{"id":1993,"date":"2020-01-29T15:43:38","date_gmt":"2020-01-29T15:43:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/?p=1993"},"modified":"2021-03-30T13:31:50","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T13:31:50","slug":"portsmouth-the-five-minute-spare-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fiveminutesspare.com\/travel\/portsmouth-the-five-minute-spare-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Portsmouth: The Five Minute Spare Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

Portsmouth – The Island City<\/strong><\/p>\n

Much like Manhattan, the city of Portsmouth lies on an island all of its very own. A short 20 miles jaunt south and east of Southampton<\/a>. This island city was built on Portsea Island, in the English Channel. It has some special claims to fame. It is the only city with more people per foot in the UK than London, it is home to the oldest drydock in the world, and it was home to the first-ever mass-production system.<\/p>\n

If you have a bit of love for Portsmouth and you want to learn more then read on. Whether you are a resident of just visiting, this place has a lot of history worth familiarising yourself with\u2026 so why not join us for the Five Minutes Spare Guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Once Upon a Time in Portsmouth\u2026<\/h2>\n

It is reckoned that the Romans used this area all the way back in their 1st-century\u00a0invasions. They built a fort on the end of the channel, some four miles south of Portchester. The very name of Portsmouth comes from the Old English and means the safe place at the end of the estuary\u2026 or something like that.<\/p>\n

The Romans were here for a few hundred years until they retreated, leaving behind a fort that is recorded as in the hands of the Britons as of 501 AD. Not much is known of the early times, but it is speculated that the position of the fort led to be fruitful. A town grew up around it as people moved towards the protection. As happened throughout the rest of England, the Vikings then came and ransacked it.<\/p>\n

It was in the 8th<\/sup> century the Danes first arrived. They landed around the Portsmouth area and assaulted the fort, capturing it. They used this area as a base to then raid outwards to the nearest towns and cities. The king at the time sent an army who beat them back. They vanished for a hundred years or so, then returned with much the same tactic. This went on until Bannockburn. In the Domesday Book there is no mention of Portsmouth, although it does talk about two other towns that would have been in the same area.<\/p>\n

The Vikings basically sacked the place so much that everyone moved away. At some time back then the town\u2019s nickname was acquired. It is sometimes called Pompey. It is thought that this comes from the abbreviations commonly used to describe Portsmouth Point. It is thought this is used on Navigational Charts so often that it caught on inland. It is also the name of a French canon ship that was captured at the turn of the 18th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

Portsmouth In the Dark Ages<\/h2>\n

Portsmouth was officially founded in 1190 by the same merchant who owned land in Normandy. He founded a little town on the corner of Portsea island and assumed it was all his idea. Evidently, this is how long it takes for humans to remember why something was a bad idea.<\/p>\n

He wanted the area because it was a great place for a port, so he built one. In 1188 the settlement had grown so much that it needed its own church; which would later develop into Portsmouth Cathedral<\/a>! This building isn\u2019t just still in use today \u2013 it is the mother church of the Diocese and one of Portsmouth\u2019s best attractions.<\/p>\n

That little town started in the 12th<\/sup> century was then attacked repeatedly by the French. Although one of Britain\u2019s most important ports of the times, it is though the population was somewhere just over a thousand folk. In 1418 the town leaders built a tower in the harbour, designed to defend the entrance. It was built to house two cannon that would watch for any more Frenchmen.<\/p>\n

The plot thickened in 1450. A Bishop had arrived in town to pay the sailors but did not bring all of what he owed them. They dragged him into the street and stabbed him. Until 1508 the whole town was not allowed to hold any religious sacraments as punishment. It would have been considered a devil\u2019s town in those days. So if you live in Portsmouth there is a high chance you are unholy\u2026<\/p>\n

In 1497 the drydock produced its first warship, the Sweepstake, proving the French were right to keep attacking it and some 40 years later Southsea Castle was built after Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries. He expanded the town and there is a sad story about him watching his flagship sink from the towers there.<\/p>\n

The Plague in Portsmouth<\/h2>\n

The bubonic plague came to ever port city in Britain and Portsmouth was no exception. There is a record of 300 people out of a 2000 population in 1563. Although the population density was not what it was now back then, the town still suffered from various outbreaks.<\/p>\n

In early years a Domus Dei had been opened in Portsmouth. This was the place where lepers would be kept, outside of town and isolated. Now every port town in England claims to be the entry point for the black plague in 1348, but Portsmouth is one of the furthest south points and has as likely a claim as any. Clergy records of the time tell us that some fifty percent of the church was killed.<\/p>\n

It is thought that Portsmouth Domus Dei<\/a> was infected by plague carriers making their way from Portsea to Winchester or Canterbury, and vice-versa. The disease spread to the port. In the 1563 outbreak of plague, Henry VIII had already closed the Domus Dei. Yet the plague came again.<\/p>\n

Cholera Strikes<\/h3>\n

In 1849 the town was similarly affected by a cholera<\/a> outbreak. The church reported around 800 people buried. As with the earlier plague outbreaks, more un-consecrated space had to be taken to bury people in. The church was not allowed to extend their graveyard as it would have taken up the market space.<\/p>\n

Part of the reason for all these outbreaks might have been in the morbid way they treated criminals. In 1628 on of the King\u2019s closest men was assassinated in a house in Portsmouth. Not only was the perpetrator caught and hanged, but he was also left to decompose in his chains as a warning to obey. Later, when the 1642 civil war broke out, the town surprisingly sided with the king. It had been placed under a military leader and was a garrisoned port.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the guns at Southsea castle were turned on the town and the military leader was forced to surrender. Later, Charles II would be married in the town. In 1667 it became one of the most fortified towns in Europe as the monarchy finally recognised the importance of its location.<\/p>\n

Famous Folk from Portsmouth<\/h2>\n

Let\u2019s break up all this lovely history by discussing some of the claims to fame found in this seaside city. There have been hundreds of famous people born in Portsmouth over the years \u2013 not to mention those that have been immortalised through assassination. Some of our favourite famous folk from Portsmouth include:<\/p>\n