, in the north-east, 5,949; Alice Holt, in the east, 2,744. Large portions of Woolmer and the neighbouring parishes were inclosed in 1858. There is likewise the Forest of Bere, in the south-east, with 11,000 acres; Waltham Chase, near Bere, has been inclosed; and Parkhurst Forest, in the Isle of Wight, about 3,000 acres. Harewood Forest is about 2,000 acres, near Andover.

In the southern half of Hampshire the average rainfall is 30 inches yearly; but the northern half of the county is rather drier, and there about 28 inches fall yearly. There are 30 peaces where gauges are placed to measure the quantity of rain that falls daily: in 1878 most rain (35 ½ inches) fall at Southampton, and least (23 inches) at Hartley Grange, Stratfield Turgis and Bournemouth.

The northern part of the shire is mostly watered by the Wey, Enborn and Loddon, feeders of the Thames. The Rother, a feeder of the Arun, flows in the east. The rivers faling into the English Channel are the TitchfieId, Hamble, Itchen, Test or Anton, Exe or Beaulieu, Boldre, Avon and Stour; the two latter flow along the western border from Wiltshire. The Southampton Water runs for 10 miles up the middle of the shire, and into it many of the rivers fall. On the south-west shore is a wide inlet, in which are Hayling Island and Portsea Island, each about four miles long, which divide it into three parts, Chichester Haven on the east, Langston Haven in the middle, and Portsmouth Haven on the west. The Itchen is made navigable for 13 miles, from Southampton to Winchester. The Basingstoke canal runs from Basingstoke to the Loddon and the Wey, and so to the Thames. The Arundel, Chichester and Portsmouth canal is in the east; it likewise joins the Wey. There are many ports on the coast; they are Emsworth, Havant, Portsmouth, Fareham, Grosport, Southampton, Redbridge, Lymington, Christchurch and Warsash.

The coast line is very irregular and deeply indented, the harbours starting from the south-east corner of the shire being Langston, Portsmouth, the long arm of Southampton water, Lymington and Christchurch, Numbers 2, 3 and 4 being very effectually sheltered by the Isle of Wight.

Tidal Streams Along the Coast op Hampshire.-On both ebb and flood there is a considerable indraught into all the deep bights from Portland to the Owers off Selsey Bill on the Sussex coast, quite sufficient, if a vessel comes within its influence, to lead her into danger. At the Needles, at full and change, the western stream makes at 10h. and the flood or eastern stream at 31h. 40m., the velocity of both being from 3 to 4 knots, increasing to 5 ½ between Hurst Point and the Island, and diminishing to about 2 knots south of the bridge; in the Solent the flood stream makes at 4h. and near the Bramble, half an hour later. In Freshwater Bay, about one mile south-west of Brook Point, on the west coast of the Isle of Wight, and the same distance of Atherfield Point, rather more to the south, the western stream makes at 10h. 25m. running at the rate of 1 knot, and the flood stream at 2h. 35m. from 2 to 2 ¾ knots, both streams taking the direction of the coast. At Bournemouth, Christchurch and other places facing the Isle of Wight there is this peculiarity, that there is high water twice in every tide, partly caused by the tidal wave up channel first producing the ordinary high water and the reflex wave after passing the Isle returning on the inside, but the same thing occurs in the Solent and also as far to the westward as Portland.

The North and South Downs traverse the county from east to west, and the Alton hills cross the centre of it, connecting the two larger ranges.

This county is mainly dependent on the London and South Western railway for its communications. The main line of this railway enters the county north of Aldershot, and proceeds through Basingstoke, Whitchurch and Andover to Salisbury, while from Basingstoke, a main branch proceeds by Abbotsworthy, Winchester and Bishopstoke to Southampton, being met at Winchester by the line from Guildford, through Farnham, Alton and Alresford, and at Bishopstoke it is intersected by the line from Romsey to Botley, Fareham and Gosport, which line is itself intersected at Fareham by the branch from Southampton to Havant, where it connects with the direct Portsmouth line, this latter coming from Guildford, via Liphook and Petersfield, and having its terminal station at Portsmouth Dockyard, and a new loop line to New Southsea from Fratton, a line leaving Southampton via Millbrook, Romsey and Stockbridge crosses the main line at Andover and proceeds on the Midland and South Western Junction line by Ludgershall to Marlborough. At Romsey, a branch runs westward via Dunbridge to Salisbury; a line from Southampton to Brockenhurst divides at the latter station into three branches, the northern of which goes to Ringwood and by Wimborne to Dorchester, the southern branch to Lymington and the centre one to Christchurch, Bournemouth and Poole, and a short branch connects Ringwood with Christchurch. The Salisbury and Wimbourne line crosses the extreme western point of the county, and there is a branch line from Botley to Bishop’s Waltham; these lines with one now (1898) in course of construction from Fareham through Alton to Basingstoke, which will shorten the distance to Gosport, complete the London and South Western system in connection with this county, and the only other lines are branches of the Great Western railway from Newbury through Whitchurch to Winchester, and from Reading to Basingstoke; the London, Brighton and South Coast railway runs from Chichester to Havant, with a branch to Hayling, and there is a small line from Gosport to Lee on the Solent.

