Hants, or county of Southampton (anciently Hamtchare), a maritime county of England on the shores of the English Channel, bounded on the N. by Berkshire, E. by the counties of Surrey and Sussex, S. by the English Channel, and W. by Wiltsshire and Dorsetshire. It is of an irregular quadrilateral form, and is about 46 miles in extreme length from N. to S., by 41 in extreme breadth. This is exclusive of the Isle of Wight, which is comprised in the county, and is about 23 miles long from E. to W., by 14 broad from N. to S. The entire area is 1,070,216 acres, or 1672 square miles. Hampshire, in its general aspect, presents a beautiful variety of gently rising hills and fruitful valleys, adorned with numerous seats and pleasant villages, and interspersed with extensive woodland. In comparison with many other counties it has but little waste land, but at the western extremity, bordering on Dorsetshire, a small portion of sandy heath is scarcely productive of anything but pasture for sheep. A considerable tract, extending from Winchester to the northern extremity of the county, is down-land, principally used for sheep- Hampshire pasture, but when brought under the plough is very fertile in barley, turnips, clover, and sainfoin. This county contains a great extent of woodland. The New Forest, so well known from its association with William the Conqueror, contains about 92,000 acres, but within its boundary a large portion of the land is highly cultivated and very fertile. The abundance of trees of large dimensions, the open glades between, and the variety of foliage and underwood, render the scenery of the district highly delightful. The oaks, many of which are of some hundred years' growth, are the characteristic feature of the forest. They do not grow to a great height, but swell to large dimensions in the trunk, and shoot out strong crooked branches, which give them a very picturesque appearance, and add to their value as naval timber, being well adapted for use as knees in ships of the largest size. The beech trees also grow to a very great size, and contribute to the beauty as well as the profits of the forest.

The other principal forests are those of Alice Holt and Woolmer, situated within a short distance of each other, near the eastern border of the county, and extending over about 15,500 acres; of which nearly one-half belong to the crown, and afford excellent oak timber. Bere Forest, also, in the south-east, a few miles to the north-east of the Portsdown Hills, and about five miles from Portsmouth, contains about 16,000 acres, but its timber has been much neglected. In these forests there is abundance of deer belonging to the crown, some of which are annually killed, and distributed (according to ancient prescription) among the various officers of the government and the royal household. The greater part of the county is inclosed, and even the down-lands are so in a great measure.

The principal rivers of Hampshire are the Itchen, the Avon, the Boldre, the Tees, and the Anton. The Itchen rises near Alresford, flows by Kingsworthy, Winchester, and Twyford, and falls into the Southampton Water. This river has been navigable from Winchester to Southampton as early as the Conquest. The Avon has its source in Wiltshire, enters the county near Breanmore, passes by Fordingbridge and Ringwood, and after being joined by the Stour, a small Dorsetshire river, which only passes through about six miles of Hampshire, empties itself into Christchurch Bay. The Boldre takes its rise in the New Forest, and, after collecting the waters of several brooks during its course through the forest, it falls into Lymington Creek. The Tees or Test rises in the neighbourhood of Whitchurch, and, after receiving the Anton and numerous small brooks, passes by Stockbridge and Romsey, and forms the head of the Southampton Water. The other rivers are the Exe, Hamble, and a few small tributaries of the Thames, which water the northern portions of the county.

The canals of the county are but two—Basingstoke and Andover. The Basingstoke Canal was begun in 1778, to communicate between that town and London. It is 37 miles in length, and terminates near Guildford in the River Wey. It passes through a tunnel, nearly three-quarters of a mile in length, under Grewell Hill, near Odiham. This canal was not completed till 1794, when it had cost £100,000; and the tolls are not yet sufficient to pay the interest. The Andover Canal was begun in 1789, at that town. Its termination is at Redbridge, and it is useful to convey coals and other heavy commodities to the centre of the county. It is continued by a branch to Salisbury.

Several railways traverse the county. There is communication with London by means of the South-Western Railway, which enters Hampshire at Farnborough, passing by Winchester, and from thence to Southampton, a branch diverging from Bishopstoke to Gosport, and again to Portsmouth via the South Coast Railway, by a branch from Fareham. The South Coast Railway also affords to the southern portion of the county ready access to London through Hampshire, Brighton. This line enters the county at West Boarne, passes by Havant and a few other unimportant places, into Portsmouth. A branch from Reading and the Great Western Railway joins the South-Western at Basingstoke, and the Guildford and Reigate branch of the South Coast Railway communicates with Alton. A line called the Direct Portsmouth Railway, commenced in August 1853, is in course of construction. The projectors of this line intend to form a junction with the South Coast Railway at Havant, whence it is to pass along the eastern border of the county to Godalming, and thence by the Woking Junction and South-Western Railway to London. This line, when completed, will shorten the distance between London and Portsmouth by 22 miles. Southampton communicates with Dorchester by the Dorchester Railway, which passes by Ringwood, and with Salisbury by a branch line passing through Romsey. At present Plymouth and other parts of the south-west of England can only be reached by the Great Western Railway, a most tedious and circuitous route; but other lines have been projected, which will make a material alteration in this respect. The towns of Southampton and Portsmouth are in communication with London by means of the electric telegraph, which is also in operation between Southampton and Dorchester.

