HAMPSHIRE, or, as it is sometimes called, the county of Southampton, or of Hants, a shire of England, on the British Channel. It is bounded on the east by Surrey and Sussex, on the north by Berkshire, on the west by Wiltshire and Dorsetshire, and on the south by the sea. Its extreme length is fifty-five miles, but, owing to a projection at its south-west extremity, its mean length is not more than forty-four miles, and its breadth thirty-nine miles. Its area, including the Isle of Wight, which is at the extreme points twenty-three miles long and thirteen broad, is 1645 square miles, or 1,052,800 statute acres.

The whole population amounted in 1801 to 219,656, in 1811 to 245,080, in 1821 to 283,208, and in 1831 to 314,700. It appears, by the registers of burials, that the deaths between 1801 and 1811, were one in forty-six of the whole number of inhabitants, that from 1811 to 1821 they were one in fifty-four, and from 1821 to 1831, notwithstanding an increase of mortality by the cholera, they were only one in fifty-six; thus a great and regular increase of the longevity of the population has become apparent. The occupations, at the last census, were as follow: Occupiers of land employing labourers, 2774; occupiers of land not employing labourers, 1234; labourers employed in agriculture, 24,675; persons employed in manufactures, 292; employed in retail trade or handicraft, 23,164; capitalists, bankers, and others, 3784; labourers not agricultural, 10,348; other males twenty years of age, 10,348; male servants, 3295; female servants, 12,724.

As a whole, few counties in England are superior to this, or have a less proportion of uncultivated land. But at the western extremity, bordering on Dorsetshire, a small por- ' tion of sandy heath is scarcely productive of any thing but pasture for sheep, or honey. A considerable tract, extending from Winchester to the northern extremity of the county, is down land, principally used for sheep-pasture, but, when brought under the plough, is very fertile in barley, turnips, clover, and sainfoin. Another portion is forest land, including the New Forest of about 92,000 acres, but within whose boundary a great part of the land is highly cultivated, and very fertile. The abundance of timber trees of large dimensions, the open glades between, and the variety of foliage, as well of the trees as of the underwood, render the scenery of the district highly delightful. The oaks are the principal beauty of this 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, by being well adapted to be used as knees for 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 forests are Alice, Holt, and Woolmer, extending over about 15,500 acres, of which nearly one half belongs to the crown, and affords excellent oak timber; and Bere Forest, of 16,000 acres, whose timber has been much neglected. In these forests there are abundance of deer belonging to the crown, some of which are annually killed, and distributed, according to ancient prescription, to the various officers of the government and the royal household. The greater part of the county is enclosed, and even the down lands are so in a great measure.

The principal rivers are the Itchen, which forms a part of the estuary of Southampton Water; the Avon, which falls into the sea at Christchurch Bay; the Boldre, which empties itself at Lymington. The Anton, which falls into the Tees, receives many small brooks before it reaches Southampton, where it is lost in that arm of the sea. The canals of the county are but two. The Bassingstoke was begun in 1778, to communicate between that town and London. It is thirty-seven miles in length, and terminates near Guildford, in the river Wey, which falls into the Thames. It passes through a tunnel, near three quarters of a mile in length, under Grewell Hill, near Odiham. This canal was not completed till 1794⅛ when it had cost L.100,000; and the tolls are not yet sufficient to pay the interest. The Andover Canal was begun in 1789 at that town, and terminates at Redbridge; and is useful to con ∙ vey coals and other heavy commodities to the centre of the county.

The soil of this county 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 fed on 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 sixteen bushels of wheat, twenty-two of barley, and twenty-four of oats to the acre. The, ploughing is almost universally performed by horses, which are of a very excellent race. 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. It is [7:11:129]laid down with much care in extirpating all weeds, and every other description of grasses, and 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 laid up, and in six or eight weeks it is fit to be mowed, and yields most abundant quantities 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 is equal in flavour to those in the adjoining villages of that country near Farnham.

