19 Facts About Hampshire

1.

Hampshire is a county in South East England on the coast of the English Channel, bordering Dorset to the south-west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east and West Sussex to the south east.

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2.

Hampshire is one of the most affluent counties in the country, with an unemployment rate lower than the national average.

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3.

Hampshire is the childhood home of Florence Nightingale and the birthplace of engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel.

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4.

Hampshire has few monuments to show from those early periods, although nearby Stonehenge was built in several phases at some time between 3100 and 2200 BCE.

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5.

Romans invaded Britain again in 43 CE and Hampshire was incorporated into the Roman province of Britannia very quickly.

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6.

Around this period, the administrative region of "Hampshire" seems to appear - the name is attested as Hamwic and "Hamtunscir" in 755 AD - and suggests that control over the Solent was the motivating factor for establishment of the settlement.

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7.

Hampshire played a crucial role in both World Wars due to the large Royal Navy naval base at Portsmouth, the army camp at Aldershot, and the military Netley Hospital on Southampton Water, as well as its proximity to the army training ranges on Salisbury Plain and the Isle of Purbeck.

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8.

Hampshire is bordered by Dorset to the west, Wiltshire to the north-west, Berkshire to the north, Surrey to the north-east, and West Sussex to the east.

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9.

Hampshire contains all its green belt in the New Forest district, in the southwest of the county, from the boundary with Dorset along the coastline to Lymington and northwards to Ringwood.

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10.

Hampshire contains two national parks; the New Forest is wholly within the county, and the South Downs National Park embraces parts of Hampshire, West Sussex and East Sussex; they are each overseen by a national park authority.

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11.

Hampshire has a milder climate than most areas of the British Isles, being in the far south with the climate stabilising effect of the sea, but protected against the more extreme weather of the Atlantic coast.

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12.

Hampshire has a higher average annual temperature than the UK average at 9.

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13.

Smaller parts of Hampshire are covered by the dioceses of Portsmouth, Guildford and Oxford.

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14.

Hampshire has its own County Youth Council and is an independent youth-run organisation.

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15.

Hampshire has a considerably higher than national average employment in high-tech industries, but average levels in knowledge-based industry.

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16.

Many rural areas of Hampshire have traditionally been reliant on agriculture, particularly dairy farming, although the significance of agriculture as a rural employer and rural wealth creator has declined since the first half of the 20th century and agriculture currently employs 1.

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17.

Hampshire formerly had several canals, but most of these have been abandoned and their routes built over.

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18.

Geographically inside the Hampshire LEA are 24 independent schools, Southampton has three and Portsmouth has four.

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19.

New Forest and Hampshire County Show takes place annually at the end of July; 2020 will mark its centenary.

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