the strongest fortified town in England, is situated in the southern part of the county of Southampton or Hampshire, within the hundred of Portsdown, 74 miles from London by road, and 9½ by railway. It stands on an island separated from the mainland by a small creek or arm of the sea. This island, called Portsea, is 3 miles long, and 2½ miles broad, and contains 3568 acres of land of great fertility. It includes, besides the borough of Portsmouth, the town formerly known as Portsmouth Common, but now by the name of the Island, and also the suburbs called Southsea, Landport, and Kingston. Southsea, which takes its name from the castle, built during the time of Henry VIII., is of very recent origin; it owes its prosperity to its beautiful position, and has within the past few years become an important watering-place, and the beach has been pronounced by competent authorities one of the finest in England. A number of mansions and terraces have also been built, and the grounds laid out in a very tasteful manner; so that the place is eminently suited to the wants of a superior class of visitors. A beautiful esplanade extends along the beach from the castle to the king's rooms, a distance of about a mile; and adjoining the rooms are a number of warm, shower, vapour, and other baths: there are also a quantity of bathing-machines ranged along the beach. Near the entrance to the king's rooms are statues of Wellington and Nelson, which were erected at the expense of Major-General Lord Frederick Fitzclarence, late governor of Portsmouth. Landport is peopled for the most part by the dockyard artizans, although it contains a few respectable houses; in it are situated the termini of the Brighton and South Coast, and London and South-Western railways; also the Royal Portsmouth and Gosport Hospital, which is a noble building erected in 1849.

The soil of the island is marshy, and was formerly found to be unhealthy, and the inhabitants suffered much from the scarcity and dearness of good water. But of late years these evils have been remedied by complete drainage, and by the construction of good sewers, which carry the impurities of the town into the sea. Two efficient water companies have been in operation some years; and Portsmouth is now second to no town as far as regards the supply of this indispensable article. Sixty years ago the average number of deaths per annum was above 3 per cent. of the whole population; thirty years since the average was about 2 per cent.; and this is now considerably reduced.

The favourable situation of Portsmouth for a naval arsenal led to the construction of the works that have since distinguished it, at the period when the sovereigns of England first began to form a naval force.

The earliest notice respecting Portsmouth occurs in the Saxon Chronicle, in 501, when it is called Portesmutha.

Robert, Duke of Normandy, landed here with a strong army in 1101, during the contest for the throne between himself and his brother Henry I., when the interference of the barons induced him to concur in terms of conciliation. In 1123 it is recorded that Henry I paid a visit to this place, and passed the season of Whitsuntide. In 1140 the Empress Maud, with her brother the Earl of Gloucester, landed here, and marched from hence to Arundel. In 1193 a charter was granted to the town by Richard I, which conferred upon it various privileges which were at that time enjoyed by the city of Winchester, and which enacted that there should be an annual fair of fifteen days' duration; also a weekly market. The army of Henry III, which was raised for the invasion of France, was mustered here in 1229, and also disbanded. In 1298 King Edward I granted the inhabitants a charter, conferring on them the privilege of returning members to Parliament. A few years later, during the reign of Richard II, the town was sacked and destroyed by the French. Under Edward IV, Richard III, and Henry VII and VIII, the fortifications, which at that time were considerable, were greatly extended and improved. In 1545 a French fleet attempted to surprise the town, but to no purpose. Queen Elizabeth added considerably to the defences, in which work she has been followed by nearly every successive sovereign. In the reign of Charles I, the Duke of Buckingham was assassinated by Felton; and in 1756 Admiral Byng was shot on board the Monarch by order of a court-martial. In 1815 Sir E. Cockburn sailed from this town with Napoleon for St Helena.

As the town of Portsmouth is surrounded with walls, the streets are for the most part narrow; nor can it as a whole be represented as a well-built place. The High Street is of moderate breadth, and has a few good buildings; but a part of it is disfigured and contracted by having the market-house running through the middle of it. Some of the buildings are of ancient date; one especially in the High Street is worthy of observation, as having been the dwelling-house in which the Duke of Buckingham was assassinated in the reign of King Charles. It may be remarked that the best buildings in Portsmouth are the inns and hotels, which are numerous, and proportioned to the great number and various descriptions of occasional residents arriving and departing as passengers to and from all parts of the world. There are five barracks—viz., the royal artillery barracks in Broad Street; those for the marine artillery near the custom-house; and the Cambridge, the Clarence, and the Colewort barracks, for troops of the line. The walk round the fortifications forms a very agreeable promenade; and the grand parade, situated near the King's Bastion, also furnishes an agreeable walk. At the east end of the grand parade is the garrison chapel, the only remaining portion of an ancient hospital founded in 1238, and called the Domus Dei.

