PORTSEA, a parish, divided into the liberty part,
which is within the jurisdiction of the borough of
PORTSMOUTH, and the Guildable part, which is in the
hundred of PORTSDOWN, Portsdown division of the county
of SOUTHAMPTON, 17 miles (S. E.byE.) from Southampton,
and 7l (S. W.) from London, and containing
38,379 inhabitants. This place, which is now the principal
naval arsenal of Great Britain, takes its name
from the island of Portsea, to which, on the retiring of
the sea from the ancient Portchester, the inhabitants
removed, and at the mouth of the harbotir built the
town of Portsmouth, to which it was originally a small
suburb. The island is nearly sixteen miles in circumference,
and is bounded on the south by Spithead, on
the east by Langston harbour, on the west by Portsmouth
harbour, and on the north by a channel uniting
them, over which is a bridge, connecting it with the
main land. It abounds with a great variety of animal
and vegetable productions, but has nothing peculiar in
its geological formation. Widgeons, wild ducks, teal, and
curlew, are found in abundance; larks congregate in numerous
flocks, and the snow-bunting, the cross-bill, and
other scarce birds, are occasionally seen. More than
two hundred different species of insects have been collected
in the course of one summer, and a great variety
of shells is found on the beach. The town, which is situated
on the waste ground formerly called Portsmouth
common, has rapidly increased within the last century,
and its population is at present more than five times as
great as that of Portsmouth, though the houses were
originally permitted to be built on condition of their demolition
in the event of an enemy landing. It contains
many good and regularly-formed streets, several terraces,
crescents, and handsome ranges of respectable houses,
inhabited by the more opulent families connected with
Portsmouth, and has very extensive suburbs, chiefly
inhabited by artizans employed in the dock yards; it
is well paved, lighted with gas, by a company incorporated
by act of parliament in 1821, and amply supplied
with water by the Portsea Island water-works. The
Hampshire subscription library is well supported,'and
contains a valuable collection of volumes in the various
departments of literature.
The fortifications, which were begun in 1770, are
very complete, and are unrivalled for strength and
beauty: the lines extend from north to south, presenting
to the eastward several strong bastions and
outworks, crowned with batteries of heavy ordnance;
and the trenches, which are broad and deep, can be
instantaneously filled with water up to the bridges,
which connect it with Portsmouth, on the south. The
Royal Dock-yard occupies an area of one hundred and
fen acres, and comprises, on the grandest scale, and on
the most scientific principles, the numerous arrangements
for supplying the necessary equipments, and extensive
dep6ts of naval and military stores. The
entrance into the yard, which forms a town of itself, is
through a lofty handsome gateway; and among the numerous
buildings within the walls, the residence of the
commissioner is conspicuous for its stateliness; in the
centre of the building is a noble portico, and on each
side are the various offices connected with the establishment.
The great basin comprehends an area of
thirty-three thousand square yards, communicating with
four dry docks; and there is also a double dock for
frigates. Ships of the line may at any time enter from
the harbour into the dock-yard, where twelve men of
war can be fitted uji at the same time. The covered
building-docks are very capacious; the rope house is
of vast extent, being one thousand and ninety-four yards
long, and four stories high; on the lower, story, the
floor of which is laid with iron and tin, is the immense
machinery for making cables, of which some are thirty
inches in circumference; the three upper stories are
appropriated to the manufacture of twine and cordage.
The anchor forge is an immense building, in which anchors
weighing more than ninety hundred weight are
made for the navy. Near the forge are the copperfoundry,
and the admirable machinery for making
blocks, invented by Mr. Brunei, who for many years superintended
its operation: it is impelled by a steam-engine
of extraordinary power, and the various processes,
from the sawing of the wood to the completion of the
block, are conducted by the aid of machinery alone, with
a degree of precision and celerity difficult to describe.
The rigging and the mast houses are upon the largest
scale; and every department in this extensive and
ably-conducted establishment exhibits a combination
of skill, efficiency, and grandeur, in every respect characteristic
of the arsenal of a great maritime state.
The Dock chapel, appropriated to the officers of the
dock-yard, the crews of the ships in ordinary, and the
various classes of artizans, is a neat modern structure,
with a cupola, in which hangs the bell originally belonging
to the Royal George, which was sunk off Spithead.
The principal officers are, a commissioner, clerk of the
checque, storekeeper, master-wright, chaplain, surgeon,
and purveyor. During the war, nearly four thousand
men were employed.
Within the walls are the Royal Naval College,
founded, in 1720, for one hundred students in time of
war, and for seventy during peace; of these, thirty,
the sons of commissioned naval officers, pay £ 60 per
annum, for board, clothing, and education; and the
remainder, sons of noblemen, military, or civil officers,
pay £ 100 per annum; the term of continuance in
the college is two years, and no one can remain in
it more than three, at the end of which, if qualified,
the students are appointed midshipmen in the navy,
from which if they retire before the expiration of
the term requisite for obtaining a lieutenancy, a fine
of £200 is imposed on those of the first class, and of
£100 on those of the second. This institution is under
the superintendence of a governor, who is first lord of
the Admiralty, a lieutenant-governor, a post-captain,
and professor,' each of whom has a salary of £800
per annum, with apartments; four lieutenants, who
have each £250 per annum, with board and lodging;
a mathematical assistant, with a salary of £250;
two other assistants, with £200 per annum, who have
apartments rent-free; and French, drawing, and fencing
masters, who have each a salary of £100 per annum.
