PORTALKORK. 



PORTSMOUTH. 



ad UeKaU Junction railways. The popuUtioa in 1851 was 3091. 

 The town u well-built and pared. It contains the parUh church, a 

 handsome buiMing in the early Engli-h style; Presbyterian iind 

 two Methodist chapel*; oboola endowed by the Duke of Manchester, 

 proprietor of the town ; a loan fund; a leading-library ; a commodious 

 market-bouse ; and a dispensary. The manufacture of linen, lawn, 

 esmbrio, and sheeting. and the wearing of liiien for the Belfiut 

 merchants, gire aome employment Large aale* of cattle, pork, and 

 agricultural produce are made at the weekly market. The rirer is 

 nnj;bl for vei-seli of 60 ton*' burden. A new bridge, erected at 

 a cost of about 10,0001, ha* much improved the appearance of the 

 place. Petty session* are held monthly. Fair* nre held on Easter 

 Monday, Whit-Monday. November 3rd, and on the third Saturday of 

 every month. Saturday it the market-day. 



POItTALEORK. [ALKMTEJO.] 



PORTARLINGTON. Ireland, a market-town and parliamentary 

 borough. chieBv in Quern'* and partly in King* County, in situated in 

 63* V V. lat, 7 12' W. long., 9J mile* N.N.E. from Maryborough, 

 and 4 1 1 mil. a S.S. W. from Dublin by the Great Southern ami Western 

 railway. The population in 1851 was 2728. The borough returns 

 one member to the Imperial Parliament The town took the name 

 of iU founder Lord Arlington, and was called a port because built at 

 a landing-place on the river. A number of French and Flemish 

 familie* settled in the place. The possessions were subsequently 

 bestowed by William III. on the Earl of Gal way, who introduced 

 other refugee families, built a church, endowed two schools, and other- 

 wise improved the town. The town and estate were afterwards 

 purchased by the Dawson family, who received the title of Earl of 

 Portarlington. The town consists mainly of a long street extending 

 in a northerly direction from the canal to a square near the river, 

 whera it turns westward at n right angle, and is continued by a bridge 

 over the Barrow to a considerable length in King's County. The 

 streets are paved, and the place is well supplied with water. The 

 principal buildings are the English church, a handsome structure, 

 with a spire ; the French church ; the Roman Catholic chapel, a 

 spacious building with a tower and spire 140 feet high ; a chapel for 

 Methoduts; two National schools; two Free schools; the market- 

 house ; a dispensary ; and some superior schools, at one of which the 

 Duke of Wellington and his brother the Marquis of Wellesley received 

 part of their education. The town possesses a savings bank. Soap 

 and candles are manufactured. Fairs are held eight times a year. 

 Wednesday and Saturday are the market-days. Ems Park, the seat 

 of tb Earl of Portarlington, is 3 miles S.E. from the town. 



PORT K-ST.-M ABIE. [LOT-KT-QAROSNE.] 



PORTGLEXOXE. [ANTRIM.] 



PORTHCAUL. [GLAMORGANSHIRE.] 



PORTLAND, ISLE OF. [DORSETSHIRE.] 



PORTLAND, U.S. [MAINE; OREGON.] 



PORTO. [BEIRA; OPORTO.] 



PORTO ALEURE. [BRAZIL.] 



PORTO BELLO, or PUERTO BELLO. [PANAMA.] 



PORTO D'ANZO. [ANTIUM.] 



PORTO FEURAJO. [ELBA.] 



PORTO MAUR1ZIO. [NicE.] 



PORTO PRAYA. [CAPE VERD ISLANDS.] 



PORTO SANTO. [MADEIRA.] 



PORTO VECCHIO. [CORSICA.] 



PORTO YEN ERE. [GENOA.] 



PORTOBELLO. [EDIXBORQUSHIRE.] 



PORTPATRICK. [WIQTONSHIRE.] 



PORTREE. [INVERNESS-SHIRE.] 



PORTRUSH. COLEKAINE.] 



PORTSEA. [PORTSMOUTH.] 



I'OUTSEA ISLAND, Hampshire, the peninsula on which are situ- 

 ated the towns of Portsmouth and Portsea, and which gives name to 

 a Poor-Law Union. The island is described under PORTSMOUTH. 

 Portsea Island Poor-Law Union contains the parishes of Portsmouth 

 and Portcea, with an area of 7063 acres, nnd a population in 1851 of 



PORTSMOUTH, Hampshire, a municipal and parliamentary borough, 

 sea-port and market-town, is situated on the west side of Portsea 

 Inland, in 60* 48' N. lat, 1 6' W. long., distant 28 miles S.S.E. from 

 Winchester, 70 miles S.8.W. from London by road, and 94 miles by 

 the South-Western railway. The population of the borough, which 

 includes the parishes of Portsmouth and Portsea, was 72,096 in 1851. 

 The borough is governed by 14 aldermen and 42 councillors, one of 

 whom is mayor ; and returns two members to the Imperial Parliament 

 The livings are in the archdeaconry and diocese of Winchester. 



