﻿HAMPSHIRE. 



HAMPSHIUE. 



abundoDce of Roman remains have been found, and modern anti- 

 quaries seem to agree in fixing the station at this spot, which is on 

 the east side of the Itchin, by a bend in which it is nearly surrounded. 

 There are here considerable remains of Komau military works. A 

 quantity of Roman coins and of fine red pottery, a glass urn, and 

 sculptured and other stones have been dug up. The area of the sta- 

 tion is about half a mile in circumference : Southampton probably 

 arose from its ruins. Another station mentioned by Antoninus is Venta 

 (a Roman modification of the more ancient British name Caer Gwent, 

 ' the white city '), distinguished from some other places of the same 

 name as Venta Belgarum. It is the modem Winchester, the firat 

 part of which name is a corruption of the British Gwent, or the Roman 

 Venta. Tliis was an important station : the walls with which the 

 Romans inclosed it yet form the chief part, though frequently repaired 

 and much altered, of the town walls. 



But the most remarkable remaius of a Roman station are at Sil- 

 chesttr, a village on the boi-der of the county, 6 miles due north from 

 Basingstoke. It was certainly a station of importance, though it is 

 ctifBcnlt to determine whether it was the Calleva Atrebatum or the 

 Vindomis of the ' Itinerary.' The remains of this station are among 

 the most entire in the kingdom. The walls form an irregular octa- 

 gon, and are about a mile and a half in compass ; they inclose a space 

 of about 100 acres, divided into seven fields, together with the parish 

 church and churchyard, a farm-house and its offices. The inclosure 

 contains several springs, and slopes to the south : the foundations of 

 the streets may yet be traced running across it in parallel lines, and 

 in the centre is an open space supposed to have been the forum, 

 where the foundations of a large building and other remains have 

 been dug op. There are four gates, facing the four cardinal points : 

 some other openings have been made since the ruin of the town. The 

 walls, which are from 15 to 20 feet in height, are formed by layers 

 uf flat stones of variable dimensions, and of rubble-stone consolidated 

 by cement : the whole is surrounded by a ditch. At a short distance 

 north-east of the walls are the remains of an amphitheatre. 



The remains of a Roman station, supposed to have been the Brigc 

 of Antoninus, were observed by Mr. Gale at Broughton, not far from 

 Stockbridge. The walls of Porehester Castle contain some portions 

 of Roman architecture, and are probably on the site of one of the 

 stations denominated Portus, either Portus Magnus, or, more pro- 

 bably, Portus Adumi, mentioned in the ' Notitia Imperii.' Roman 

 roads may be traced leading from Venta to Sorbiodunum (Old 

 Sarum) ; to Silchester and to Porehester ; and from Silcbester in 

 various directions. 



This county was the scene of contest in the Saxon invasion. Hamp- 

 shire was included in the kingdom of Wessex ; and Venta, called by 

 the Saxons Wintnoceaster, became the seat of government. Here 

 Oerdic, the founder of the kingdom of Wessex, woa buried, and here, 

 on the conversion of the West Saxons to Christianity, a bishop's see 

 was established. In the contests of the Saxon princes the Isle of 

 Wight was taken by Wulfhere, king of Mercia, and annexed by him 

 to the kingdom of Sussex : it was however soon after reconquered by 

 Ceadwalla, king of Wessex. Upon the predominance of the West 

 Saxon kings over the other Saxon potentates being permanently 

 established by Egbert, Winchester became the metropolis of England. 



When the Northmen attacked the island, Hampshire was exposed 

 to their ravages. In the reign of Ethelbert, grandson of Egbert 

 (a.D. 860-66), a body of them advanced to Winchester, which they 

 partially laid waste : they were routed however as they returned to 

 their ships, and much of the booty recovere<). At Basing, near Basing- 

 ■toke, Ethclred I., king of Wesaex, and his brother Alfred, were 

 defeated by the Danes, A.D. 870. A year or two after, in the reign of 

 Alfred, the invaders made another attack on Winchester, damaged 

 the cathedral, and murdered the ecclesiastics belonging to it. In the 

 reign of Ethelred II. the Danes ravaged the Isle of Wight. In the 

 civil dissensions of the reign of Edward the Confessor, the samo islaud 

 VMS infested by Godwin, earl of Kent, and his son Harold, then in 

 rebellion ; and in the subsequent reign of Harold II. it was laid under 

 contribution by Tostig, the king's rebellious brother. Winchester 

 continued to be the principal seat of royalty in the reign of William 

 the Conqueror. 



The New Forest became the scene of several disasters to the family 

 of V^illiam the Conqueror, which were popularly regarded as judg- 

 ment* on him for bis arbitrary conduct in the formation or extension 

 of the forestal jurisdiction. Mis son Richard lost his life here by what 

 Camden describes as a ' pestilential blast : ' his granffeon Henry, son 

 of Robert, was entangled among the branches and killed while hunting ; 

 and his successor William Rufus was shot by a random arrow by 

 Walter Tyrrel in 1100. 



In the civil war between the supporters of King Stephen (then a 

 prisoner) and the Empress Maud, Winchester Cathedral and Wolvesey 

 Castle, the residence of Hennr of Blois, bishop of Winchester and 

 brother of Stephen, were in the hands of the king's party, and Win- 

 chester Castle and other parts of the city in the hands of tbe empress. 

 The empress's friends were gradtially dispossessed of all they held, 

 except the castle ; and, when this was hard pressed, it is said that the 

 empress escaped by being carried through the opposing army, wrapped 

 in A sheet of lead, like a corpse for interment. Her natural brother 

 and chief supporter, the Earl of Gloucester, was taken soon after at 



Stockbridge aud exchanged for the captive kmg. At the commence- 

 ment of the French war of Edward III., in 1338, Southampton was 

 attacked and taken by the French with their allies the Genoese and 

 Spaniards. In 1415, when Henry V. was about to embark at South- 

 ampton for France, a conspiracy against his life was detected ; for 

 which the Earl of Cambridge and others were executed in that town. 