The South Eastern railway have stations on the Surrey border at Aldershot and Farnborough on their line from London to Reading.

The communication with the Isle of Wight is by steamer from Southampton and Stokes Bay.

The manufactures are of some importance, but not great, pottery ware being made at Fareham and neighbourhood, and exported to the Continent and Channel Islands. At Ringwood linen collars are made by females, and also knitted woollen gloves: paper is made in the county, mostly that peculiarly for bank notes; also parchment, sail cloth and sacking: watch fusee chains are produced at Christchurch. Some salt is made; fishing is carried on at the sea coast towns: the number of boats registered at Portsmouth and Southampton being, in 1896, 52, with an aggregate tonnage of 1,265, and employing 458 men; there are oyster beds at Emsworth and Hayling Island. Portsmouth is a great dockyard, and naval and military station. Southampton has large steam docks and a growing shipping trade; it is also the head quarters of the Ordnance Survey in the United Kingdom; and it is an emigration station. At Southampton are several carriage works. There are many visitors to Southampton, and the other bathing-places on the coast-Southsea, Bournemouth, Hayling, Fareham, Anglesey and Lymington. Winchester, where there is a cathedral, contains also a well known public school, one of the old foundations, and there is an Agricultural College at Charborough, on the borders of Wilts. At Gosport are Haslar Royal Hospital and the Royal Clarence Victualling Yard, and Netley is the Royal Victoria Hospital, attached to which is the Army Medical School. At Aldershot is the great permanent military camp.

Hampshire is in the western circuit, the diocese of Winchester and province of Canterbury, and forms, excluding the Isle of Wight, the archdeaconry of Winchester, with the rural deaneries of Aldershot, Alresford, Alton western division, Alverstoke, Andover, Basingstoke, Bishop’s Waltham, Christchurch, Kingsclere, Landport, Lyndhurst, Odiham, Petersfield, Portsmouth, Romsey, Silchester, Southampton, Stockbridge and Winchester. Portsmouth is the seat of a Catholic Bishop. There are 359 civil parishes (38 in the Isle of Wight), and parts of three others. The Isle of Wight forms an archdeaconry in three deaneries.

The county has one court of quarter sessions, held at Andover, and there are 13 petty sessional divisions: namely, Alton in the east; Andover in the west; Basingstoke in the north-east; Droxford, Fareham in the south-east; Kingsclere in the north; Lymington and New Forest, in the south-west; Odiham in the north-east; Petersfield in the east; Ringwood in the south-west; Romsey in the west; Southampton in the south and Winchester in the midland. Winchester, Portsmouth and Southampton have separate jurisdictions.

The sheriff’s courts are held at Winchester; district county courts (in Circuits 51 and 55) are now held at Andover, Alton, Basingstoke, Bishop’s Waltham, Christchurch, Fordingbridge, Lymington, Petersfield, Portsmouth, Romsey, Southampton and Winchester. The courts at Portsmouth and Southampton have jurisdiction in Admiralty, while Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester have jurisdiction in Bankruptcy and have District Registrars.

The municipal boroughs are-Andover, population in 1891, 5,852; Basingstoke, 8,213; Bournemouth, 37,781; Christchurch, 3,994; Lymington, 4,551; Portsmouth, including Landport, Portsea and Southsea, 159,291; Romsey, 4,276; Southampton, 65,325; and the city of Winchester, 19,073. Other principal towns are Aldershot, population in 1891, 25,595; Alresford, 1,464; Alton, 4,671; Fareham, 7,934; Gosport, 25,432; Havant, 3,474 and Petersfield, 2,002.

The Registration districts are: —

The Royal Hants County Hospital, Winchester, founded in 1736, was the earliest provincial hospital in the kingdom the yearly fixed income from endowments is about £1,300, and from subscriptions about £3,000. The new building, in the Romsey road, is a structure of red brick in the Elizabethan style, from designs by Mr. W. Butterfield, and was erected at a cost of £30,000; it contains 108 beds; additional buildings were erected in 1893 at a cost of about £1,170: the yearly average number of in-patients is about 600; out-patients, about 650.

