Hampshire or County of Southampton

HAMPSHIRE or COUNTY OF SOUTHAMPTON (ab breviated Hants.), a southern county of England, bounded north by Berkshire, east by Surrey and Sussex, south by the English Channel and west by Dorsetshire and Wiltshire. The area is 1,623.5 sq. mi. Pop. (1931) 1,014,115 with associated county boroughs. It has grown around the maritime entries of Southamp ton Water and the Christchurch Avon. Its jurisdiction has spread over the hills to the north almost as far as the Kennet, the ad joining county of Berkshire northward having grown valleywards both north and south of the White Horse hills.

Geology.

Somewhat to the north of the centre of the county is a broad expanse of hilly chalk country included in the western downs and exceeding 85o ft. in the Beacon and other hills; the whole of it has been folded, the dip to the north being steeper than that to the south. In the north the chalk disappears beneath Tertiary strata of the London basin, and some little distance south of Winchester it runs in a similar manner beneath the Tertiaries of the Hampshire basin. Scattered here and there over the chalk are small outlying remnants which show that the two Tertiary areas were once continuous. The lower Greensand is represented by sandstones and limestones, forming the high ridge that runs on towards Hindhead, then by the sands and clays of the Sandgate beds which lie in the low ground west of the ridge, and finally by the Folkestone beds ; all these dip west ward beneath the gault. Between the gault and the chalk is the Upper Greensand, with a hard bed of calcareous sandstone, which stands up in places as a prominent escarpment. A gentle anti cline brings up the chalk through the Tertiary rocks near Fare ham. The Tertiary rocks of the north (London basin) about Farnborough, Aldershot and Kingsclere, comprise the Reading beds and London clay, often covered by heathy commons of the more sandy Bagshot beds. The southern Tertiary rocks of the Hampshire basin include the Lower Eocene Reading beds—used for brick-making—and the London clay, which extend from the boundary of the chalk by Romsey, Bishop's Waltham, to Havant. These are succeeded towards the south by Upper Eocene beds, the Bracklesham beds and the Barton clay. The Barton clays are rich in fossils, and the Bagshot beds at Bournemouth contain numerous remains of subtropical plants. Clays and sands of Oligocene age (unknown in the London basin) are found near Lymington, Brockenhurst and Beaulieu; they include the Headon beds, with a fluvio-marine fauna, well exposed at Hordwell cliffs, and the marine beds of Brockenhurst.

The narrow strait called the Solent which divides the Isle of Wight from the mainland, is thought to mark the lower course of a river the upper valley of which approximated to that of the present river Frome. Southampton Water, Christchurch bay, and the channels separating Hayling and Portsea islands are further evidences of submergence. Rivers, once tributaries in a greater system, now find their way independently to the sea. The river Avon, in the south-west, rises in Wiltshire, and is joined by the Stour close to its mouth below Christchurch. The Lymington or Boldre river rises in the New Forest and enters the Solent through Lymington creek. The Beaulieu in the eastern part of the forest also enters the Solent. The Test rises near Overton in the north, and after its junction with the Anton at Fullerton passes Stockbridge and Romsey, and enters the head of South ampton Water, which also receives the Itchen and the Hamble. The Wey, the Loddon and the Blackwater, rising in the north eastern part of the county, bring that part into the basin of the Thames. The streams from the chalk hills run clear and swift, and the trout-fishing in the county is famous. Salmon are taken in the Avon.

History.

