|
Portsmouth Factfile |
 QUICK FACTS - Portsmouth |
 |
Photo courtesy of UK
Perspectives:info@ukperspectives.com
|
Portsmouth is a city
in the South of the United Kingdom, located at 50.809N, 1.070E
- From Saxon times until the Victorian period, Portsmouth was largely farming land with scattered villages and hamlets. On Portsea Island, were the villages of Hilsea, Kingston, Froddington (now Fratton) and Milton, while on the mainland were the hamlets of Wymering, Farlington and Drayton and the village of Cosham. Over the centuries, Portsmouth has grown outwards from the southwest corner of Portsea Island and from the Dockyard to the north.
- Because of Portsmouth's strategic situation, Portsmouth has been linked with the Navy from the Middle Ages to the present day. Down the centuries, many fortifications were built to protect the Harbour and town. The Round Tower for example, has guarded the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour since 1417.
- The 1840s saw the rise of Southsea in Portsmouth as a middle class residential area for serving and retired military officers. By 1870, Southsea contained so many wealthy residents - including nobility and royalty - that Portsmouth was listed as the 5th richest town in England.
- Between 1840 - 1914, 10 Theatres were built in Portsmouth to reflect the City's growing status. However, seat prices reflected very clear social divisions. For 6d, benches were available in the Gallery (some 60 feet up in the Gods) for the Lower Classes; while the Upper Classes paid 1 or 2 guineas for a box and the opportunity to be seen by everyone. Today, only The Kings Theatre and The New Theatre Royal survive and are still in use as Theatres.
- One of Portsmouth's many literary connections are with Charles Dickens, who was born in the City on 7th February 1812. Charles Dickens refers to Portsmouth in Nicholas Nickleby.
- George Marston was born in Southsea in 1882. George Marston was the official artist on two of Shackleton's Antarctic Expeditions. The 1907-09 “Nimrod” and the 1914-16 “Endurance” expeditions.
- Portsmouth Harbour is a tidal basin enclosing 1,520 hectares (3,800 acres) with a shoreline of 53.13km (33 miles). Despite the intense use of Portsmouth Harbour, it is also an area of considerable value for the conservation of bird populations, which feed on the intertidal areas and shorelines.
- Portsmouth's most prominent landform Portsdown Hill, is a chalk escarpment, 120m high. The hill is now home to a wide variety of birds, insects, orchids and possibly the largest colony of Argiope Bruennichi in the world. What's that? A specie of spider!
|
|
| More Information >> |
|
|
|
|
|