The soil is very various, but in almost every part it rests on a calcareous subsoil. The uplands are generally appropriated to breeding sheep, and hence the culture of turnips has been much extended. After the turnips are eaten off the land, barley is usually sown, and with it clover, or other artificial grass-seeds. To the clover succeeds sometimes wheat or oats, and, when the land is somewhat heavier in texture, occasionally beans; but in few parts of England are the rotations of crops more diversified. The average produce of corn on these high lands is not more than 16 bushels of wheat, 22 of barley, and 24 of oats, to the acre. The ploughing is almost universally performed by horses, which are of a very excellent breed. On much of the stiffer lands four of these strong horses are thought necessary; but on lighter lands, and with a single-wheeled plough, sometimes two or three are used, and very rarely are harnessed abreast of each other. On the higher lands the hay for winter consumption is generally made from sainfoin, a plant which peculiarly flourishes when the subsoil is calcareous. When it is sown great care is taken to extirpate all weeds, and every other description of grasses, and thus the crop will usually continue for ten years to be fit for mowing; and on some soils it has been found to last even twenty years, and yield abundant crops of hay. There is no part of England in which this valuable grass is so well or so extensively cultivated.

The corn lands on the lower levels of the county are much more productive; but on those districts they have no occasion for sainfoin, and scarcely for clover, as their rich water meadows supply them with a sufficiency of hay. Some of these meadows are perhaps the most valuable of any lands in this island, and are managed with great skill and attention. Where a rapid stream of water can be passed over them during the whole winter, it seldom becomes frozen; and the grasses grow during the cold weather, so as to be fit for pasture at an early period in the spring, before any traces of vegetation appear in the surrounding fields. This young grass is a provision for the sheep when no other green food is to be found, and supplies them to the beginning of May, when it is allowed to grow, and in six or eight weeks it is fit to be mowed, and yields an abundant supply of hay. There is much of this valuable description of land in the fertile valley that extends from Overton to Redbridge by Stockbridge.

In the eastern part of the county, bordering on Surrey, there are extensive hop plantations, the produce of which Hampshire is equal in flavour to those in the adjoining villages of that county near Farnham.

A parliamentary report on the agricultural statistics of this county gives the number of acres of arable land, in October 1833, at 603,219. Of these 96,228 were in wheat, 62,390 barley, 57,075 oats, 1907 rye, 14,096 peas and beans, 13,868 taros and vetches, 2801 potatoes, 83,847 turnips or rape, 388 carrots, 1515 mangel-wurzel and beet-root, 355 cabbages, 100,114 clover, lucerne, &c., 123,519 meadow and pasture, 73 flax, 1711 hops, 4260 other crops, 39,076 fallow. The woods or plantations covered an area of 105,839 acres, and commons or wastes occupied 89,630. There were 24,076 horses, 19,350 milch cows, 13,148 other cattle, 489,227 sheep and lambs, and 61,860 swine.

The original breed of Hampshire sheep was white-faced, with horns; but these have been so often crossed with other kinds, that few of an unmixed breed are left. Most of the flocks now are of the Southdown kind; they are found to be more profitable, both on account of the superior quality of their wool, and the tendency to fatten with less quantity of food than any others. The cows are not much attended to, and are not generally of the best kind. The introduction of the Welsh breed has made some improvement, but there is room for much more.

The breeding and fattening of pigs has long been a most important part of Hampshire husbandry. The bacon from them is the principal animal food of the rural inhabitants. In the vicinity of the forests the pigs are fed on acorns and beechmast; and those so fattened are considered the best, either for pickled pork, or for bacon. The average weight of these animals when deemed fit for slaughter is about 440 or 450 lbs., but many of them weigh 800 lbs.