The Royal South Hants Infirmary, in Southampton, erected in 1838, is an extensive structure in the Italian style and contains over 100 beds: attached to the building is a beautiful chapel in the Perpendicular style, erected in 1858 by Dr. Oke, with part of the money entrusted to him for charitable purposes by the late Miss Dowling. The yearly average of in-patients is about 1,000 and of outpatients 4,000; the income, arising from investments, subscriptions and donations, is about £4,800 a year. A new out-patients’ building was added in 1887.

Haslar Royal Hospital, near Gosport, for sick and wounded seamen and marines, was established by the instrumentality of John, fourth Earl of Sandwich, and first Lord of the Admiralty, in the reign of George II.: it is a quadrangular building, 1,600 feet long, with fine piazzas, having a small chapel, named St. Luke’s, and stands on a spot of ground formerly called “Haslar Farm.” There is also a museum in the establishment to which the public have free access: the hospital is available for 2,000 patients.

The Royal Victoria Hospital, at Netley, a noble and very extensive building, was erected in 1856—63 at a cost of over £400,000 for the reception of invalided soldiers. The foundation stone was laid by Her Majesty the Queen in May, 1856, and the hospital was opened in March, 1863; it is available for 1,000 patients; the mess-room, reading and ante-rooms, and the quarters of the Medical Staff officers, form a separate block close to the hospital, and there is another block, opened in March, 1870, for the treatment of soldiers suffering from insanity. Attached to the hospital is the Army Medical School, an establishment for the instruction of medical officers, preparatory to joining the military service, in special military sanitary subjects. Principal medical officer, Surgeon Major-General W. Nash M.D.

The National Sanatorium for Consumption and Diseases of the Chest, Bournemouth, is a splendid stone building, for the reception of convalescent consumptive patients of both sexes, and for those suffering from other diseases of the chest, who may benefit by a temporary residence in a dry and salubrious locality; this institution was opened in 1855; the cost was about £15,000; Sir Arthur W. Blomfield A.R.A, was the architect; it is supported partially by voluntary contributions, and contains 60 beds; it is lighted throughout by the electric light.

The Hants County Lunatic Asylum, at Knowle, in Fareham parish, about 3 miles north-north-west of the town, was built in 1852, and has been considerably enlarged; the dining hall will seat 500, and there is an attached chapel; the farm consists of about 120 acres of land, and there are commodious farm buildings: there are 1,012 patients.

Her Majesty’s Prison, Winchester, was built in 1849; Lt.-Col. Frank Tonge, governor; Rev. John Arthur Ladbrooke B. A. chaplain.

The Hants Reformatory, Netley Marsh, is a plain building of red brick, consisting of a central block with wings, and will hold 90 boys, who cultivate 35 acres of land; the institution was certified November 29, 1855, and being subsequently destroyed by fire and rebuilt in 1865 .

The Hants Female Orphan Asylum, Southampton, was founded in 1837, and enlarged in 1887. It holds about 100 poor orphan girls, 7 to 16 years of age.

Parliamentary Representation of Hants

Hampshire, exclusive of the Isle of Wight, formerly returned four members in two divisions, but under the provisions of the “Redistribution of Seats Act, 1885,” it now returns five members for the county (exclusive of the Isle of Wight), in five divisions:

No. 1.-The Northern, or Basingstoke, division comprises the sessional divisions of Basingstoke and Odiham and the municipal borough of Basingstoke.

No. 2.-The Western, or Andover, division comprises the petty sessional divisions of Andover, Kingsclere, and Winchester (except so much as is comprised in Division 3), the municipal boroughs of Andover and Winchester, and the parishes of Bossington, Broughton, Crown Farm, East and West Buckolt, East Tytherley, Frenchmoor, Houghton, Kings Sombourn, Upper Eldon and West Tytherley, in Romsey division.

No. 3.-The Eastern, or Petersfield, division comprises the sessional divisions of Alton, Droxford and Petersfield, and the parishes of Beauworth, Bighton, Bishop’s-Sutton, Bramdean, Brown Candover, Cheriton, Chilton Candover, Godsfield, Hinton Ampner, Itchenstoke, Kilmiston, New Alresford, Northington, Old Alresford, Ovington, Ropley, Swarraton, Tichborne, and West Tisted, in the Winchester sessional division.

No. 4.-The Southern, or Fareham, division comprises the sessional division of Fareham and Sauthampton, except so much as is comprised in Division 5 and the municipal boroughs of Portsmouth and Southampton.

No. 5.-The New Forest Division comprises the sessional divisions of Lymington, Ringwood and Romsey except so much as is comprised in Division 2 the municipal borough of Romsey, and the parishes of Chilworth and North Stoneham.

The Isle of Wight continues to return one member.

Of the following boroughs in the county which formerly returned members, Andover, Lymington, Newport, and Petersfield have been merged into the county, and Winchester returns one member only, and the limits tithe borough of Southampton have been extended.

