PORTSMOUTH, a municipal, county borough, and seaport of Hampshire, England, 74 m. S.W. from London, on the S.R. It was made a city in 1926. Pop. (1931) 249,288.
Portsmouth owes its origin to the retreat of the sea from Porchester. No town existed there until the 12th century, when its strategical advantage induced Richard I. to build one. The borough is now governed by a charter granted by Charles I. in 1627, modified by the municipal acts of the 19th century. The market, dating from 1194, is held on Tuesday and Saturday.
The naval station and arsenal is an aggregate of four towns, Portsmouth, Portsea, Landport and Southsea, and occupies the south-western part of Portsea island, which lies between Ports mouth harbour and Langstone harbour, two inlets of the English Channel. harbour opens into Spithead, one of the arms of the Channel separating the Isle of Wight from the main land. The harbour widens inwards in bottle form, Portsmouth lying on the east shore of the neck, with Gosport opposite to it on the west side. Portsmouth proper may be distinguished as the garrison town ; Portsea as the naval station with the dock yards ; Landport is occupied chiefly by the houses of artisans ; and Southsea is a residential quarter and a watering-place. There is a modern Roman Catholic cathedral. The church of St. Thomas a Becket, a cruciform building, dates from the second half of the 12th century; the chancel and transepts are original, but the nave and tower date from 1698, and the whole was restored in 1904. In 1924 the foundation of a new diocese of Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, taken from that of Winchester, was approved. and the old parish church of St. Thomas was designated as the pro-cathedral. The see was created in 1927. The garrison chapel originally belonged to the hospital of St. Nicholas, a foundation of the 13th century. The town hall (1890) stands alone in a square. Passenger steamers from Portsmouth harbour serve Ryde in the Isle of Wight. A ferry and a floating bridge connect with
Gosport. The parliamentary borough was divided into central, north, and south divisions in 1918, each returning one member to Parliament. The county borough was created in 1888.
Nelson's flag-ship, H.M.S. Victory, on which he met his death at Trafalgar in 18o5, is in dry-dock in Portsmouth; she is still main tained on the strength of the navy. (See NELSON.) The dockyard was established about 1540, but the town was already of importance as a naval station. In 1540 it covered 8 ac., abutting on the harbour near the "King's Stairs." In 1848 a steam basin and four new docks were opened, the dockyard ground being extended to 115 acres. In 1865 extension works decided upon included a tidal basin and a deep dock and two locks, in themselves serving as large docks, which lead to three basins and four docks. Subsequent improvements included two new dry docks (1896) ; the construction of jetties at the entrance to the tidal basin and at the north wall ; the establishment of a coal wharf with hydraulic appliances; numerous subsidiary works; and extensive dredging of the harbour to increase the berthing accom modation for the fleet. In 1925 the government decided to re duce the dockyards at Rosyth and Pembroke to a care-and-main tenance basis and to concentrate all admiralty home dock work at Portsmouth, Devonport, Chatham, and Sheerness. To meet the growing needs of the navy new locks and a dry dock were constructed at Portsmouth and completed shortly before the war of 1914-18. The royal dockyards now cover an area of 500 acres. There is a gunnery establishment on Whale Island and various barracks including those of the Royal Marine Artillery at Eastney, beyond Southsea. A new industry is the refitting of liners.