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HAJIFSHIBE. 



HAMFSHIBE. 



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Wiltshire aod DorMtahire. The length of the nuiulaod part of the 

 count; from north to aoath rarie* from 37 to 46 milei; the brwulth ▼arie* 

 frum 2S to 4 1 mile*. The Ue of Wight ia about 23 milea long from 

 ••at to west, and 14 mile* brood from north to aouth. It ia separated 

 from the main part of the oonnty by an arm of the aea, averaging 

 about 3 milea oTer, but in the narroweat part not more than a mile. 

 A amall detached part of the county 9 mUee long, and for the moat 

 part leaa than half a mile wide, extending from near Haalemere in 

 Surrey, to Midhurst in Soaex, waa annexed to Suaaex by the Act 

 7 & 8 Viet, cap. 61. The area of the county, including the lale, in 

 1S58 aqnare milea, or 1,070,216 acres. The population of the county 

 in 1841 was 364,682; in 1851 it was 405,870. 



Ooait4iii«, Swrfaet, Ujfdrographi/, Communicatiotu, <te. — The coast of 

 Hampshire (not including the Isle of Wight) is low towards the eaA 

 aide of the county, where there is a wide but not very deep bay or 

 inlet, divided by Hayling Island and Portaca Island into three parts ; 

 Chichester harbour on the east, Langston harbour in the middle, and 

 Portsmouth harbour on the west Portsea Island, 4 miles long from 

 north to south, and about 3 miles broad, contains the borough of 

 Portsmouth and the town of Portsea, with their extensive suburbs. 



From the entrance of Portsmoutli Harbour the coast runs north- 

 west to the entrance of the inlet or sestuary called Southampton 

 Water. In tbia part are some low cliflfs. Southampton Water pene- 

 trates about 7 miles inland to the town of Southampton, at the jtmc- 

 tion of the Test and the Itcbin : its breadth, when the tide is up, is 

 from one mile and a half to two miles ; at low water about half a 

 mile. From the eutrance of Souttiampton Water a low coast runs 

 ■outh-west until opposite to the western extremity of the Isle of 

 Wight Along this low coast are extensive salt-works, and at its 

 extremity, upon the point of a long sandy neck, stands Hurst Castle. 

 From Hurst Castle the coast runs west, forming the shallow bay of 

 Christcburch, terminated at its western point by Hengistbury Head, 

 from which the coast still runs west to the border of Dorsetshire. 

 From Hurst Castle the coast is generally high and abrupt 



The surface of the county is rather irregular. The South Downs 

 enter the county from Sussex on the south-east, near Petersfield, and 

 orofls it in a north-west direction into Wiltshire. The North Downs 

 enter the county from Surrey, near Famham, and extend across it 

 by Odiham and Kingsclere into Wiltshire. The Alton Hills form a 

 connection on the east side of the county between the South and 

 North Downs, and run from Petersfield northward past Alton. These 

 hills are in the chalk formation. 



A large part of Hampshire ia within the basin of the Southampton 

 Water ; a small portion on the north and north-east sides of the 

 county is in the basin of the Thames ; a small portion on the south- 

 cast side is in the basin of the Arun, and a small portion of the west 

 aide is in the Wiltshire and Dorsetshire basin. 



The principal streams which drain the Southampton basin are the 

 Anton or Test, which has a course of 35 miles, the Itohiu 25 miles, and 

 the Hamble, 10 miles. One branch of the Test rises near Hurstboume 

 Tarrant (between Newbury tmd Andover), and another near Whit- 

 church ; their united stream flows by Stockbridge and Romsey to 

 Southampton. The Itchiu rises in the hills around Alreaford, and 

 flows past Winchester to Southampton. The Hamble risea near 

 Bishop s Waltham, and joins the Southampton Water some miles 

 bdow Southampton. The Itchin is navigable up to Winchester, but 

 the navigation does not coincide with the natural bed of the river. 