Naval and Military

Portsmouth is the seat of a naval command, & has extensive docks for building & refitting H.M. battle ships, & it is also the head quarters of the Portsmouth division of Royal Marines.

Aldershot camp is the site of a military command.

The troops quartered in this county (except those at Aider-shot, which is a separate command) are under the Southern district command. Head quarters, Portsmouth, Lt.-General Sir J. Davies K.C.B, commanding.

Winchester is a considerable military station, as here is the depot of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps 60th foot) of which. F.M. H.R.H, the Duke of Cambridge is colonel in chief), comprising four battalions, to which are attached four militia battalions; also depot of the Rifle Brigade Prince Consort’s Own) (H.R.H. Duke of Connaught col. in chief), of four battalions, to which are also attached four militia battalions; the Hampshire Regiment, or 37th Regimental district (37th & 67th foot), also has its depot at Winchester, to which, forming its 3rd battalion, is attached the Hampshire Militia.

The Volunteer Battalions are the 1st at Winchester, 2nd at Southampton, 3rd at Landport, 4th at Bournemouth & 5th at Newport, Isle of Wight.

In consequence of the partial destruction of the barracks at Winchester by fire, the depots of the Kings Royal Rifle Corps (60th) & of the Rifle Brigade have been removed temporarily to Gosport.

Yeomanry Cavalry

Portsmouth Brigade.

Formed of the. Hampshire Carabiniers) & the Dorset (Queen’s Own).

Head quarters, Branksea, Poole, Dorset. Commanding Brigade, The Senior Commanding Officer Brigade Adjutant, Capt. K. R. Balfour, 1st Royal Dragoons.

Volunteers

Artillery

1st Dorsetshire, Southern Division, Royal Artillery, Batteries No. 1, Capt. F. G. Lefroy; Surg.-Capt. A. Kinsey-Morgan, medical officer; No. 2, Lieut. W. G. Morrison, Tregonwell road, Bournemouth.

1st Hampshire, Southern Division, Royal Artillery, Liept.-Col. J. MacLauchlan, commanding; W. B. G. Bennett.

2nd Hampshire, Southern Division, Royal Artillery, Hon. Col. Godfrey Twiss, commanding.

Infantry Brigade

Portsmouth Brigade.

Comprising 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Volunteer Battalions, Hampshire Regiment, Supply Detachment and Bearer Company.

Head quarters, Netley Castle, Netley Abbey.

1st Volunteer Battalion, Hampshire Regiment, Hon. Col. T. S. Cave V.D. Lt.-Col. commandant.

2nd Volunteer Battalion, Hampshire Regiment; Hon. Col. E. K. Perkins V.D. Lieut.-Col. commanding.

3rd (Duke of Connaught’s Own) Volunteer Battalion, Hampshire Regiment.

4th Volunteer Battalion, Hampshire Regiment; Hon. Col, J. O. Vandeleur, Lieut.-Col. commanding.

5th Volunteer Battalion (Isle of Wight, “Princess-Beatrice’s”), Hampshire Regiment.

Fairs and Markets

Alresford, last thurs, in July (styled the July Lamb Fair), & a pleasure fair first thursday after the 11th October; market day, thurs.

Alton, last sat. in April (for sheep & cattle), & September 29 (for horses, sheep & occasionally hops); corn market every tues. & one for cattle & sheep every alternate tues.; & a lamb market the day after Stockbridge fair, in July.

Andover, November 17, for sheep; & for wool commencing the last fri. in June; corn market, fri.

Appleshaw, November 4, for sheep.

Basingstoke, market days, wed. & sat.

Beaulieu, April 15 & September 4, for horses & cattle.

Blackwater, November 8 & 9, for cattle & sheep.

Botley, corn & cattle market, every alternate mon.

Cosham, market every mon. for live stock.

Eling, July 5.

Fareham, market day, alternate mon. for corn & every mon. for stock.

Fordingbridge, September 9.

Gosport, May 4 & October 10.

Hartley Row, December 4, for cattle.

Havant, cattle & sheep market every tues.

Kingsclere, Whit Tuesday for pleasure & first tues, after Old Michaelmas Day for hiring servants & pleasure.

Lymington, May 12 & 13 & Oct. 2 & 3; market day, sat.

Odiham, fourth sat. in Lent & July 31, for horses & cattle; market day, tues Overton, July 18, for sheep & lambs.

Petersfield, July 10 (for pleasure); October 6, for business & pleasure; & December 11, for sheep; market day, every alternate wed.

Ringwood, July 10 & December 11; market for corn, cattle & pigs, wed.

Romsey, Easter Tuesday, August 26 & November 8, for horses & cattle; market day, thurs.

Southampton, Trinity Monday, for pleasure; market day wed. for cattle & fri. for corn.

Stockbridge, July 10, for sheep & lambs.