 In the reign of the same monarch the Isle of Wight wns once attacked 

 and a second time threatened by the French. About the close of the 

 reign of Henry VIII. another attack was made by the same people, 

 but repulsed. Mary I. was married at Winchester to Philip of Spain 

 in 1551. 



Of these early times the county contains several relies. [Bishop's 

 Waltuam ; Christcuukcii ; SooTHAMrrox.] Porehester Castle, at 

 the head of Portsmouth harbour, is of great antiquity and doubtful 

 origin. It is probable that the site has been occupied by a fortress 

 from a period anterior to the Roman conquest ; aud the present 

 structure exhibits traces of Roman, Saxon, and Norman architec- 

 ture. It is a quadrangle inclosing an area of 4 or 5 acres. The walls 

 are from S to 12 feet thick aud 18 feet high, having in many places a 

 passage round them, delended by a parapet. It is inclosed by a ditch 

 (double on the east side), and has 18 towei-s iuoludiug those of the 

 keep. The keep forms the north-west angle of the castle, and incloses 

 a quadrangle of 115 feet by 05 feet The parish church of Porehester 

 is within the outer court of the castle ; it is a lai-ge Norman cross 

 church, of which the south transept has been destroyed. Calshot aud 

 Hurst caatles, erected in the time of Henry VIII., are now occupied 

 OS coast-guard stations. Both are on small headlands jutting into the 

 sea ; Calshot at the entrance of Southampton Water, and Hurst near 

 Lymington. Netley Caatle, near Netley Abbey, of about the same 

 date, is now a ruin. 



The chief monastic remaius besides those mentioned elsewhere 

 [Chbistchurcii ; RoMSEY ; Winchester] are Netley aud Beaulieu 

 abbeys, aud the Priory of St. Dionysius, near Southampton. Netley 

 Abbey is a short distance from the bank of tUe Southampton Water, 

 about 3 miles E. from Southampton. It appears to have been founded 

 in the 13th century, aud was of the Cistercian order. At the time of 

 the dissolution its possessions were valued at 160/. 2a. 9d. gross, or 

 1001. Is. Sd. clear yearly value. The ruins stand on the declivity of 

 a hill rising gently from the water, aud ara so environed by wood as 

 to be scarcely observable except on a near approach. The chapel was 

 in the form of a cross ; the southex-n transept and the clioir are the 

 most perfect portions of the remaius. Many parts of the ruins are 

 finely mantled with ivy. Beaulieu Abbey (also Cistercian) was 

 founded in 1204 by King John : its yearly revenue at the dissolution 

 was 428i. 6». Sd. gross, or Z2GI. 13«. 2d. clear. The stoue wall which 

 surrounded the precincts of the abbey is in several places nearly 

 entire, and is clothed with ivy. The remains include the abbot's 

 apartments, converted after the dissolution into a family seat, having 

 a well-proportioned vaulted hall ; a long building, supposed from the 

 extent and height of the apartments to have been the dormitoiy ; the 

 ancient kitchen, and the refectory. The refectory, a plain stone 

 building, with stroug buttresses aud a curiously-raftered oak roof, 

 forms the parish church of the village of Beaulieu. St. Dionysius's 

 (commonly called St. Denis's) Piiory, is on the bank of the Itchin 

 above Southampton. It was founded by Henry I. for Augustinian or 

 Black Canons. The ruins ai-e of small extent, and appear to have 

 formed the west end of the priory church. 



In the beginning of the reign of Charles I. the Duke of Buckingham 

 was stabbed at Portsmouth, and in the civil war of that reign this 

 county was the scene of partial hostilities. The strong posts of the 

 Isle of Wight were early in the contest secured for the Parliament, 

 and the island was thus preserved from subsequent disturbance. But 

 the most remarkable event in the contest that occurred in this county 

 was the defence of Basing House, near Basingstoke, by its possessor, 

 John Paulet, marquis of Winchester. The investment commenced in 

 August 1643, and coutinued, probably at intervals, for two years. 

 Cromwell, in October 1645 took the house by storm, and burned it to 

 the ground. In 1647, Charles I., after his escape from Hampton 

 Court, remained concealed at Titchfield House till he gave liimself up 

 to Colonel Hammond, governor of the Isle of Wight. He was 

 imprisoned for some time at Carisbrook, and afterwards at Hurst 

 Castle. 



Statistics. — According to the CensusRetums of 1851, there were then 

 in the county 818 places of worship, contaiuing 214,674 sittings. Of these 

 places of wonship 38& belonged to the Church of England, 187 to five 

 sections of Methodists, 116 to ludcpendeuts, 09 to Baptists, 13 to Roman 

 Catholics, 7 to Mormons, 6 to Quakers, 6 to Unitarians, and 25 to miuor 

 bodies. The number of Sunday schools was 576 with 44,823 scholars. Of 

 these Sunday schools 322 belonged to the Church of England, 1)8 to 

 Independents, 58 to Wesloyan Methodists, 45 to Baptists, 21 to Primitive 

 Methodists, 20 to Bible Christians, and 12 to minor bodies. The 

 number of day schools in the county was 1608 with 57,960 scholars ; 

 of these 487 were public schools with 30,906 scholars, and 1021 were 

 private schools with 18,054 scholars. Of evening schools for adults 

 there were 33 with 677 scholors. Of literary and scientific institutions 

 the county possessed 30, with an aggregate membership of 4239. 

 The libraries connected with these institutions contained in all 19,305 

 volumes. 



