PORTSMOUTH, a sea-port town of England, in Hampshire, is situated on the coast of the English Chan gel, and on the west side of the isle of Portsea. It com prehends the old town of Portsmouth, and the town or Portsea, which is situated within the borough, and subject to the jurisdiction of the magistracy.
The town of Portsmouth is the seat of the civil and military establishments, and the residence of the port-ad miral. Its streets are more spacious than those of Port sea, and the houses and buildings are generally of a supe rior character. The town of Portsea, however, surpasses it in size and population, and contains within its limits the dock-yard and gun-wharf, to the first of which Portsmouth owes much of its real importance.
• Within the last fifty years this town has undergone great improvements, the paving of Portsmouth having been finished in 1775, and that of Portsea in 1792. The church of Portsmouth, which is a spacious structure, has been erected at different periods. It has a tower 120 feet high, which forms a useful sea-mark. Behind the altar there is a large and elaborate cenotaph to the memory of the cele brated duke of Buckingham. The parish church of Port sea is two miles distant from the town, at the hamlet of Kingston, but there are several handsome chapels in the town, the chief of which are dedicated to St. James and St. John, and the last of which is particularly elegant within. Besides these churches there are various meeting-houses for dissenters.
The town-house, where the borough courts are held, is a large building, situated near the middle of the high street, and was repaired and enlarged in 1796. At a short distance from it stands the white house or town prison, in which the prisoners are separated into classes, and which is under excellent regulations. The government-house, situated at the upper end of the grand parade, was part of an old hospital, but is now an excellent residence for the governor of Portsmouth. The residences of the lieute nant-governor, and of the port-admiral, are both elegant and commodious buildings; particularly the latter, which is situated in the high street.
The dock-yard of Portsmouth, which is very extensive, contains immense store-houses, handsome residences for the principal officers, an elegant house for sioner, an academy for naval instruction, a chapel, and ex tensive workshops, mast-houses, and other buildings. The
dock-yard is entered by a lofty gateway. The Royal Naval Academy consists of a tentre and two wings; in one of which is a fine model of the Victory, of 110 guns, which was lost in 1779. There is an excellent observatory in the academy. The commissioner's house is a spacious build ing, consisting of a centre and two wings, with an elegant portico. The next buildings are a range of store-houses, a neat modern chapel, in the cupola of which is hung the bell of the Royal George, and the new guard-house, with a handsome portico. At the anchor-wharf, an extensive range of anchors, of all dimensions, are kept, some of which weigh from forty to ninety tons each. The rope house is a spacious building of great length, and three stories high. It is 1094 feet long, and 54 broad. The ca bles are twisted in the lower story by the aid of machi nery, and the other processes are carried on in the upper ones. Another object of great interest is the great smithy, where the spectator is stunned by the noise and clanking of hammers. The range of storehouses on the north-east is about 600 feet long, and the sail-loft and rigging-loft are also huge buildings, both 400 feet long. A length of 800 feet is occupied by the two hemp-houses, and the two sea storehouses, and the tarring-houses, and the other appen dages of the rope-houses, are on a similar scale. Near the smithy are an iron-mill, a copper-mill, and a refinery of cop per, where all the old copper of ships' bottoms are again incited and rolled. At the head of the north dock standg the wood-mill, where the celebrated block-machinery is placed, and where every article of turnery, rabbitting, !cc. is made. Seasoning-sheds, saw-pits, timber-births, and the washing-house, coal-house, and boat-storehouse, occupy the western extremity of the yard. The jetty heads, the docks, and the rigging-houses, are all objects of great interest. During peace, about 2000 men are com monly employed in this dock, and in war sometimes 5000 have been employed.