Titchfield, May 14 & September 25.

Weyhill, October 19, for horses & sheep, for six days; second thurs, in April, for sheep, cows & pigs; last fri. in July for lambs; a hop fair commencing October 12.

Wherwell, September 24, for sheep.

Wickham, May 20, for farming stock.

Winchester, corn market on sat.

The following Table shows the acreage under each kind of crop, and the number of horses, cattle, sheep and pigs in Hampshire and Isle of Wight, as taken from the Agricultural Returns, 1897: —

County Council of Hampshire

Local Government Act, 1888, 51 & 52 Vic. c. 41.

Under the above Act, Hampshire, except certain boroughs for which see below (a), after the 1st April, 1889, for the purposes of the Act, became an administrative county (sec. 46), governed by a County Council, consisting of chairman, aldermen and councillors elected in manner prescribed by the Act (sec. 2).

The chairman is, by virtue of his office, a justice of the peace for the county, without qualification (sec. 46).

The police for the county are under the control of a standing joint committee of the Quarter Sessions and the County Council, appointed as therein mentioned (sec. 9).

The coroners for the county are elected by the County Council, and the clerk of the peace appointed by such joint committee, and may be removed by them (sec. 83—2).

The clerk of the peace for the county is also the Clerk of the County Council (sec. 83—1).

The administrative business of the County (which would, if this Act had not been passed, have been transacted by the justices) is transacted by the County Council.

(a) Each of the following large boroughs is, for the purposes of this Act, an administrative county in itself, called a County Borough (sec. 30), of which the municipal corporation, has the power of a County Council (sec. 31)-Portsmouth and Southampton.

Under the Provisions of the Local Government Board’s Provisional Order Confirmation (No. 2) Act, 1889, the Isle of Wight became a separate administrative county district from the County of Southampton on April 1st, 1890.

Meet at the Castle of Winchester, quarterly.

County Police

Head Quarters, Winchester.

The force consists of 1 chief constable, 11 superintendents, 6 inspectors, 1 sergeant-major, 46 sergeants & 316 constables-total 381.

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NAME AND ANCIENT HISTORY

HAMPSHIRE was called by the Britons Gwent or Y Went, and by the Saxons Hamtuncure from Hampton, since called Southampton. At the invasion of the Romans a great part of the county was in the possession of the Regni and the Belgæ; the former were a tribe of ancient Britons, and the Belgæ a people of the Low Countries. They came at first for plunder, bat liking the country they drove out the Britons, and were found here by Cassar when he first invaded Britain. This county is thought to be the first that wholly submitted to the Romans; and though less than many others in England, it had six Roman stations, and a Roman road ran parallel to the great Ikening Street as far as the sea-coast in Suffolk. The Belgæ kept possession of the county sixty years after the first landing of the Saxons under Hengist; but Cerdic, the founder of the kingdom of the West Saxons, reduced all the southern shore as far as the country of the Danmoni. The Saxons divided the country of the Belgæ into three counties, namely, Somersetshire, Wiltshire, and Hampshire. Mr. Vancouver remarks upon this county, and England in general, that “the Romans spent one century inacquiringa kingdom which they governed four; the Saxons spent 130 years and ruled 459; the Danes spent 200 years and reigned 25; but the Normans spent one day only for a reign of 700 years: they continue to reign still. It is easy to point out some families of Norman race, who yet enjoy the estates won by their ancestors at the battle of Hastings.“

SITUATION, BOUNDARIES, AND EXTENT

Hampshire is a maritime county, situate on the southern coast of the kingdom. It is bounded on the north by Berkshire, on the east by Sussex and Surry, on the south by the English Channel and the Sound, which separates it from that part comprised within the Isle of Wight, and on the west by Wiltshire and Dorsetshire. It extends in length from north to south about 55 miles, in breadth from east to west about 40, and its circumference is about 150 miles. Its superficial contents are calculated from Faden’s large map of the county at 94000 acres. It is divided into 39 hundreds and liberties, containing, according to Mr. Driver’s Agricultural Survey, 253 parishes, and according to Mr. Vancouver, 356 parishes, hamlets, and precincts: The latter author says, the hundreds are 52.

POPULATION

Exclusive of the Isle of Wight, Hampshire contained in 1811 38,887 inhabited houses, and 220,960 inhabitants.

CLIMATE AND SOIL

The air of this county is for the most part pure and healthy, especially upon the downs that cross it from east to west; nor are the exhalations in the low grounds near the sea so pernicious as in other counties. Hampshire is so famous for its honey, that it is said to produce the best and worst in Britain. Fish and game of all kinds abound. Here is more wood than in any other county in England, especially oak, and the greatest part of the British navy has been built and repaired with the timber which it has produced. The soil is in general an interchange of clay, gravel, peat, with light sand, and gravelly loams; there is also much peat and turf moor on the heath and low grounds. The district of Portsdown consists of chalk.