At the west end of the platform, on an ancient building, which, before the dissolution of the monasteries, had been the government-house, a lofty semaphore has been erected, from which signals are made to the ships in the harbour and at Spithead. It is also connected with a chain of telegraphs, terminating at the Admiralty Office in London, and by which communications are conveyed; so that a message can be sent, and a reply received, in about two minutes. In a niche in a wall of this ancient building is a bust of King Charles I., with an inscription underneath, stating that "after his travels through France and Spain, and having passed many dangers both by sea and land, he arrived here 5th October 1623." This was on his return from the secret journey he made in search of a bride of the Spanish royal family.

The parish church is a venerable object; it was originally erected in 1220, and dedicated to the then recently canonized St Thomas à Becket. The chancel is the only part left of the original building, and affords a contrast, by its numerous pillars, clustered pilasters, and ribbed, pointed arches in the Saracenic style, with the architecture of the nave, built in plain Tuscan style, the pillars of which support circular arches, and carry the roof. Few places of worship in the Portsmouth kingdom are superior to this church in internal beauty, which is chiefly due to the elegance of the chancel, but is increased by a few painted windows over the altar, of modern date. At the west end of the edifice is the tower, added in 1693, and which rises to the height of 120 feet. Over this, in an octagon latticed erection called the lanthorn, is a fine peal of eight bells. Surmounting the whole, as a weather vase, is a full model of a ship, 6 feet long, which has a shifting flag on the mizen-mast that moves with the slightest motion of the air, and indicates from what quarter the wind blows, when the breeze is not sufficiently strong to move the hull of the ship.

The walls of this church are adorned with a great variety of handsome ancient and modern monuments; one of the most remarkable of which is that to the memory of the Duke of Buckingham, whose assassination has already been adverted to. In the parish register is to be seen the registration of the marriage of King Charles II. with the Infanta of Portugal, 22d May 1662. This document, in letters of gold on vellum, is highly illuminated in the style of the old missals, and states the marriage to have been performed by Sheldon, Bishop of London. Some doubts have since been suggested, whether any other ceremony was used except a private marriage by a Catholic priest.

Besides this capacious church, there are open to the inhabitants a district church dedicated to St Mary; the garrison chapel, for the worship of the Established Church; and five places of meeting for several sects of dissenters. In the other towns the places of worship are numerous. At Portsea there are, for the Episcopal worship, the parish church of Kingston, the dockyard chapel, St George's church, St John's church, and Holy Trinity church; besides a Catholic chapel, a Jews' synagogue, a Wesleyan, an Independent, and two other meeting-houses. In Southsea are St Paul's and St Jude's churches, with four Baptist chapels. At Landport, formerly known as the Half-way Houses, are All-Saints', St Mary's, and St James's churches, in addition to six meeting-houses of various sects. Almost all these places of worship have Sunday or day schools attached to them; and there are also schools where reading, writing, and arithmetic are taught on the systems of Bell and Lancaster. A philosophical society, founded in 1818, contains a museum of natural history and curiosities; also a choice library, and a number of members: it has weekly lectures, and a reading-room, which is open daily. The mechanics' institute was established thirty years since; it has a large share of public patronage. There is also a beneficial society in Kent Street, and an association in connection with the Established Church. A well-endowed grammar school in Penny Street was founded in 1732, by Dr Smith, himself a native of Portsmouth, for the instruction of fifty boys, sons of the inhabitants, in classical learning. The town-hall, gaol, theatre, custom-house, and other public buildings of Portsmouth, present little or no attraction.

Few markets are better supplied than those of Portsmouth. A large part of the fertile island of Portsea is laid out in kitchen and fruit gardens. No market produces finer meat; large quantities of poultry, hares, partridges, and eggs, are brought from France; and the extensive water communication gives facility to provide hay, corn, flour, and other such articles at very cheap rates. To this cheapness of provisions, combined with the purity of the air, is in a great measure attributed the extension of Southsea, and the number of excellent residences which have lately been erected in that locality.

The public buildings in Portsea, except those belonging to the government, are by no means distinguished; the streets, however, are regularly built, and well paved and lighted, but the general appearance of the houses, with some few exceptions, is mean and despicable, the great majority. Portsmouth of the inhabitants being of the lower classes. In Southsea are the king's rooms, in which the balls, soirees, and other such like entertainments are held; they consist of a magnificent suite of rooms, having a frontage to the street of 80 feet: within is the promenade-room, 45 feet long, 35 feet wide, and 17 feet high; besides a number of other apartments, and hot and cold vapour and shower baths, as has already been stated.