The original race of Hampshire sheep were white faced, with horns; but these have been so often crossed with other races, that few of an unmixed breed are left. Most of the flocks now are of the Southdown kind; they are found to be more beneficial, both on account of the superior quality of their wool, and the tendency to fatten with a 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 they are fed on acorns and beech-mast; and those so fattened are considered as the best, either as pickled pork, or when converted into bacon. The average weight of these animals, when deemed fit for slaughter, is abóut 440 or 450 pounds, but many of them weigh 800 pounds.

The manufactures of this county are neither numerous nor extensive, except those carried on at Portsmouth, for warlike purposes. Besides the ship-building in the royal yard, there are many vessels, both for war and trade, built on the river Itchen at Buckler’s Hard, on the river Boldre, and on the banks of Southampton Water. The manufacturing of their 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, which, as coals, the only fuel, are dear, makes the whole expensive, and prevents the proprietors from competing with the northern manufacturers of salt.

The foreign commerce of the county is inconsiderable. Many merchant ships repair to Portsmouth with stores for the naval arsenal; and, in time of war, many prizes are carried thither for sale, which creates some extensive trade. Southampton 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. At Christ-church there are a few vessels fitted for the Newfoundland fishery.

The most populous town in the county is Portsmouth, which, with its adjuncts, Portsea and Gosport, with the adjacent villages, contains between fifty and sixty thousand inhabitants. The far greater part of these are the families of officers of the navy, army, and marines, and of the arsenal, with the various artificers.

The harbour of Portsmouth is perhaps one of the best in the world. Its entrance is narrow, and therefore easily defended. The approach to that entrance is defended by batteries, that can rake any ship before it reaches the fire of the castles, at the two narrowest points. The depth of water is sufficient for the largest ships, and the interior spreads out into an extensive basin of still water, in which there is room for all the British fleet to anchor. The system of building no ships of war in private yards has much increased the number of artificers of every description. The mast-making, anchor-making, cable-making, and particularly the making of blocks, are all conducted within the. walls of the arsenal, which, as a whole, is a most astonishing combination of vast powers simply and economically directed to naval purposes. The gun-wharf, victualling office, the king’s mill, and many other public buildings, merit rather a detailed description than such brief notices as our limits allow. One of the finest objects depending on the naval establishment is the hospital for sick and wounded seamen at Haslar. It is 567 feet in length. It is divided into 100 wards, each sixty feet long and twenty-four broad, calculated to receive twenty patients, with apartments adjoining for nurses and attendants.

Southampton is celebrated for the beauty of its environs, the elegance of the streets and buildings, and the purity and salubrity of its air; and it is much frequented for salt-water bathing, as well as on account of a chalybeate spring of considerable repute. In the'summer season it is a place of fashionable resort to those who wish to enjoy rides amongst the pleasing scenery of the New Forest.

Winchester, a city of ancient date, has fallen into decay, and now depends on its being the county town, the see of the bishop of an extensive diocese, the station of his courts, and a collegiate place, in which many youths of the first families in the kingdom receive their classical education. The cathedral and the castle are venerable piles of antiquity, though the former was much damaged and the latter blown up by the soldiers of Cromwell, after his capture of the city.

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 of these 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 country has attracted to it a greater number of families of rank and fortune than almost any other county can enumerate, the bare list of which would fill a page.
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The most considerable towns, with their population, according to the census of 1831, were,
[table]

By the law 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 northern division contains about 2400 voters. The place of election is Winchester, and the other polling places are, Alton, Andover, Basingstoke, Kingsclere, Droxford, Odiham, and Petersfield. The southern division has about 3150 voters; the election is held at Southampton, and the other polling places are Farcham, Lymington, Ringwood, and Romsey. By the same law the boroughs of Whitchurch, Stockbridge, Yarmouth, and Newton have been disfranchised, and the boroughs of Petersfield and Chrlst-church, which used to elect two members, now choose only one each. The towns which now return two members each are, Winchester, Southampton, Andover, Lymington, Newport, and Portsmouth, with which has been incorporated the adjacent large town of Portsea.

See Brayley and Britton’s Beauties of England and Wales ; Driver’s Exports to the Board of Agriculture ,∙ Milner’s Winchester ; Hampshire Pepository ; Warner’s Walks through Southampton ; Worsley’s Isle of Wight.