ROADS

These being in general good, are among some of the best in the kingdom; though in the chalk districts, the quarters of the parish roads are found so very high, and the ruts so deep, as to render it no less difficult than dangerous, for loaded carriages to turn out of them. These quarters being formed of ground chalk and loam, accumulate by degrees, and acquire the strength and resistance of a rock; the carriage therefore, however inconvenient, must proceed on with its load, till a cross road or some accidental break, admits the team or carriage, once in such a track, to withdraw out of it with safety. Nothing still can possibly exceed the goodness of the roads in the New Forest, and the southern parts of the county; it is no less strange than true, that the traveller may pass from Lymington to Christ Church, and thence to Salisbury, without a turnpike, and all the way upon parochial roads, that may vie for goodness with the best turnpike roads in the kingdom. Upon the subject of roads in this county, the caution given by Mr. Gilpin is of considerable importance: In landscape, he observes, “the bog is of little prejudice; it has in general the appearance of common verdure, but the traveller must be upon his guard; these tracts of deceitful ground are often dangerous to such as leave the beaten roads, and traverse the paths of the forest. A horse track is not always the clue of security; it is perhaps only beaten by the little forest horse, whose lightness secures him a place, where a larger horse, under the weight of a rider, would flounder; if the traveller therefore meet with a horse-path, pointing into a swamp, even though he should observe it emerge on the opposite side, he had better relinquish it. The only track he can prudently follow is that of wheels.“

CANALS

Out of the three distinct lines of canal that originate in this county, two of them terminate in the Southampton river. The Basingstoke canal is yet regarded as a valuable acquisition to the northern parts of the county, as the Redbridge and Andover canal is to the interior, by bringing to it the foreign supplies of the heaviest and bulkiest kind; this, crossing Surry, falls into the Thames below Chertsey. From Redbridge a branch of this canal connects immediately with Southampton; a collateral branch also proceeds up the valley between East Dean, Leskerley, and East Tytherly, which is navigable to Alderbury common, and within two miles of Salisbury. The Winchester and Salisbury canal is supposed to be one of the most ancient in the kingdom, the act for making it being obtained in the reign of Charles the First; but neither this nor the Andover, have as yet answered the purpose of the proprietors.

RIVERS

The principal rivers of this county are the Avon, the Teste, the Itchin, the Boldre Water, the Exe and the Anton. There are several smaller streams rising in the north-west parts of the county, which, however, soon leave it in their course towards the Thames.

The Avon was by Ptolemy called the Alaun; and this probably was its original name, for the names of several villages still bear some similitude to the name of Alaun; as Allington, or Allingham; and Avon being the appellative name for a river, in the ancient British language, cannot be supposed to have been then the proper name of any. The Avon rises in Wiltshire, and passing through Salisbury, it enters Hampshire at Charford, a small village near Fordingbridge, a market-town of this county; from hence it runs southward by Ringwood, another market-town, to Christchurch, a large and populous borough, near which it receives the Stour, a considerable river, from Dorsetshire, and soon after falls into the English Channel, at Christchurch bay.

The Test, or Teste, also called the Anton, Traith Anton, or the bay of Anton, rises in the north part of Hampshire, and, running southward, forms several islands at Stockbridge, a borough town of this county, and then, passing by Romsey, a market-town, it falls into an arm of the sea, which reaches several miles up the county, and is called Southampton Bay, or Southampton Water.

The Itchin, called also the Alre, rises at Chilton Chandover, a village near Alresford, a market-town of this county; from thence it takes a south-west course towards the city of Winchester, and from that city runs directly south, till it falls into Southampton Bay, having been made navigable from Winchester to Southampton by William the Conqueror.

The Boldre water is formed by various streams that rise in the New Forest, and, uniting near Brockenhurst, becomes a small river, which passes Boldre and Lymington, to the sea.

The Exe rises in the same district, and falls into the sea below Exbury.

FISHERIES

Southampton and Portsmouth afford tolerable fish-markets, but the other maritime towns, and the larger ones in the interior of the county, receive only a casual supply. In all the rivers and inlets running into the sea, salmon are caught in their season; but this fishery is not so productive as formerly, owing to the caprice of the fish in quitting its former haunts. When the waters of the Teste, Itchen, Avon, and their smaller branches become turbid, a number of eels are taken at the mills seated on these water-courses; they are well-flavoured, but in general run small. On the low places on the heaths of Bagshot, Cove, and Frimley, dams being raised, the downfall-waters are arrested, and ponds of various extent are formed, and being stocked with tench and carp, pay beyond all common calculation at the London market. Southampton Water, into which the Teste and Itchin discharge themselves, furnishes plentiful supplies of fish, and abounds with wholesome oysters; sometimes also porpoises, which are very common on the coasts of the Isle of Wight, come hither in pursuit of their prey, and occasionally, even the grampus and the unwieldy whale have been seen here. In this case, the latter is seldom permitted to return; the fishermen, soon apprised of such an arrival, eagerly prepare for the pursuit; the animal is taken, dragged to the shore, and after being exhibited to the neighbourhood, a considerable gain is derived from its oil.

