THE PROVINCIAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND. XVL—IIAMPSHIRE AND THE ISLE OF
WIGHT.-GEOGRAPHY.
T"position occupied by Hampshire is that of the central county of the Southern district of England. As such, it does not seem to be connected more closely with its northern than with its western and eastern neighbours, and may therefore fairly claim a distinct notice. In respect of size it is the eighth English county, comprising an area of 970,470 statute acres. The Isle of Wight comprises 95,680 statute acres. Hampshire approaches in figure most nearly to a square, with a triangular projection at the north-west angle. It extends from north to south about 55 miles, and from east to west about 40, with a circumference of about 150 miles. The Isle of Wight is of an irregular, rhomboidal form, 22} miles from east to west, 13 miles broad from north to south in the widest part, but with an average breadth of 6} miles. The geology of both sides of the channel (the Solent) which separates the mainland from the island supports the natural inference that the latter is merely a detached part of England, and it is said that the entrance to the Solent is still becoming broader through the wasting of the cliffs in Colvell Bay. With this great breakwater between its coast line and the English Channel, serving as a screen also from the opposite coast of the Euro- pean Continent, and with the great roadway of the Southampton Water forming the basis of its inland water communications, Hampshire is the natural seat of the great naval port, and one of the great commercial depots of England. Sheltered and concealed by this island outwork, the fleets of this country anchor in secure roadsteads, while her commercial shipping pass inward and out- ward in equal safety. From this central maritime fortress, indeed, England commands the Channel which bears her name, and couches as in a secure forest lair, ready to spring forth on every enemy that may menace her southern frontier.
Across the centre of the Isle of Wight, in its widest part, extends a range of chalk hills dividing it into two portions, and forming a natural observatory from which the coast of Hampshire may be scanned, as well as the English Channel. The surface of the island generally is very diversified, with hill and dale in rapidsace.ession. The land round the coast is in some parts very high, particularly
on the south, or, as it is called, the back of the island. On the northern side the slopes to the sea are more gentle, except towards the extreme western point, near the detached Needles Rocks, where the cliffs are bare, broken, and precipitous, and in some places 600 feet above the level of the sea. The soil of the south portion of the island is " light and sandy, and there is a general absence of wood. The north division has heavy clay land, and is diversified by numerous woods, especially to the east of the River Medina," which forms a sort of estuary from south to north, its mouth facing that of the Southampton Water. The district to the west is more open. The parts lying east and west of this river are known as the East and West Medine. This river also forms a water roadway from Newport, the capital of the island, to the port of Cowes. The northern shore, facing the coast of Hampshire, is broken by four other water openings, two on each side of the Medina. The picturesque beauty of the whole island and mildness of the air, especially in the southern portion, which resembles that of the South Hams, in Devonshire, are facts too well known to require more than a passing allusion. The fine pasturage on the chalk ranges, and the luxuriant vegeta- tion of the greatest part of the island, the peculiar charm of the wooded or bare " chines" on the coast line, and of the rich and diversified colouring of the cliffs, and the unique cottage houses, with their myrtle hedges and bowers and their brilliant flora, have combined to make this island one of the favourite as well as the most favoured spots of English soil.
Quitting it for the present, we cross a channel varying in breadth from ten to seven miles, and find ourselves on the shores of Hamp- shire, or, as it is sometimes called, Southamptonshire. The coast line of this county is naturally divided into two portions, that westward of the Hurst Point and beyond the island break- water in that direction, and that which we may call the port district, which fronts the island, and which is cut in two very evenly by the Southampton Water. Eastwards from the mouth of this Water the coast is low, with " a wide but not very deep bay or inlet, divided by Portsea Island and Hayling Island into three parts—Portsmouth harbour on the west, Langston har- bour in the middle, and Chichester harbour on the east. Portsea Island, four miles long from north to south, and about three miles broad," contains the towns of Portsmouth and Portsea. The estuary called Southampton Water penetrates about seven miles inland to the town of Southampton, at the janction of the rivers Test and Itchin. When the tide is up, its breadth varies from one mile and a half to two miles ; at low tide it is about a half a mile broad. From the western side of the entrance of this inlet, a low coast again runs in a south-west direction until opposite the western extremity of the Isle of Wight. Along this low coast are extensive salt works. It terminates with the long sandy neck of land at the extremity of which stands Hurst Castle, the temporary resting-place of Charles I. on his way to the scene of his trial and death. From Hurst Castle the coast, which is generally high and abrupt, runs westward, forming the shallow bay of Christchurch, terminating in Hangisbury Head, and thence again westward, by the modern watering-place of Bournemouth, to the Dorsetshire border.