The New Forest is situated in the south-west comer of the cotmty. 

 It is diainod by two small streams, the Ex or Beaulicu River and the 

 Boldre Water, beaidea some smaller streams. The basin of the 

 Tbamea ia se{)arated from the rest of the county by the North Downs, 

 and drained by the Wey, the source of which is in Hampshire, and 

 by the Anbome and the Loddon, which have their course along the 

 border. The basin of the Arun is separated from the rest of the 

 conntpr by the Alton and Petersfield hills and the South Downs. It 

 is dnune<i by the Bother, which rises in this county and flows past 

 Midhurst into the Arun. The Wiltshire and Dorsetshire basin com- 

 prritends a narrow strip of the county to the weat of the New Forest 

 It is drained by the Avon, which, entering the county Just below 

 Downton, Wilts, about miles from Salisbury, runs south past Ford- 

 ingbridgc, Ringwood, and Christcburch, into the sea, about 22 miles. 

 A small portion of the Donwtahiro Stour, and of the Great Leonards 

 Water, a tributaipr of the Btour, is in the county or upon its boun- 

 dary ; the Stour joins the Avon below Christchurch ; their a»tuary 

 forma Christchurch haven. 



The county haa two principal canals. The Andover Canal com- 

 naooes at Andover, and ia carried in a generally southern direction 

 put Stockbridge and Romsey to Redbridge, 4 mues above Southamp- 

 ton, where it enters the Anton. Its whole length ia 22^ miles. It 

 has a branch to Salisbury. The Basingstoke Canal commences at 

 Basingstoke, snd is carried in a very winding course 22 milea east on 

 cot leral to tbe Loddon, which it crosses into the county of Surrey, 

 Ms farther course through which to the navigable part of the river 

 Wey (near its junction with the Thames) is 1 5 miles. Part of the 

 canal from Arundel by Chichester to Portsmouth is in this county. 



Three prinuiiml mail-roads cross the county, namGly, the road from 

 London to Portsmouth, that to Southampton nud Poole, and the great 

 western road through Salisbury. At Andover a road branches oS 



from ths great western road to Ameabury, in Wiltshire. Besides these 

 there an other roads of leas importance, along the coast, from 

 Winchester, &a, which communicate with different parts of the county. 

 The main line of the London and South- Western railway enters 

 the cotmty at Famborough, and proceeds in a nearly western direction 

 to Basingstoke, where it turns south and prooeeds to SoulJiamptoD, 

 and thence south-west through the New Forest, and by Ringwood to 

 Woolbridge (in all about 76 miles), where it quits the county. From 

 Bishopstoke a branch line of 16 miles runs south-east to Oosport, 

 and another in the opposite direction to Salisbury, which quits the 

 county at West Dean, 15 miles. From Basingstoke a branch runs 

 north to Reading, of which about 7 milea are in this county. At 

 Emsworth the Portsmouth branch of the London, Brighton, and South- 

 Coast railway enters the oounty, in which its course is about 9 miles. 

 A short branch runs along the back of Portsmouth harbour, and 

 connects the South- Western and South-Coast lines. The Resding, ' 

 Quildford, and Keigate railway runs for a short distance along the 

 north-eastern border of the county. A branch to Alton in this oounty, 



13 miles long, leaves the main line at Ash station, and posses Famham. 

 Oeological Character. — That vast district of chalk which overspreads 



so large a portion of Wiltshire, and of which Salisbury Plain forma a 

 part, extends into Hampshire and occupies a considerable part of it 

 It is bounded on the north by a line drawn from Inkpen Beaam, near 

 Great Bedwyn, Wiltshire, by Kingsclere and Basingstoke to Odiham ; 

 on the east by a line drawn from Odiham by Alton, and along the 

 Famham road to the neighbourhood of Bishop's Waltham ; and on 

 the south by a line drawn from the neighbourhood of Bishop's 

 Waltham and north of Bishopstoke into Wiltshire. The extent of 

 this chalk district from north to south is about 22 miles ; from cost 

 to west its Hampshire extent varies from 22 to 32 miles, but its whole 

 extent through Hampshire and Wiltshire together ia much greater. 

