Hampshire
Hampshire, abbreviated as
Hants ( and sometimes historically called
Southamptonshire), is a
county on the south coast of
England. The county borders (clockwise from the West),
Dorset,
Wiltshire,
Berkshire,
Surrey and
West Sussex. The county has an area of 1,455
square miles (3,769
km²) and at its widest points is approximately 55 miles (90 km) east-west and 40 miles (65 km) north-south. The
county town is
Winchester situated at . The
2001 census gave the population of the administrative county as 1.24 million; the ceremonial county also includes the cities of
Portsmouth and
Southampton, which are administratively independent, and has a total population of 1.6 million.
Hampshire is a popular holiday area, with tourist attractions including its many seaside resorts, the maritime area in Portsmouth, and the motor museum at
Beaulieu. The
New Forest National Park lies within the borders, as does a large area of the
South Downs, which is also scheduled to become a National Park. Hampshire has a long maritime history and two of England's largest ports lie on its coast. The county is famed as home of the writers
Jane Austen and
Charles Dickens.
Hampshire's
geology falls into two categories. In the south, along the
coast is the "
Hampshire Basin", an area of relatively
non-resistant Eocene and
Oligocene clays and
gravels which are protected from
sea erosion by the
Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, and the
Isle of Wight. These low, flat lands support
heathland and
woodland habitats, a large area of which form part of the
New Forest. The New Forest has a mosaic of heathland, grassland, coniferous and deciduous woodland habitats that host
diverse wildlife. The forest is protected as a
national park, limiting development and agricultural use to protect the landscape and wildlife. Large areas of the New Forest are open common lands kept as a grassland
plagioclimax by grazing animals, including domesticated cattle, pigs and horses, and several wild deer species. Erosion of the weak rock and sea level change flooding the low land has carved several large
estuaries and
rias, notably the 12 mile (19 km) long
Southampton Water and the large convoluted
Portsmouth Harbour. The Isle of Wight lies off the coast of Hampshire where the non-resistant rock has been eroded away forming the
Solent.
In the north and centre of the county the substrate is the
Southern England Chalk Formation of
Salisbury Plain and the
South Downs. These are high hills with steep slopes where they border the clays to the south. The hills dip steeply forming a
scarp onto the
Thames valley to the north, and dip gently to the south. The highest point in the county is
Pilot Hill, which reaches the height of 286 m (938 ft) northwest of Whitchurch, on the border with West Berkshire. The
downland supports a
calcareous grassland habitat, important for wild
flowers and
insects. In the past Hampshire had little
arable agriculture, but in the early
20th century the demand for food led to the establishment of farms on the downs. A large area of the Downs are now protected from further agricultural damage by the East Hampshire.
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The highest point in the entire South Downs range is
Butser Hill, between
Petersfield and
Waterlooville, with a summit height of 270m (886 ft). The
Itchen and
Test are
trout rivers that flow from the chalk through wooded valleys into Southampton Water. Nestled in a valley on the downs is
Selborne, and the countryside surrounding the village was the location of
Gilbert White's pioneering observations on
natural history.
Hampshire has a milder
climate than most areas of the
British Isles, being in the far south with the climate stabilising effect of the sea, but protected against the more extreme weather of the
Atlantic coast. Hampshire has a higher average annual temperature than the UK average at 10.2 °C to 12 °
C,
[Met Office, 2000. Annual average temperature for the United Kingdom.] average rainfall at 741–1060
mm per year,
[Met Office, 2000. Annual average rainfall for the United Kingdom.] and higher than average sunshine at over 1541
hours per year.
[Met Office, 2000. Annual average sunshine for the United Kingdom.] |
Winchester Cathedral. |
The chalk downland of the South Downs and southern edges of Salisbury Plain were settled in the
neolithic, and these settlers built
hill forts such as
Winklebury and may have farmed the valleys of Hampshire. Hampshire was part of an area named
Gwent or
Y Went by the Celts, which also covered areas of Somerset and Wiltshire. In the
Roman invasion of Britain, Hampshire was one of the first areas to fall to the invading forces. The county was occupied by
Jutish tribes until
Saxon times. Hampshire was one of the first Saxon
shires, recorded in
755, but for two centuries represented the western end of Saxon England, as advances into
Dorset and
Somerset were fought off by the Britons. After the Saxons advanced west Hampshire became the centre of the
Kingdom of Wessex, and many Saxon kings are buried at Winchester. A statue in Winchester celebrates the powerful
King Alfred, who stabilised the region in the
9th century.
