Portsmouth (Virginia) - History, Economy, Geography, Education, Government, Shopping, Sport, Tourist Attractions, Places of worship, Future developments, Town twinning

36°50N 76°18W, pop (2000e) 100 600. Port and independent city, SE Virginia, USA, on the Elizabeth R; founded, 1752; a base for British and then Revolutionary troops during the War of Independence; evacuated and burned by Union troops during the Civil War (1861), then retaken (1862); part of a US naval complex; railway; shipbuilding (the Chesapeake and the ironclad Merrimack were built here), railway engineering, fishing; trade in tobacco and cotton.

City of Portsmouth
Geography
Status:	Unitary, City (1926)
Region:	South East England
Ceremonial County:	Hampshire
Area: - Total	Ranked 319th 40.25 km²
Admin. HQ:	Portsmouth
ONS code:	00MR
Demographics
Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density	Ranked 75th 189,600 4,711 / km²
Ethnicity:	93.7% White 4.5% S.Asian
Politics
Portsmouth City Council http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/
Leadership:	Leader & Cabinet
Executive:	Liberal Democrats
MPs:	Mike Hancock, Sarah McCarthy-Fry

For other places with the same name, see Portsmouth (disambiguation).

Portsmouth is a city of about 189,000 people located in the county of Hampshire on the southern coast of England.

Portsmouth has declined as a military port in recent years but remains a major dockyard and base for the Royal Navy.

The Portsmouth Urban Area covers an area with a population well over twice that of the city of Portsmouth itself, and includes Southsea, Fareham, Portchester, Gosport, Havant (which includes the large suburb Leigh Park), Lee-on-the-Solent, Stubbington and Waterlooville.

History

Early history of the area

Although there have been settlements in the area since before Roman times, mostly being offshoots of Portchester, Portsmouth is commonly regarded as having been founded in 1180 by John of Gisors (Jean de Gisors).

In the Domesday survey there is no mention of Portsmouth.

While in the primary diocese of Portsea there was a small church prior to 1166 (now St Mary's in Fratton) Portsmouth's first real church came into being in 1181 when John of Gisors granted an acre (4,000 m²) of land to Augustinian monks at the Southwick Priory to build a chapel dedicated to Thomas Becket.

Growth of the city

In 1194, after King Richard I (the Lionheart) returned from being held captive by Duke Leopold V of Austria, Richard set about summoning a fleet and an army to Portsmouth, which Richard had taken over from John of Gisors. On May 2, 1194 King Richard I gave Portsmouth its first Royal Charter granting permission for the city to hold a fifteen day annual fair (which became known as the Free Market Fair), weekly markets (on Thursdays), to set up a local court to deal with minor matters, and exemption from paying the annual tax ("farm") of £18 a year--instead the money would be used for local matters.

King Richard later went on to build a number of houses and a hall in Portsmouth, the hall is thought to have been at the current location of the Clarence Barracks (the area was previously known as Kingshall Green).

In 1200 King John issued another charter to Portsmouth reaffirming the rights and privileges awarded by King Richard.

In 1212 William of Wrotham (Archdeacon of Taunton, Keeper of the King's Ships) started constructing the first docks of Portsmouth.

During the thirteenth century Portsmouth was commonly used by King Henry III and Edward I as a base for attacks against France.

War with France

In 1338 a French fleet led by Nicholas Behuchet arrived at Portsmouth docks flying English flags before anyone realised that they were a hostile force.

King Henry V was the first king to decide to build permanent fortification in Portsmouth.

Over the years Portsmouth's fortification was increased by numerous monarchs including King Henry VII and Queen Elizabeth I, although most of these have now been converted into tourist attractions.

On December 21, 1872 a major scientific expedition, the Challenger expedition, was launched from Portsmouth.

20th century

In 1904 the boundaries of Portsmouth were extended to finally include the whole of Portsea Island.

Southsea beach and Portsmouth Harbour were military embarkation points for the D-Day landings on June 6th 1944.

21st century

In 2003, erection was started of a 170 metre high Spinnaker Tower sited at Portsmouth Harbour, and celebrating the city's maritime tradition.