The few prehistoric beaker-pots found on the chalk hills of Hampshire may be connected with those of Wiltshire, or may indicate penetration from the coast. (See Fox, Arch. Camb., 1928.) Later, Southampton Water and the Christchurch Avon, with easy access to the chalk downs, encouraged maritime inter course. Palstaves from Bitterne, near Southampton, and from the New Forest, together with a type of socketed celt found in a hoard at Ventnor in the Isle of Wight, can be matched by many finds in north-west France, and may have been objects of early trade. (See Crawford, "Prehistoric Trade between England and France," L'Anthropologie, 1913.) La Tene I. brooches from Winchester and Shoddesdon farm, Weyhill, suggest a continua tion of this trade for many centuries. (See Fox, Arch. Camb., 1927.) The finds at Hengistbury (Christchurch) also point to trade with an iron-using people in south-west France. (See Bushe Fox, "Excavations at Hengistbury Head, Hants," R.R.C.S.A., 1915.) The earliest English settlers, a Jutish tribe, occupied the north ern parts of the Isle of Wight and the valleys of the Meon and the Hamble. Their settlements were, however, soon absorbed in the territory of the West Saxons, who in 495 landed at the mouth of the Itchen under the leadership of Cerdic and Cynric. After the battle of Charford in 519 the district was organized as West Saxon territory, and thus became the nucleus of the later king dom of Wessex. The Northmen first attacked the Hampshire coast in 835, and made their headquarters in the Isle of Wight. Hampshire suffered less from the Conquest than almost any English county, and was a favourite resort of the Norman kings.

The alleged destruction of property for the formation of the New Forest is refuted by the Domesday record, which shows that this district had never been under cultivation. Hampshire is first men tioned in the Saxon Chronicle in 755, when the boundaries were practically those of the present day. The Domesday survey men tions 44 hundreds in Hampshire, but by the 14th century the number had been reduced to 37. The hundreds of East Medina and West Medina in the Isle of Wight are mentioned in 1316. Constables of the hundreds were first appointed by the Statute of Winchester in 1285, and the hundred court continued to elect a high constable for Fordingbridge until 1878. The chief court of the Isle of Wight was the Knighten court, held at Newport every three weeks. The sheriff's court and the assizes and quarter sessions for the county were formerly held at Winchester, but in 1831 the county was divided into 14 petty sessional divisions; the quarter sessions for the county were held at Andover ; and Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester had separate jurisdic tion. Southampton was made a county by itself with a separate sheriff in In the middle of the 7th century Hampshire formed part of the West Saxon bishopric of Dorchester-on-Thames. On the trans ference of the episcopal seat in 676 it was included in the dio cese of Winchester. In 1 291 the archdeaconry of Winchester was coextensive with the county and comprised ten rural deaneries. In 185o the Isle of Wight was subdivided into the deaneries of East Medina and West Medina. In 1871 the archdeaconry of the Isle of Wight was constituted, and in 1892 was divided into the deaneries of East Wight and West Wight. The historic diocese of Winchester has recently been divided (1924-7), separate bish oprics of Guildford and Portsmouth being created.

Wool and cloth manufactures prospered at Winchester in the 12th century and survived till within recent years. Salt-making and the manufacture of iron from native ironstone also flourished from pre-Norman times until the 19th century. In the 14th cen tury Southampton traded with Venice, and from the 15th to the i8th century many warships were constructed in its docks. Silk weaving was formerly carried on at Winchester, Andover, Odi ham, Alton, Whitchurch and Overton, the first mills being set up in 1684 at Southampton by French refugees. The paper manu facture at Laverstoke was also started by Huguenot refugees.

Antiquities.

The monastery of Hyde, near Winchester, the churches of Christchurch and Romsey, the ruins of Netley abbey, and of Beaulieu abbey in the New Forest, the fragments of the priory of St. Denys, Southampton, the church at Porchester and the slight ruins at Titchfield, near Fareham, and Quarr abbey in the Isle of Wight are treated separately. Other foundations, of which the remains are slight, were the Augustinian priory of Southwick near Fareham, founded by William of Wykeham; that of Breamore, founded by Baldwin de Redvers, and that of Mot tisfont near Romsey, endowed soon after the Conquest. Pre-Con quest work is well shown in the churches of Corhampton and Brea more, and very early masonry is also found in Headbourne Worthy church. The most noteworthy Norman churches are at Chil combe and Kingsclere and (with Early English additions) at Brockenhurst, Upper Clatford, which has the unusual arrange ment of a double chancel arch, Hambledon, Milford and East Meon. Principally Early English are the churches of Cheriton, Grately, which retains some excellent contemporary stained glass from Salisbury cathedral; Sopley, which is partly Perpendicular, and Thruxton. The frescoes in Bramley church, ranging in date from the 13th to the 15th century, include a representation of the murder of Thomas a Becket. A fine series of Norman fonts in black marble occurs in Winchester cathedral and the churches of St. Michael, Southampton, East Meon and St. Mary Bourne.