After the
Norman Conquest the county was favoured by Norman kings who established the
New Forest as a hunting forest. The county was recorded in the
Domesday Book divided into 44
hundreds. From the
12th century the ports grew in importance, fuelled by trade with the continent, wool and cloth manufacture in the county, and the fishing industry, and a shipbuilding industry was established.
Over several centuries a series of
castles and
forts were constructed along the coast of the
Solent to defend the harbours at Southampton and Portsmouth. These include the Norman
Portchester Castle which overlooks
Portsmouth Harbour, and a series of forts built by
Henry VIII including
Hurst Castle, situated on a sand
spit at the mouth of the Solent,
Calshot Castle on another spit at the mouth of Southampton Water, and
Netley Castle. Southampton and Portsmouth remained important harbours when rivals, such as
Poole and
Bristol declined, as they are amongst the few locations that combine shelter with deep water. Southampton has been host to many famous ships, including the
Mayflower and the
Titanic, the latter being staffed largely by Hampshire natives.
Hampshire played a large role in
World War II due to its large
Royal Navy harbour at Portsmouth, the army camp at
Aldershot and the military
Netley Hospital on Southampton Water, as well as its proximity to the army training ranges on
Salisbury Plain and
Purbeck.
Supermarine, the designers of the
Spitfire and other military aircraft, were based in Southampton, which led to severe bombing of the city. Aldershot remains one of the
British Army's main permanent camps.
 |
Southampton from Netley Hospital. |
The county has in the past been called "Southamptonshire" and appears as such on some early maps. The name of the administrative county was officially changed from 'County of Southampton' to 'County of Hampshire' on
April 1,
1959 [
1]. The short form of the name, often used in postal addresses, is
Hants.
The
Isle of Wight has traditionally been treated as part of Hampshire for some purposes, but has been administratively independent for over a century, obtaining a
county council of its own in
1890. The Isle of Wight became a full
ceremonial county in
1974. Apart from a shared police force and health authority there are now no formal administrative links between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, though many organisations still combine Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
The towns of
Bournemouth and
Christchurch once fell within the traditional county of Hampshire, but were ceded to
Dorset in the local government reorganisation of 1974.
 |
The Beaulieu River. |
Hampshire is a relatively affluent county, with a
Gross domestic product (GDP) of
£22.9 billion (£16.3 billion when excluding Southampton and Portsmouth). This makes it the sixth largest economy in England, and is equal in size to the economy of
Northern Ireland, making up 2% each of the economy of the UK as a whole.
[Hampshire County Council, 2002. Economic factors.]Portsmouth and Winchester have the highest job densities in the county, and there is therefore a high level of commuting into the cities. Southampton has the highest number of total jobs and commuting both into and out of the city is high. Basingstoke is regularly cited as having the lowest unemployment rate in the UK. The county has a lower level of
unemployment than the national average, at 1.9% when the national rate was 3.3%, and as of March 2005 has fallen to 1.1%. 39% are employed by large firms, compared to a national average of 42%. Hampshire has a considerably higher than national average employment in high-tech industries, but average levels in knowledge based industry. 25.21% of the population work in the
public sector.
[Hampshire County Council, 2004. Profile of Hampshire.]Many rural areas of Hampshire have traditionally been reliant on
agriculture, though the county was less agricultural than most surrounding counties, and was mostly concentrated on
dairy farming. The significance of agriculture as an employer and wealth creator has declined since the first half of the
20th century and agriculture currently employs 1.32% of the population. The county has a long association with
wild boar, and the domesticated
Hampshire hog breed of
pig, from which
bacon is produced.