In 2005, Portsmouth was a focus for Sea Britain, a series of events to mark the 200th anniversary (bicentenary) of Lord Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Portsmouth at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value Added	Agriculture	Industry	Services
1995	2,023	-	496	1,528
2000	2,750	-	658	2,092
2003	3,362	-	705	2,657

^ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding ^ includes hunting and forestry ^ includes energy and construction ^ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Geography

Most of the city of Portsmouth lies on Portsea Island, located where the Solent joins the English Channel.

The city includes the following districts on the island:

Baffins Buckland Copnor Eastney Fratton Hilsea Kingston Landport Milton North End Old Portsmouth Portsea Rudmore Somerstown Southsea Stamshaw Tipner

And these districts on the mainland:

Cosham Drayton Farlington Paulsgrove Widley (a small part of) Wymering

Education

Higher and further education

The city has one university, the University of Portsmouth (previously Portsmouth Polytechnic), but several local colleges also have the power to award HNDs.

Local further education colleges include Highbury College, the largest, which specializes in vocational education and Portsmouth College, which offers a mixture of academic and vocational courses in the city.

Secondary education

Local secondary schools are Admiral Lord Nelson School, City of Portsmouth Girls' School, King Richard School, Mayfield School, Milton Cross School, Priory School, Springfield School, St Edmund's RC School, St Luke's CofE VA Secondary School and City of Portsmouth Boys' School.

Independent schools include the Portsmouth Grammar School, Mayville High School, Portsmouth High School and St John's College.

Government

The city is administered by Portsmouth City Council, which is currently a unitary authority.

When commercial radio stations were originally being licenced in the 1970s by the IBA, Radio Victory was the radio service for Portsmouth, however in 1986 it was replaced by Ocean FM.

Shopping

In the last decade the number of shops in Portsmouth has grown dramatically due to both the buoyancy of the local economy and improved transport links.

Portsmouth is considered by some to be a clone town, particularly the town centre.

Sport

The city is home to Portsmouth F.C., who play their home games at Fratton Park.

Tourist Attractions

Most of Portsmouth's tourist attractions are related to its naval history.

Places of worship

Portsmouth is almost unique among British cities in having two cathedrals; Portsmouth's stations are (in order, out of the city): Portsmouth Harbour, Portsmouth &

Portsmouth Harbour has passenger ferry links to Gosport and the Isle of Wight. Dorset and Stagecoach serving the City of Portsmouth and the surroundings of Havant, Leigh Park, Waterlooville, Fareham and long distance service 700 to Chichester, Worthing and Brighton

There are three road links to the mainland.

Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port has links to Caen, Cherbourg-Octeville, St Malo and Le Havre in France, Bilbao in Spain and the Channel Islands.

The telephone area code for Portsmouth is 023 followed by an eight digit number (usually beginning with 92), and was previously (01705), and before that (0705).

Future developments

Development at Gunwharf Quays will continue until 2007 with the completion of Portsmouths tallest building at 29 storeys East Side Plaza.

Portsmouth's regeneration is being continued in the city centre with the controversial demolition of the Tricorn Centre, a long abandoned shopping mall and car park, described as a "concrete monstrosity".

The rebuilding of Fratton Park, home to Portsmouth Football Club is set to hold 35,000 fans. 1194 - Portsmouth awarded its Royal Charter 1212 - Establishment of docks. 1805 - Nelson's fleet sails from Portsmouth for the battle Trafalgar 1806 - Birth of Isambard Kingdom Brunel in Portsmouth. 1861 - Clarence Pier built 1872 - Challenger expedition launched from Portsmouth 1890 - Portsmouth Town Hall built.