FARM-HOUSES AND COTTAGES

These do not challenge any particular attention as to their defects, or their excellence; they are mostly of considerable antiquity, and those in the occupation of the larger farmers were formerly grange, or manor houses, to monasteries, in which there appears to have been originally but little design. The outbuildings and offices, in this county, appear numerous beyond necessity. The building materials in general use are stone, flint, brick, cob or mud, oak, elm, fir or home-deal. Hampshire seems to be better supplied with comfortable dwellings for the peasantry than many other counties in the kingdom, much attention being paid by the country gentlemen to this particular. The cottages erected by Mr. Bramstone are of two kinds; one for individual families, the other a sort of poor-house cottage, for the reception of pauper families, when they cannot be supplied by the parish with single tenements; these larger cottages consist of one story only, built with cob, and covered with thatch, and contain an oven, &c. The cottages built by Colonel Mitford of Exbury, have their rear turned upon the street, and their front to their gardens, and on the weather side they have a double wall; these cottagcs, as well as the newest farm-houses, are built with brick, and being whitewashed, have a cheerful appearance.

RENT AND SIZE OF FARMS

The size of farms is various, but rather small; and notwithstanding a number of small farms have been thrown together within a few years past, their average in some districts does not excced 80l. per annum, though some in the county are as high as 400l. The highest average of rent has been stated at 16s. for arable, and 30s. for grass, per acre, including meadow and prime pasture land; but some accommodation land near Odiham and Kingsclose, and in the vicinity of Hartley Row, has been rented as high as 3l. 10s. and 4l. per acre.

TITHES

The rectorial tithe is too frequently taken in kind; but when agreement takes place between the occupier and the person interested in the corn tithe, the commutation is usually from 4s. to 5s. in the pound, on the rack-rent value of the occupation. The vicarial tithe is mostly compounded to the satisfaction of both parties; on the western side of the county the tenth meal of milk has been demanded and paid, with every other species of tithe, great and small, in kind.

TENURES AND LEASES

These are various; estates formerly belonging to the see of Winchester, are granted by the bishop for, or upon three lives, and generally renewed to the families in possession for many generations, with different fines. In some cases, the timber on the estates has been reserved for the use of the see, allowing the farmer only a sufficiency for repairs, &c. Copyhold tenures are granted from manors vested in the church; other pious foundations are held in mortmain by the nobility, gentry, and lay proprietors of the county; these being of several kinds, are held upon various conditions; leaseholders pay two years’ purchase for one life, seven years for two lives, and fourteen for three lives, with a small annual reserved rent. Leases are generally granted by the clergy for 21 years, renewable every seven, with a fine of from one and a quarter to one and a half of the yearly value. Leases for 21 years are determinable every seven, by a twelvemonth’s notice from either party; and the annual reserved rent is supposed to be a full equivalent for the occupation. Leases for 14 years absolute sometimes occur, but these as well as leases for 21 years have lately been falling into disuse, there being several estates in the county held at will.

IMPLEMENTS

The ploughs here are various; but, with few exceptions, such as are used in the adjacent counties. The large heavy two-wheel plough is a native of Hampshire, Wilts, Sussex, Kent, and Surrey. Harrows are also various, and drags are worked with two or three pair of horses; and the nine or eleven share ploughs are justly held in estimation by all the strong and heavy land farmers throughout the county. Rollers here vary much in their size and weight.

The patent Hampshire waggon is formed by uniting two carts, corresponding with the fore and hind parts of a waggon, by bolting them together. Carts and tumbrils holding from 20 to 40 bushels each, are in common use. Thrashing mills of a two and three horse power are getting much into use in the valley of the Avon.

CATTLE

Hampshire does not appear to possess any specific breed of cow-cattle. The Sussex, Suffolk, Leicester, and others therefore, are indiscriminately to be met with. The Sussex cows, though among the most ornamental park stock in England, are not so quiet in pasture as most of the homely breeds of this county, and seem scarcely at any time to have patience to fill themselves, being restless and uneasy, and frequently observed prowling along the hedge-rows with an intent to break pasture. The down-sheep walks are universally allowed to afford a sound and wholesome range, as are also most of the heaths, in the summer season. The ordinary height of the heath or forest horse of this country is about twelve hands; the greater number of farm-horses are kept in the stable the year round. The native hog is a coarse, raw-boned, flat-sided animal. Very few, however, are to be met with, the common stock being either the Berkshire breed, or a considerable predominance of that blood in the swine of the county.