The most notable castles are Carisbrooke, in the Isle of Wight; Porchester, a fine Norman stronghold embodying Roman re mains, on Portsmouth harbour; and Hurst, guarding the mouth of the Solent.

Agriculture and Industries.—In 1926, 561,348 ac. (exclud ing the Isle of Wight) were under crops and grass, of which 312,77o ac. were arable land. Oats, wheat, turnips and swedes, barley and mangolds are the principal crops; ac. are given over to clover and grasses. Barley is usually sown after turnips, and is grown in the uplands. Rotation grasses are grown chiefly in the uplands. Sanfoin is the grass best adapted to a calcareous subsoil. In the lower levels no sanfoin and scarcely any clover is grown, the hay being supplied from the rich water meadows, where the grasses are fit for pasture before any traces of vegeta tion appear in the surrounding fields. Hops are grown in the east ern part of the county bordering on Surrey. Owing to the varie ties of soil the rotation observed is very diversified. Most of the farms are large, and there are a number of model farms. The waste land has been mostly brought under tillage, but a very large acreage of the ancient forests is still occupied by wood. In addition to the New Forest there are in the east Woolmer forest and Alice Holt, in the south-east the forest of Bere and Waltham Chase, and in the Isle of Wight, Parkhurst forest. The honey of the county is celebrated. Much attention is paid to the rearing of sheep and cattle. The original breed of sheep was white-faced with horns, but most of the flocks are now of a Southdown va riety and are known as "short wools" or "Hampshire downs." The breeding and rearing of horses is widely practised. In the vicinity of the forest pigs are fed on acorns and beechmast.

Portsmouth and Gosport are naval centres. Southampton is one of the principal ports in the kingdom. Fancy pottery and terra-cotta are made at Fareham and Bishop's Waltham. At most of the coast towns fishing is carried on, and there are oyster beds at Hayling Island. Cowes in the Isle of Wight is the station of the Royal Yacht squadron, and has building yards. The prin cipal seaside resorts besides those in the Isle of Wight are Bourne mouth, Milford, Lee-on-the-Solent, Southsea and South Hayling. Aldershot is the principal military training centre in the British Isles.

Communications are provided mainly by the lines of the South ern railway company, which also owns the docks at Southampton. The main line serves Farnborough, Basingstoke, Whitchurch and Andover, and a branch diverges southward from Basingstoke for Winchester, Southampton and the New Forest and Bournemouth. An alternative line from eastward to Winchester serves Alder shot, Alton and Alresf ord. The main Portsmouth line skirts the south-eastern border by Petersfield to Havant. There are large workshops at Eastleigh, near Southampton. The G.W.R. company serves Basingstoke from Reading and Whitchurch, Winchester and Southampton from Didcot. The Somerset and Dorset line connects Bournemouth with Bath.

The administrative county of Hampshire returns six members to parliament, the divisions being Aldershot, Basingstoke, Fare ham, New Forest and Christchurch, Petersfield and Winchester. The administrative county of the Isle of Wight returns one mem ber. The county boroughs of Bournemouth and of Southampton each return one member, while Portsmouth has three. There are eight municipal boroughs and nine urban districts. Separate courts of quarter-sessions are held at Andover, Bournemouth, Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester.