Portsmouth Harbour 1782

The artist Dominic Serres painted the scene at Portsmouth Harbour in 1782 as HMS Foudroyant and Pegase come into the harbour after their battle in the English Channel.

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Building the Mary Rose

The Mary Rose

The Mary Rose was built in the great dock in Portsmouth that King Henry VII had constructed. She was King Henry VIII’s flagship until that fateful day in July 1545 when she heeled over and sank quickly in sight of her King

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Cowdray Engravings of Portsmouth

The Cowdray Engravings

The Cowdray Engravings reveal great detail of King Henry VIII’s French campaign and the sinking of the Mary Rose but it is the work done by a team from the Geography department of the University of Portsmouth that has revealed even more

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The Port of Portsmouth Hampshire

Hampshire history Portsmouth harbour

Why did Portsmouth become the home of England’s Royal Navy, it had an inauspicious start as a swampy disease ridden island but it grew into an important first line defence against French invasions

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Landport Gate and Area 1760

The iconic Landport Gate in Portsmouth This gate maybe attributed to a design by Nicholas Hawksmoor, it is the Landport gate that formed part of the old Portsmouth defences. Thae “Land Port” gate still stands as the gateway to the dockyard and it was named thus and then attributed to the surrounding area around 1831,…

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Samuel Pepys and the Commissioner of The Dockyard Portsmouth 1665

Portsmouth Hampshire

This snippet relates to correspondence written by Thomas Middleton in 1665 (the time Of Newton) regarding the lack of seamen to man the ships in Portsmouth, as with many correspondents throughout the ages Mr Middleton appeared to actively dislike Portsmouth… “For my part to you as a frinde I declayre I intend not to make…

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Fort Cumberland Bombed 1940

Fort Cumberland has stood sentinel at the entrance to Langstone Harbour for 150 years but in 1940 it was heavily bombed. A fascinating map showing the exact location of the dropped bombs shows the extent of the German attack on this fortification.

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Royal Garrison Church Portsmouth

The Royal Garrison Church in Portsmouth is the oldest garrison church in the world but it started life as the ‘Domus Dei’, a place of respite for those on pilgrimage and a hospital for the local old and needy.

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