The manufactures of this county are neither numerous nor extensive, except those carried on at Portsmouth in connection with the Royal Navy. Besides the ship-building in the royal yard, many vessels, both for war and trade, are built on the River Itchen at Buckler's Hard, on the River Boldre, and on the banks of Southampton Water. The manufacture of woollen goods upon a small scale is carried on at Andover, Romsey, Alton, and Basingstoke. Paper is made at Romsey and at Overton. The mills at the latter place have supplied the whole of the thin paper used by the Bank of England for their notes ever since the reign of George I. Ringwood has been long celebrated for the excellence of the strong beer brewed there, but the quantity has declined of late years. On the sea-shore at Lymington, and on the island of Hayling, near Havant, some salt is made by the evaporation of sea-water. The quantity depends on the degree of heat which prevails during the summer season, as the first part of the process of evaporation is performed by the heat of the sun alone; the brine is afterwards conveyed to iron pans, and the process completed by artificial heat. But as coal is the only fuel, the process is expensive, and prevents the proprietors from competing with the northern manufacturers of salt.

The foreign commerce of the county was inconsiderable until the formation of the Southampton Docks, and the consequent rise of that place as a commercial port. Its commerce even now can by no means be compared with that of several other counties—Southampton being principally used as a steam-packet station. That port, however, imports much wine from Portugal, which, before the introduction of the bonding system, used to be deposited in the islands of Guernsey and Jersey, to save the interest upon the amount of the duties. It also carries on a considerable commerce with the Baltic. At Christchurch there are a few vessels fitted for the Newfoundland fishery.

The most considerable towns, with their population, according to the census of 1851, are:

| Towns | Pop. | |------------------------|------| | Portsmouth and Portsea | 72,128| | Southampton | 34,692| | Winchester | 12,979| | Fareham | 5,843 | | Romsey | 5,649 | | Andover | 5,195 |

These will be found described in their alphabetical order in other parts of this work.

Aldershott, a little village on the borders of Surrey, has become of late a place of some note, by the formation of a military camp on Aldershott Heath. The camp is constructed at the base of a range of hills on the left of the road leading from the town of Farnham. It is at present formed entirely of wooden huts, but permanent barracks are in course of construction. When completed, the huts will afford accommodation for 20,000 militia, and the barracks for 10,000 regulars, consisting of cavalry, infantry, and artillery. The cost of the whole erections will be upwards of £1,300,000.

The antiquities of this county are very numerous, and may be contemplated in the ruins of numerous castles, abbeys, and shattered towers, which add not a little to the beauty of the scenery. The most remarkable are Calshot Castle, Netley Abbey, Hurst Castle, Porchester Castle, and Beaulieu Abbey. Antiquities of more early date, of ancient British or of Roman origin, are scattered over the county. The numerous barrows are ascribed to the former, and many vestiges of intrenched camps and castles to the latter.

The beauty of the county has attracted to it a greater number of families of rank and fortune than almost any other county can enumerate. The principal seats alone number nearly 300.

By the Reform Act of 1832, this county has, for election purposes, been divided into the northern and southern parts, each of which returns two members to the House of Commons. The place of election for the northern division is Winchester; and the other polling places are Fareham, Lymington, Ringwood, and Romsey. By the same law the boroughs of Whitchurch and Stockbridge were disfranchised; and the boroughs of Petersfield and Christchurch, which used to elect two members, now choose only one each. The towns which now return two members each are Winchester, Southampton, Andover, Lymington, and Portsmouth, with which is incorporated the adjacent large town of Portsea.

The whole population of Hampshire amounted in 1801 to 219,656; in 1811, to 245,080; in 1821, to 258,208; in 1831, to 314,700; in 1841, to 355,004; and in 1851, to 402,033 (199,834 males, and 202,199 females); so that in half a century the county has nearly doubled the number of its inhabitants. It appears by the register of burials that the deaths between 1801 and 1811 were 1 in 46 of the inhabitants; that from 1811 to 1821 they were 1 in 54; and from 1821 to 1831 (notwithstanding an increase of mortality by the cholera) 1 in 56. In these years, therefore, there was a continued and marked decrease in the rate of mortality; but within the last few years there has been a perceptible increase, caused, without doubt, by the great and rapid augmentation of the population of the large towns. According to the latest averages, the mortality of the county is still below that of the whole country, and this we think may be accepted as a proof of the general salubrity of its climate.

According to the census returns of 1851, there were then 818 places of worship in the county, containing 214,674 sittings. Of these places of worship, 389 belonged to the Church of England, 116 to Independents, 69 to Baptists, 190 to Methodists, 13 to Roman Catholics, 7 to Latter-Day Saints, 6 to Quakers, 6 to Unitarians, and the rest to minor bodies. There were 1508 day schools, with 57,960 scholars; of these 487, with 39,906 scholars, were public schools; and 1021, with 18,054 scholars, were private schools. Of the public schools, 25 were supported by general or local taxation, 59 by endowments, and 386 by religious bodies.