The buildings are extensive, and contain many
noble apartments; over them is an Observatory, in
which is a beautiful model of H. M. S. the Victory, of
one hundred guns, which was wrecked off the French
coast on her first voyage: a new Observatory has been
recently erected-over the central arch of the western
storehouses, commanding a view of the whole coast,
from the Needles to the coast of Sussex. A school of
naval architecture was projected, in 1809, by Mr. Robinson,
in the House of Commons, and, in 1816, incorporated
with the Naval College, in which provision is made
for the maintenance and education of twenty-four shipwrights
apprentices, who are required, previously to
their admission, to write English grammatically, to speak
French, and to be acquainted with the first six, and the
eleventh and twelfth, books of Euclid, and with quadratic
equations in Algebra. Their admission is dependent
on examination before the commissioners, the professor,
and the lieutenant-governor; they remain for seven
years in the establishment, and, at the expiration of that
term, they arej appointed to some situation in the Royal
Dock-yard: during their apprenticeship they are under
the superintendence of a professional shipwright, and
receive an annual salary, which increases gradually from
£25 to £60. The Gun wharf, without the dock-yard,
includes an area of fourteen acres, and consists of a
spacious building of brick, ornamented with stone, occupying
three sides of a quadrangle, with an arched entrance
in the centre of the fourth side, surmounted by a
lofty tower and cupola; it contains a vast number of
guns and gun-carriages, and an immense quantity of
ordnance stores; on the right of the entrance is the armoury,
containing twenty-five thousand stand of small
arms, arranged in the most exact order, a laboratory,
and an extensive ordnance department, with residences
for the principal officers; on the opposite side are the
offices of the Royal Engineers, with stores adjoining, and
a large dep6t of ammunition. The dock-yard has suffered
from several destructive fires, the last of which occurred
in 1776; the incendiary, John Aitkin, more commonly
known as Jack the Painter, was gibbeted on Block
House heath. No other trade is carried on except
what arises from, or is connected with, the dock-yard.
In that part of the parish called the Guildable is a
considerable number of market gardens, from which
the towns of Portsea and Portsmouth are principally
supplied with vegetables. The Portsmouth and Arun
canal passes through the town: it was opened in 1823,
and joins Langston harbour, across which barges are
towed by steam-boats constructed for the purpose. The
market days are Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That
part of the parish which is not within the limits of the
borough of Portsmouth, is within the jurisdiction of the
county magistrates.
The living is a vicarage, in the archdeaconry and
diocese of Winchester, rated in the king's books at
£12, and in the patronage of the Warden and Fellows
of Winchester College. The church, dedicated to St.
Mary, was erected in the reign of Edward III., and
is surrounded by one of the largest cemeteries in the
kingdom. St. George's church, a commodious brick
structure, was erected for the additional accommodation
of the increasing population in 1753; the living is
a perpetual curacy, endowed with £ 200 private benefaction,
and £900 parliamentary grant, and in the
patronage of the Vicar of Portsea. St. John's church, a
neat commodious edifice, of which the internal decorations
are extremely rich, was consecrated in 1789: the
living is a perpetual curacy, endowed with £ 800 parliamentary
grant, and in the patronage of the Vicar.
The church dedicated to St. Paul, in the suburb of
Southsea, was erected in 1822, at an expense of
£15,229. 18. 8., of which £600 was raised by subscription,
and the rest by grant from the parliamentary commissioners;
it is a handsome structure in the later
style of English architecture, with four turrets at the
angles, and contains one thousand eight hundred and
twenty-one sittings, of which nine hundred and three
are free; the living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage
of the Vicar. In this suburb is an excellent bathing
establishment, which has contributed greatly to
the attractions of Portsea, as a watering-place. The
church dedicated to All Saints, in the suburb of Mile-
End (including the Half-Way houses, Newtown, and
several spacious streets, forming an extensive district,
now called Southport), was erected, in 1827, by grant
from the parliamentary commissioners, at an expense
of £12,064, it is an elegant edifice, in the later style
of English architecture, with a splendid western front,
surmounted by a campanile turret, and contains one
thousand seven hundred and thirty-nine sittings, of
which one thousand one hundred and six are free; the
interior is neatly arranged, and over the altar is a window
of beautiful design. In Portsea and its suburbs are
six places of worship for Baptists, and one each for Independents
and Wesleyan Methodists. St. Paxil's school,
a commodious building, near the church of that name,
has been recently established by one hundred subscribers,
for the education of their children. The National school,
in which two hundred children are educated, is supported
partly by subscription, and with funds arising from various
benefactions. Mr. Edward Crafts bequeathed a house
and premises, in 1780, which produced £28 per annum,-
Mr. Richard Wilmot, in 1805, bequeathed £500; and
Major Ebenezer Vavasour, in 1808, left £100, towards
the support of this institution. A dispensary, .and an.
infirmary for diseases of the eye, are supported by
subscription. Thomas Fitzherbert, Esq., in 1821, left
£ 10,000 in the four per cents., in trust to the vicar and
ministers of the chapels, for the maintenance of five
aged men, ten aged widows, and five single women, of
this parish: there are also various charitable bequests
for distribution among the poor. The eastern part of
the island, not included in the boundaries of Portsmouth
and Portsea, is extra-parochial, and belongs chiefly to
government; in this part are numerous salt-works.