Famous residents

Admiral George Anson Sir Francis Austen (Brother of Jane Austen) Henry Ayres (former premier of Australia) Walter Besant was born in Portsmouth Roger Black (Olympic medalist) was born in Portsmouth Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Portsmouth James Callaghan (former British prime minister) was born in Portsmouth Charles Dickens was born in Portsmouth Arthur Conan Doyle Helen Duncan (last woman charged with witchcraft in the UK) Michael East (Commonwealth Games gold medal winning athlete) Rob Hayles (Olympic Games medal winner, cycling) Simon Heartfield, Techno musician with many releases under his belt Ian Hicks, aka hardcore artist DJ Hixxy Christopher Hitchens author, journalist and literary critic was born in Portsmouth Roger Hodgson of Supertramp was born in Portsmouth Brian Howe (vocalist Bad Company) was born in Portsmouth Joe Jackson Paul Jones (vocalist Manfred Mann) Dillie Keane (songwriter, entertainer, founder Fascinating Aida), was born in Portsmouth Rudyard Kipling Michelle Magorian Author (Goodnight Mr Tom) Roland Orzabal Musician Tears for Fears Alan Pascoe (Olympic medalist) was born in Portsmouth John Pounds Creator of the ragged schools Peter Sellers, comedian, actor, and performer was born in Southsea Alison Shaw (vocals, bass) and Jim Shaw (guitar) of the band Cranes Nevil Shute (also known as Nevil Shute Norway) David Wells (Psychic) of Most Haunted HG Wells Author, lived in Portsmouth during the 1880s. was born in Portsmouth Sir Arthur Young, policeman and police reformer

Population

Year	Number of houses	Population	Source
1560		1000 (est)	Portsmouth: a history by Patterson
1801	5310	32,160	1801 census
1811	6852	40,567	1811 census
1821	8627	45,048	1821 census
1831	9410	50,389	1831 census
1841	9886	53,032	1841 census
1851	12,825	72,096	1851 census
1861	15,819	94,799	1861 census
1871	19,013	112,954	1871 census
1881	22,701	127,989	1881 census
1891	29,353	159,251	1891 census
1901	36,368	188,133	1901 census
1911		231,165	1911 census
1921		247,343	1921 census
1931		249,300	1931 census
1951		233,545	1951 census
1961	68,618	215,077	1961 census
1971		197,431	1971 census
1981		175,382	1981 census
1991		177,142	1991 census
2001		186,700 (est)	2001 census (preliminary report)

Town twinning

Duisburg Caen

Sister links

Haifa Maizuru Portsmouth, Virginia Sydney

Friendship links

Lakewood, Colorado Portsmouth, New Hampshire Zha Lai Te Qi

Sport

List of all Southern Rowing Clubs University of Portsmouth Rowing Club - UPRC Southsea Rowing Club Portsmouth Football Club Information site on Portsmouth FC

History

Timeline http://homepage.ntlworld.com/stephen.pomeroy/local/local.htm http://www.portsdown.demon.co.uk/ http://www.portsmouth.history.cwc.net/ http://www.envf.port.ac.uk/geo/research/portsmouth/ http://www.palmerstonforts.org.uk/

Media

107.4 The Quay - local radio station The News - local newspaper BBC Hampshire PURE:FM - local student-orientated radio station

Museums

http://www.maryrose.org/ http://www.flagship.org.uk/ http://www.portsmouthnaturalhistory.co.uk/ http://www.portsmouthcitymuseums.co.uk/ http://www.southseacastle.co.uk/ http://www.charlesdickensbirthplace.co.uk/ http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/

Transport

First Hampshire buses Stagecoach South SWT train services from Portsmouth Southern train services from Portsmouth First Great Western services from Portsmouth Wightlink Portsmouth - Isle of Wight ferry services Brittany Ferries to Caen, Cherbourg and St Malo from Portsmouth LD Lines ferry services to Le Havre P&O Ferries service to Bilbao Condor Ferries service to the Channel Islands Acciona Trasmediterranea service to Bilbao Multimap

Webcams

Overlooking harbour View from Portsmouth college M275 Traffic Cam

Places of worship

Portsmouth Anglican Diocese (Church of England) Portsmouth Catholic Diocese Eastney Church King's Church St Jude's Church St Mary's Church St Simon's Church Victory Church Cosham Baptist Church Churches Together in Hampshire

Coordinates: 50°49′N 1°05′W