AGRICULTURAL SOCIETIES

An Agricultural Society was established at Odiham in 1783; but of late years the objects of this institution seem to have been little attended to. Another has been established at Christ Church since 1795; its object is to promote industry and emulation among the rural inhabitants.

WASTES

Here is very little of that description, which in Devonshire are called moors; but whether forest, heath, or common, they generally present the right of pasture, or that of turbary, viz. the right of paring the turf upon the surface of the land, or digging upon it for peat or fuel; but both these rights, from the number of claimants, have led to such abuses, as loudly to call for a regulation by some restraining authority. As there are neither mountains, fens, nor bogs in this county, the salt marshes, or rather large tracts of sea-mud in the inlets and along the southern shores of it, are considered as wastes. About 4000 acres of this description of mud are found along the shore, between Hurst Castle and the mouth of Beauley river, which, with other valuable tracts of marsh elsewhere, ought to be wholly or partially recovered.

The forest of Alice Holt and Woolmer is situated in the east part of the county, on the borders of Surrey and Sussex, and is bounded on one side by the river Wey, which is navigable at Godalming.

This forest is divided into two parts, by intervening private property: within its limits it contains about 15,493 acres, 8,694 acres of which belong to the crown.

The division called Alice Holt contains about 2,744 acres of crown lands, the growing timber upon which has been estimated at 60,000l. Upon the Woolmer division the timber is of very inconsiderable value.

The Forest of Bere is situated in the south-east part of Hampshire, extending northward from the Portsdown Hills, and being within eight miles of Portsmouth. It is supposed to have been much more extensive formerly than it now is; but as the names of places specified in the perambulation that took place 28th Edward I. are now very little known, its extent cannot be ascertained from this record. The metes and bounds that are now fixed are well known and undisputed, being collected from a perambulation made by virtue of a commission under the Great Seal of England, in the year 1688. The forest, comprised within these bounds, contains at least 16,000 statute acres, about one-third of which is now inclosed. The whole is divided into two walks, known by the names of the East and West Walks. These are again subdivided into 16 purlieus, or parcels of land, belonging to different proprietors, and appurtenant to manors or lordships that extend into the forest; subject, however, to its laws, and within its regard. The Crown is possessed of two parcels of land; one on the east, the other on the west, on which lodges are built for the different officers, containing, in all, about 930 acres; and these are his majesty’s own demesne lands, the soil, timber, and wood, belonging to the crown. Upon the sixteen purlieus the timber belongs to the respective proprietors: but the whole of the forest is subject to the range and feed of the king’s deer. The remainder of the herbage is free to most of the adjoining parishes, and all cattle, but sheep, may be turned out all the year. In one liberty goats are excepted.

MINERALS

These are but few. Copperas stone was formerly collected on the southern shores of the Isle of Wight; but neither this, the alum-works, and the practice of getting the ironstone along the southern shore of the county, is any longer attended to. Between Milton and Christ Church, a hard, reddish stone is found, which has all the appearance of innumerable marine shells, coated with an oxyde of iron; of this, several ancient structures are built, among which is the parish church of Hordell. A great variety of potter’s clay occurs in different parts of the county, varying in its colour from a brown to a dead white, and all convertible into a beautiful white brick. The plumb-pudding stone is found in large quantities near Sandown Fort; and a vein of white sand found in Alum-bay, is much in demand for the glass-works of Bristol, Liverpool, &c.

CIVIL AND ECCLESIASTICAL DIVISIONS

There is one city, Winchester, 20 market-towns, and about 1000 villages. The whole county, including the Isles of Wight, Jersey, Guernsey, Sark, and Alderney, is comprehended within the diocese of Winchester. The town of Southampton is a county of itself.

TITLES CONFERRED BY THE COUNTY

Titchfield gives the title of Marquis to the Bentinck family. Porchester, the title of Baron to the Herbert family. St. Helen’s, in the Isle of Wight, the same to the Fitzherberts. Basing the same to the family of Powlet. Beaulieu gives the titles of Earl and Baron to the Montagues. Catherington, the title of Baron to the family of Hood. Mountjoy, the same to the Stewarts. Strathfield Save, the same honour to the family of Pitt; and Farley Wallop, a similar dignity to the family of Wallop. The Isle of Wight gives the title of Earl to the Villiers family; and Jersey, which also belongs to Hampshire, confers the title of Baron upon the family of Finch.

QUARTER SESSIONS.

These are held at the City of Winchester, as follows: —The first week after Epiphany; the first week after the close of Easter; the first week after the Translation of Thomas a Becket, or July 7; and the first week after Michaelmas Day.