It is, however, as the great depot of the British naval power that Portsmouth is most important; and in this view the state of the surrounding water, and of the harbour above the town, become worthy of observation and description. One of the great advantages accruing to this place is that very fine anchorage known by the name of Spithead. It is nearly midway between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, and is protected by the highlands of the island from southerly winds, and from northerly and easterly winds by the mainland. It has an advantageous entrance; for though at the east there are some dangers on what is called the Princess Shoal, and on the ranges of rocks called Benbridge Ledge and Betty's Ledge, they, as well as the Nab Rock, the Long Rock, the Warner, and Romansland, are so well provided with either floating lights or distinguishing buoys, that there is little risk, except in very dense fogs, when the buoys cannot be seen, nor the leading marks observed on the sea-shore. At this entrance it is a great advantage that at St Helen's, at the east end of the island, there is a good anchorage; so that if the wind takes a vessel short, she can safely ride till the breeze is in her favour. The western entrance to Spithead is by Hurst Castle, and the rocks called the Needles. This passage is always safe in fair winds, on account of the definite track which is shown by the buoys, lights, and landmarks; but it is so hazardous in contrary winds that very few ships attempt to beat through. The passage out by the Needles is used by more vessels than come into Spithead by that way. The anchoring-ground at Spithead is very good for holding, and very clear, except near the wrecks of the Royal George, the Boyne, and the Edgar, around which the tide has formed considerable banks. There is a regular depth of water at every part, varying from 6 to 12 fathoms, and the space is sufficient for the whole navy of England to ride at single or double anchor, without danger of falling on board each other when swinging with the changes of the tide.

Within the smooth water, between the island and the mainland, there are other very good anchorages; of these the Mother-bank is the principal; Stokes Bay is another safe anchorage. Here is the measured mile in which the speed of every new ship is tried.

The great advantages arising from so secure a rendezvous as Spithead, so near to the great national marine arsenal, are too obvious to need any elaborate remarks. The entrance to the harbour of Portsmouth is narrower than the Thames at London Bridge; yet there is sufficient depth of water for the largest man-of-war to enter at any state of the tide. The defences are of the most impregnable character, the channels by which vessels approach the harbour being crowned with forts and batteries, and armed with artillery of the heaviest calibre; so that an enemy's fleet, however strong, would be utterly annihilated before it could reach even the entrance. The interior of the harbour expands into a spacious lake 4 miles long and 2 miles broad, in which those ships of war that are under repair, or preparing for sea, are riding, and some of them lying at the wharves of the dock, which borders the harbour on the eastern side. From thence the harbour extends into the land, and contains, in one part called Rotton Row, the ships that are in ordinary, being with no other crews than a few warrant officers, to prevent them from plunder, or from injury by weather. The water here branches off in various directions, and by the help of the tide is navigable to Fareham, and to Portchester Castle, a pile of antiquity that will reward Portsmouth the curiosity of a visitor. Respecting the defences which envelop the town, it has been stated that, in case of a siege, these fortifications would require a garrison of no less than 14,000 men, all the works being surrounded by moats, which are very wide and deep, and can be speedily filled with water from the sea.

The dockyard of Portsmouth is one of those noble objects in which every Briton feels an interest. The gunwharf, under the ordnance department, is an immense arsenal, consisting of various ranges of buildings for the reception of military and naval stores and artillery. These storehouses are vast piles, and are fitted to contain all kinds of necessaries for the sudden equipment, both of a fleet and an army. Above 5000 men are constantly employed here, although the various operations are conducted by steam-engines, and every improved facility in machinery is adopted. On the wharf is the grand depot for guns, carronades, and mortars, with shot and shells of almost every size and weight, all of which are arranged in gigantic pyramids. Here also, in times of peace, the guns from the ships in ordinary at the port are lodged, each ship's guns being kept in a separate tier, whilst the carriages are deposited away in the same regular manner in the proper storehouses; so that the whole may be easily collected again, and re-embarked. The small armory is worthy of notice; it contains 25,000 stands of arms, all placed in the same ornamental style as those of a similar description in the Tower of London. The roof of this building is covered with copper, which, being oxidized by exposure to the atmosphere, when viewed on approaching it from the quay gate, conveys to the mind the idea of a green grassy slope, or a still wave of the sea.