Passing inland, we may describe Hampshire generally as divided into three districts by two lines of chalk hills, the South and North Downs. The South Downs " enter the county from Sussex, on the south-east, near Petersfield, and cross it in a north-west direc- tion into Wiltshire. The North Downs enter the county from Surrey, near Farnham, and extend across it by Odiliam. and Kingsclere also into Wiltshire. The Alton Hills form a connec- tion on the east side of the county between the south and north Downs, and run from Petersfield northwards past Alton," mak- ing with the ranges of hills which they connect a sort of enclosure, within which, in the central part of the county, is an open level down country, which antiquarians assert to have borne the name in the earliest times of "Gwent," or the " champaign " district. To the north of the North Downs lies a district which forms part of the basin of the Thames, and to the south of the South Downs another district within the basin of the Southampton Water. Separated from the rest of the county by the Petersfield and Alton Hills and the South Downs, lies a small district which is part of the basin of the Arun river. By far the greater part of Hampshire consists of an immense mass of chalk, extending into Wiltshire and Berk- shire, and sending off north and south the two long ranges of hills 'already described, which traverse Surrey and Sussex. The northern district of the county was once covered with wood, "as well as the whole of the southern district, in which are included the Forest of Bere, Waltham Chase, and the New Forest. The great Wood of Anderida, which stretched across the Wealds of Kent and Sum; extended beyond the Hampshire border, and seems
to have terminated about East Meon," where it met the open level downs of " Gwent." The Forest of Bere extends northward from Portsdown Hill (the heights_ to the north of Portsmouth and Langston harbours), and " its bounds comprehend about 16,000 acres," of which part is enclosed. Alice Holt and Wool- mer Forest lie between the Portsmouth and Southampton Roads, "and contain nearly 15,500 acres," more than half of which belong to the Crown. Waltham Chase, a waste of about 2,000 acres," is on the north-west side of the Forest of Bere, near Bishop's Waltham—the chase belonging to the Bishop of Win- chester. Here the deer-stealers called the "Waltham Blacks" committed great atrocities, and produced for their suppression the Act called the "Black Act." In the south-west corner of the county is a tract afforested by William the Conqueror and his successors, which extended from Godahill, near Fordingbridge, to the sea, and from Ringwood to Hardley, near Southampton Water, and comprehended 92,385 acres." The " New Forest," forming part of this, comprehends nearly 64,000 acres, and is the property of the Crown, subject to certain rights of common, &e.. By an Act passed in 1851 "the Commissioners were empowered to remove the deer and to enclose and plant 10,000 acres, in addition to 6,000 already enclosed." But the district still preserves to a! considerable extent its former pre-eminence as the most pictur- esque of all the remnants of old English woodland scenery. The timber of most value here is oak and beech. A diminutive breed of horses and a breed of swine more resembling the wild boar have preserved to modern times some faint memorial of the forest animals of Old England. At the north- west corner of the county " the chalk rises into lofty and very picturesque heights, from which wide views are commanded. It is everywhere intersected by valleys and deep hollows, through which numerous streams find their way to the sea." Of the streams, the Itchin (twenty-five miles long) .connects Southampton with Winchester, up to which city it is navigable. The Test is thirty- five miles in length. Besides these, the principal streams are the Arun in the east and the Avon in the west, the latter entering the county just below Downton, in Wiltshire, and falling into the sea. by Christchurch, being joined close to its mouth by the Dorsetshire. Stour.
The county is purely agricultural, and no manufactures of any importance are carried on in it. The climate is generally mild, and the southern part ranks high among English counties iu this respect. But a great part of the land consists of " poor sands and gravelly soils, and chalk hills, with low bottoms, and no ready outlets for the water," producing marshes and bogs.. The north-west part of the county is the least productive. Gene- rally speaking it cannot be called a naturally rich or productive district, though some spots are very fertile, the wheat produced is fine, and there are good meadow lands along the Avon and other streams. Still, most modern improvements in agriculture have been introduced, much has been done to overcome the natural disadvantages of the soil, and there are several model farms.. Honey and bacon are the chief contributions to the general stock of the country, and both are accounted excellent, but except those in the New Forest there are no peculiar breeds of cattle, &c. The population is most numerous in the southern portion of the county, but the comparatively small district contained within. the basin of the Thames will probably soon emulate it in this respect.
A glance at the Province thus delineated is sufficient to indi- cate its political and social significance. Resting on the sea as a basis, and extending to the great highway from the metropolis westward along the Valley of the Thames, it seems placed as if to watch over and exercise a most important influence equally on invasion from without and revolution within the island. Its out- lying fortalice, the Isle of Wight, is both 8 natural stepping- stone and outpost to invasion. It both invites and shelters against aggression from the opposite continent, and many must have been the tides of conquest which have burst and been broken upon it, besides those which have permanently deposited upon its soil new elements of national life.
So, again, with the mainland, which to the south presents tempt- ing avenues of access, covered by successive lines of lofty natural entrenchments or by broad belts of forest labyrinths ; while to the north its barrier of hills and its outlying valley seem alike to forbid aggression from its neighbours, and yet to provoke participation in and a balancing judgment on their mutual relations. Within these lines of defence and observation, and bounded also by hill- walls on all but its western accesses, extends the wide champaign at the south-west entrance of which is situated the old capital of South-Western England, and within whose limits are believed to have gathered some of the highest civilization of Keltic Britain .and the dominant element of Saxon England, before they spread their influences over the rest of the island.
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