 The breadth of the North Downs range ia 2 or 8 miles, that of the South 

 Downs about 4 miles. Portsdown Hill is on outlying mass of chalk. 



The country to the north of the great chalk district and of the 

 North Downs belongs to the London basin ; the country to the south 

 of tbe great chalk district and of the South Downs belongs to the 

 Isle of Wight basin ; and these are almost entirely occupied by the 

 strata above the chalk. The country to tbe east of the great chalk 

 district and embraced between the North and South Downs, is occu- 

 pied by the strata which underlie the chalk, and which extend into 

 Surrey and Sussex, and form the district of the Weald, of tbe south- 

 east of England. In the London basin the Bagshot sand is found at 

 Frimley Heath, on the border of Surrey, and is surrounded by a 

 belt of the London clay; the restof this basin in Hampshire is occupied 

 by the plastic clay, except near Kingsclere, where, for a short distance, 

 the chalk marl and greensand crop out from beneath the chalk. The 

 greater part of the New Forest, tie country around the Southampton 

 Watei-, and the whole line of the coost eastward from the Avon, and 

 including Portsea and Hayling Islands, are occupied by the London 

 clay ; the country west of the Avon and a belt varring from 8 to 7 

 miles south of the chalk, are occupied by the plastic clay. No minerals 

 are procured from this county to any extent, except near Petersfield, 

 where gray chalk is quarried. 



Portttt. — There are several forests in this ootmty, namely, the Now 

 Forest in the south-west, Alice Holt and Woolmer Forest in the east, 

 and the forest of Bere in the south-east William the Conqueror or 

 his immediate successors afforested the tract extending from Qodshill, 

 near Fordingbridge, to the sea, and from Ringwood to Hardley, n -ar 

 Southampton Water, and comprehending 92,945 acres. The forest 

 comprehends nearly 64,000 acres, and is the property of the crown, 

 subject to rights of common and other ancient claims. By the Act 



14 & 15 Vict. cap. 76, passed August 7th 1851, the commissiontrs 

 were empowered to remove the deer, and to inclose and plant 10,000 

 acres, in addition to 6000 acres previously inclosed. The chief value 

 of the New Forest is for the raising of oak and beech timber for the use 

 of the navy. A diminutive breed of horses, and a peculiar .breed of 

 swine, bearing considerable resemblance to the wild boar, are found in 

 a half-wild state in the forest 



The forest of Bere extends northward from Portsdown Hill, and 

 its bounds comprehend about 16,000 acres, of which one-third is 

 inclosed. Alice Holt and Woolmer Forest lies between the Ports- 

 mouth and Southampton roads. It contains altogether nearly 15,500 

 acres, more than half of which belongs to tbe crown. The growing 

 timber in Alice Holt is of considerable value. In the marshy bottoms 

 of Woolmer Forest many trees have been found and dug up with the 

 peat, and many hundreds of Roman coins, several of them those of 

 Marcus Aurelius and the empress Faustina, were dug up in the bed of 

 Woolmer Pond, when dried up in 1741 by the heat 



Waltham Chace, a waste of 2000 acres, belonging to the bishop of 

 Winchester, is on the north-west side of the forest of Bere, near 

 Bishop's Waltham. It is connected in our criminal annals virith the 

 atrocities of the deerstealers, called the ' Waltham Blacks ; ' and with 

 the statute known as the ' Black Act,' passed for their suppression. 



Climate, Soil, Agriculture. — The climate of Hampshire is gcncr.iUy 

 mild and favourable to vegetetion. The southern port of the Isle of 

 Wight is considered to have the mildest climate in Great Britain, and 

 is resorted to on that account by invalids during the winter. But a 

 grsat part of Hampshire consists of poor sands and gravelly soils or 