PurUea Island lies in an inlet of the British Channel, which extends 

 about 4 miles inland, and stretches nearly 16 miles eastward from the 

 town of Fareham in Hampshire to the village of Fisbbourne, near 

 tor in Sussex. On the west side of Portsea Island is Ports- 

 mouth harbour, an<l on the east side Langston harbour, bounded by 

 llayling Inland, beyond which are Emsworth channel and Chichester 

 harbour, ee|*rated by the small island of Thorney. The approach to 

 Portsmouth harbour is defended by Monckton Fort on the west, and 

 Soutbsea Castle, situated at the southern extremity of Portsea Island, 

 on the east Within these points, which are two miles apart, the 



entrance narrows to about 220 yards at Portsmouth point, where there 

 are also strong defences on esch side. The harbour then widens into 

 a basin about a mile long, and from half a mile to three-quartern of a 

 mile broad, beyond which it expands till it attains a breadth of about 

 three miles on the northern shore of the inlet It contains three 

 small low islands, Whale, Pewit, and Horsea islands; and about a mile 

 and a half from the entrance the main channel divides into three 

 branches, leading respectively to Fareham, Porchester, and thu north 

 end of Portsea Island. First-rate men of war can enter the harbour 

 and lie at anchor inside at all times of the tide. From the approach 

 to the harbour, on the west side, a sand-bank, called the Spit, extends 

 three miles south-eastward. Beyond it, within a range of buoys, and 

 under shelter of the Isle of Wight, in the admirable roadstead of 

 Spithead, where 1000 ships of the line may ride without incon- 

 venience. On the coast of the Isle of Wight, near its eastern extremity, 

 is St Helen's Bay, a place of rendezvous for the navy. These road- 

 steads, with Emsworth channel, and Langston and Portsmouth 

 harbours, are within the jurisdiction of the port of Portsmouth, 

 which extends from the town of Emsworth at the head of Emsworth 

 channel on the east, to the opening of Southampton water on the 

 west 



The town of Portsmouth ia situated at the entrance of the harbour, 

 on the south-west point of the island. It is inclosed by baetioned 

 ramparts with batteries of heavy ordnance, and surrounded by a deep 

 moat, with extensive outworks. The walls are entered by four hand- 

 some gates, with drawbridges. The ramparts, which are planted with 

 rows of elms, form an agreeable promenade nearly a mile in length. 

 Three or four streets of a better class extend from north-east to south- 

 west, crossing the others at right angles. Ou the north side of Ports- 

 mouth, and divided from it by the mill-dam creek, is its principal 

 suburb Portsea. The town of Portsea and its dockyard, the grand 

 naval arsenal of England, occupy a space called Portsmouth Common, 

 on which at the commencement of last century there was only a single 

 hovel. The town, which is now much more extensive than Ports- 

 mouth, is similarly fortified, and the defences of both towns unite, so 

 as to inclose them within one complete fortress. Portsea contains 

 some handsome terraces and crescents, and a well-built open space 

 called St.-George's-square. Both towns are lighted with gas, well- 

 paved, and supplied with water by pipes from the neighbourhood of 

 Portsdown-hill. On the east side of Portsea is a suburb called Land- 

 port, consisting of a belt of houses, some of which are handsome ; south 

 from Landport is Somerstown, and between Somerstown and the sea 

 is Soutlisea, a fashionable watering-place, which spreads eastward from 

 Portsmouth, with some good villas and well-built terraces and squares. 

 On this part of the beach a fine esplanade has been formed, and 

 embellished with statues of Nelson and Wellington. The suburb of 

 Kingston lies towards the centre of the island, and that of Mile End 

 at some distance north from Portsea, 



The borough of Portsmouth contains twelve churches and chapels 

 of the establishment The church of St. Thomas, Portsmouth, is a 

 spacious cruciform structure, built in the early English style, but 

 corrupted by successive additions. At the west end is a tower 120 feet 

 high, surmounted by a cupola and lantern. St. Mary's, the parish 

 church of Portsea, is an ancient structure in the suburb of Kingston, 

 surrounded by one of the largest burial-grounds iu the kingdom. 

 The garrison chapel, on the Grand Parade, is a part of the ancient 

 hospital of Domus Dei, fitted up for its present purpose. St Paul's, 

 Southsea, and All Saints, Mile End, are iu the perpendicular style. 

 The Baptists have eleven places of worship, the Independents six, 

 the Wesleyan Methodists six, the Bible Christians two, and the Primi- 

 tive Methodists, Plymouth Brethren, Roman Catholics, Unitarians, 

 Mormons, and Jews have one each. The public schools are, two 

 Grammar schools, four National, four British, an lufant and a Bethel 

 school. There is a philosophical society in Portsmouth, with a hall 

 and a museum of considerable extent ; Portsea has an athenaoum and 

 mechanics institute with a library of 1500 volumes ; and the Watt 

 institute at Laudport has a library of 550 volumes. 



The other principal buildings iu Portsmouth are, the governor's 

 house, on the Grand Parade, originally part of Domus Dei hospital, 

 the residence of the lieutenant-governor; the town-hall, the new county 

 court, the new market-house, the theatre, the custom-house, the 

 United Service club-house, the Four House barracks, and the Marine 

 barracks on the south-west margin of the town, the Cambridge bar- 

 racks on the east, the Colewort barracks on the north, the new barracks 

 at the end of High-street, the almshouses, the jail, and house of 

 correction. In Portsea are St. Paul's academy, the Beneficial Society's 

 hall, a general hospital, a savings bank, and on Mile End road the 

 Union workhouse, a female penitentiary, and the Portsmouth and 

 Farlington water-works. At Laudport are the Tipner and Hilsea 

 barracks, and near Southsea Castle is the laboratory of the Royal 

 Marine Artillery. About two miles north from Portsmouth, between 

 the London road and the harbour, is an extensive cemetery. 



The Naval Dockyard at Portsea, the largest in the kingdom, covers 

 an area of nearly 120 acres. It is separated from the town by a wall 

 14 feet high, and along the harbour it has a wharf-wall of nearly 

 three-quarters of a mile in length. It includes the residences of the 

 port-admiral, the admiral-superintendent, and other officers, the 

 guard-house and pay office, a school for naval architecture, and a 