The victualling establishment was removed at the commencement of the present century to the opposite side of the harbour, and is now in the town of Gosport. A communication is kept up between Portsmouth and Gosport by a steam floating bridge, which conveys passengers and merchandise at very low rates. The biscuit-bakery, the bread, pork, beef, rum, wine, and clothing stores, are open to the inspection of visitors. One of the greatest curiosities is the machinery substituted for manual labour in making biscuits, whereby every process, in its minutest details, is effected, preparatory to its being ready for the oven, including kneading, rolling, forming, and stamping. As a proof of the superiority of machinery over the old methods, it may be observed that 5 cwt. of dough may be mixed, completely kneaded, and prepared for the oven in seven minutes.

Portsmouth, independent of its naval dockyard, possesses a considerable foreign and coasting trade. The number of sailing-vessels registered at Portsmouth, 31st December 1857, was 251, tonnage 14,867; of steamers 8, tonnage 221. In the year 1857 there entered the port 1581 sailing-vessels, tonnage 144,596; and 56 steamers, tonnage 13,335; and there cleared 908 sailing-vessels, tonnage 84,414; and 74 steamers, tonnage 30,415. Of those that entered, 134,961 tons were engaged in the coasting, and 22,970 in the foreign and colonial trade; and of those that cleared, 76,805 tons were engaged in the former, and 9844 in the latter. The amount of duty received at the custom-house during 1857 was over £70,000.

The population of the borough has greatly increased during the present century, as appears from the following returns:

| Year | Portsmouth | |------|------------| | 1811 | 7,103 | | 1831 | 8,083 | | 1851 | 10,329 |

By far the greater number of these are the families of officers and men of the navy, army, and marines, and of the various dockyard artificers. The limits of the borough Portsmouth contain within them the whole of the town of Portsea. The corporation now consists of fourteen aldermen and forty-two councillors, who elect the mayor. It is divided into six wards, and has justices of the peace appointed by the Crown. The Reform Act confirmed the ancient privilege of returning two members to Parliament, which the town has uninterruptedly enjoyed from the time of Edward I.; the whole of the suburbs being now included in the limits of the parliamentary borough.

seaport-town of the United States of North America, state of New Hampshire, stands on the right bank of the Piscataqua river, about 3 miles above its mouth, 54 miles N. by E. of Boston. It occupies a fine situation on a peninsula in the river, and is connected by bridges with Kittery in Maine, on the opposite side. The streets are irregular and narrow, but some of them have handsome buildings, and are lined with trees. There are in the town an arsenal, two market-houses, eleven churches, many of them handsome buildings, numerous schools, an atheneum, with a museum, and a library of 10,000 volumes, a lunatic asylum, &c. The United States navy-yard, which occupies an island near the eastern bank of the river, is one of the most important and interesting establishments in the town. It contains three large ship houses, and a dry dock 350 feet long by 105 broad, constructed at a great expense. The harbour of Portsmouth, which is defended by two forts, is large, deep, and easy of access; so that in stormy weather many vessels take refuge in it. It is said to be capable of containing as many as 2000 ships. Manufactures are actively and extensively carried on in the town; cotton, hosiery, ropes, shoes, iron-castings, &c., are the chief Portsmouth articles produced. Ship-building is also largely carried on; and the tonnage of the port, June 30, 1852, amounted to 16,654 registered, and 8237 enrolled and licensed. During the year ending at that date there entered from foreign countries 78 ships, tonnage 8493; and there cleared for foreign ports 64, tonnage 7466. In the same year the imports amounted to L20,750, and the exports to L13,940; and the duties collected to about L6250. Pop. (1850) 9739; (1853) about 11,000.

seaport-town of the United States of North America, in the state of Virginia, on the left bank of the Elizabeth river, opposite the town of Norfolk, 160 miles S.E. of Richmond. It is well and regularly built on level ground, and it contains a large and showy naval hospital, a court-house, six churches, a literary, scientific, and military academy, and other buildings. In the suburb of Gosport there is a government dry dock capable of admitting the largest vessels. Portsmouth is connected by railway with Charlestown in South Carolina; and steamers ply daily between this and Richmond. The harbour is safe and accessible to the largest ships. Pop. 8626.

town of the United States of North America, state of Ohio, on the right bank of the Ohio, at its confluence with the Scioto, 115 miles above Cincinnati, and 90 S. of Columbus. It contains a court-house, a bank, six or eight churches, two large schools with 13 teachers and about 700 pupils, two iron foundries, a forge, and a nail factory. Iron, coal, and good building-stone are obtained in abundance in the vicinity. Pop. (1850) 4011; (1853) about 5000.