[Hampshire County Council, 2003. "Press Release: Hampshire's Hog has a home."]The
New Forest area is a
National Park, and
tourism is a significant economic segment in this area, with 7.5 million visitors in 1992.
[New Forest District Council, n.d. "Tourism questions and answers."] The
South Downs and the cities of Southampton and Winchester also attract tourists to the county.
Southampton Boat Show is one of the biggest annual events held in the county, and attracts visitors from throughout the county. In 2003 the county had a total of 31 million day visits, and 4.2 million longer stays.
[Hampshire County Council, United Kingdom Tourism Survey & GB Leisure Day Visits Survey, 2004. "Tourism Facts and Figures."]The cities of Southampton and Portsmouth are both significant ports, with Southampton handling a large proportion of the national container freight and Portsmouth housing a large
Royal Navy base. The docks have traditionally been large employers in these cities, though again mechanisation has forced diversification of the economy.
 |
Southampton Docks. |
At the
Census 2001[Office for National Statistics & Hampshire County Council, 2003. Census 2001 data] the ceremonial county recorded a population of 1,644,249, of which 1,240,103 were in the administrative county, 217,445 were in the
unitary authority of Southampton, and 186,701 were in Portsmouth. The population of the administrative county grew 5.6% from the
1991 census, Southampton grew 6.2% while Portsmouth remained unchanged, compared with 2.6% for England and Wales as a whole. Eastleigh and Winchester grew fastest at 9% each. The age structure of the population is similar to the national average. As Southampton and Portsmouth are both technically not administered within Hampshire (being autonomous city unitary authorities), Basingstoke became the county's largest town in 1998 following the major local government reorganisation, and is continuing to expand.
96.73% of residents were indigenous, falling to 92.37% in Southampton. The significant ethnic minorities are Asian at 1.34% and mixed race at 0.84%. 0.75% of residents were migrants from outside the UK. 73.86% stated their religion as
Christianity and 16.86% were not religious. Significant minority religions were
Islam (0.76%) and
Hinduism (0.33%).
Hampshire is divided into seventeen
parliamentary constituencies. Ten of these are represented by
Conservative MPs, four by the
Liberal Democrats and three by
Labour. Labour represent the large cities, including both Southampton constituencies (
Test and
Itchen) and
Portsmouth North. The Conservatives represent the most rural constituencies,
Aldershot,
New Forest West,
New Forest East,
Hampshire North West,
Basingstoke,
Hampshire North East,
Hampshire East,
Havant,
Gosport and
Fareham. The Liberal Democrats represent
Winchester,
Romsey,
Portsmouth South and
Eastleigh, all centred around towns.
At the 2005 local elections for Hampshire County Council the Conservative Party had a 43.69% share of the votes, the Liberal Democrats had 36.01% and Labour 16.08%. Therefore 46 Conservatives, 28 Liberal Democrats and four Labour councillors sit on the County Council.
[Hampshire County Council, 2005. Local election results.] Southampton City Council, which is entirely independent, has 18 Liberal Democrat, 15 Labour and 15 Conservative councillors.
[Southampton City Council, 2005. Local election results.] Portsmouth City Council, also independent, has 20 Liberal Democrat, 18 Conservative, seven Labour and one independent councillor.
[Portsmouth City Council, 2005. List of councillors.] |
New apartment blocks in the rapidly changing Basingstoke. |
Hampshire's
county town is
Winchester, a historic city that was once the capital of the ancient kingdom of
Wessex. The port cities of
Southampton and
Portsmouth were split off as independent
unitary authorities in
1997, although they are still included in Hampshire for ceremonial purposes.
Fareham,
Gosport and
Havant have grown into a
conurbation that stretches along the coast between the two main cities. The three cities are all
university cities, Southampton being home to the
University of Southampton and
Southampton Solent University (formerly Southampton Institute), Portsmouth to the
University of Portsmouth, and Winchester to the
University of Winchester (formerly known as University College Winchester; King Alfred's College). A small campus of the University of Winchester is located in Basingstoke.
Hampshire lies outside the
green belt area of restricted development around
London, but has good
railway and
motorway links to the capital, and in common with the rest of the south-east has seen the growth of
dormitory towns since the
1960s.
Basingstoke, in the north of the county, has grown from a small provincial town into a significant business and financial centre.
Aldershot,
Portsmouth, and
Farnborough have strong military associations with the
Army,
Royal Navy and
Royal Air Force respectively. The county also includes several
market towns:
Alton,
Andover,
Bishop's Waltham,
Lymington,
Petersfield,
Ringwood,
Romsey, and
Whitchurch, plus an array of largely residential commuter towns such as
Fareham,
Gosport,
Havant,
Waterlooville,
Eastleigh,
Chandler's Ford,
Hook and
Fleet.
Towns by population size: (2004 est.)
*
Southampton - 221,100
*
Portsmouth - 188,700
*
Havant - 116,300
*
Fareham - 107,977
*
Winchester - 35,200
For the complete list of settlements see List of places in Hampshire. |
Portsmouth Harbour. |
Due to Hampshire's long association with pigs and boars, natives of the county have been known as
Hampshire hogs since the 18th century.
[ Hampshire has literary connections, being the birthplace of authors including Jane Austen, Charles Dickens and Charles Kingsley. Austen lived most of her life in Hampshire, where her father was rector of Steventon, and wrote all of her novels in the county. Hampshire also has many visual art connections, claiming the painter John Everett Millais as a native, and the cities and countryside have been the subject of paintings by L. S. Lowry and J. M. W. Turner. Hampshire is also the birthplace of explorer Lawrence Oates, and entertainers Benny Hill and Craig David.]
Hampshire's relatively safe waters have allowed the county to develop as one of the busiest sailing areas in the country, with many yacht clubs and several manufacturers on the Solent. The sport cricket was largely developed in south-east England, with one of the first teams forming at Hambledon in 1750. Hampshire County Cricket Club today is a successful first-class team, captained by Shane Warne. Hampshire has several association football teams, the most successful being Premier League Portsmouth F.C. and Championship side Southampton F.C., which have traditionally been fierce rivals.
Hampshire's county flower is the Dog Rose according to the British charity Plantlife[BBC News, May 5 2004. UK counties choose floral emblems.].There is an international airport with its own rail station situated between Southampton and Eastleigh, Southampton Airport, and cross-channel ferries link the county to the Isle of Wight and European continent. The South Western Main Line railway from London to Weymouth runs through Winchester and Southampton, and the Wessex Main Line from Bristol to Portsmouth also runs through the county. The M3 motorway connects the county to London. The construction of the Twyford Down cutting near Winchester caused major controversy by cutting through a series of ancient trackways (the Dongas) and other features of archeeological significance. The M27 motorway serves a bypass for the major conurbations and as a link to other settlements on the south coast. Other important roads include the A3, A31 and A36.
The county has a high level of car ownership, with 15.7% having no access to a private car compared to 26.8% for England and Wales. The county has a lower than average use of trains (3.2% compared to 4.1% for commuting) and buses (3.2% to 7.4%) but a higher than average use of bicycles (3.5% to 2.7%) and cars (63.5% to 55.3%).[Hampshire County Council, 2005. Facts and Figures website.]* List of places of interest in Hampshire
* Recreational walks in Hampshire
* List of Parliamentary constituencies in Hampshire
* List of images of Hampshire
* Business in Hampshire
* New Hampshire, the US State named after the County.
# Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911. "Hampshire".# Draper, Jo. 1990. Hampshire. Wimborne: Dovecote Press. ISBN 0946159823# Pigot & Co's Atlas of the Counties of England, 1840. London: J Pigot & Co.* West, Ian, 2005. "Geology of the Wessex coast and Southern England", Southampton University.
*Hampshire County Council
*BBC Hampshire
*Photographs of Hampshire
*Hantsphere local history
*Hampshire news and information
*The River Wey and Wey Navigations Community Site — about the River Wey, including information on Alton and watermills in Hampshire
*Historic maps
