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About Portsmouth
Portsmouth is a city of about 186,000
located in the county of Hampshire on the southern
coast of England. A significant naval port for centuries,
previously the world's largest naval base and home
to many famous ships, Portsmouth has declined in recent
years but remains a major dockyard and base for the
Royal Navy. Its telephone area code is (023), and
was previously (01705), and before that (0705). The
origin of the name Portsmouth is a matter of some
dispute, popular legend holds that it comes from being
the "mouth of the port" (the port originally
being that at Portchester, previously known as Portus
Adurni). The other main suggestion is that the name
came from a chieftain with the name Port (not an uncommon
old English name) with the Saxon word mutha. 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. The actual physical charter was
handed over by the Bishop of Ely William de Longchamps.
The present location of the charter is currently unknown
but its text survives, as when later royal charters
were granted to the city reaffirming and extending
its privileges large parts of the original charter
were quoted verbatim. As a crescent and an eight-point
star (as appear on the city coat of arms) were to
be found on both the seals of King Richard and William
de Longchamps it is commonly thought that this may
have been the source of them, although there is no
known documentary evidence for this. 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. King John's desire to invade Normandy resulted
in the establishment of Portsmouth as a permanent
naval base. In 1212 William of Wrotham (Archdeacon
of Taunton, Keeper of the King's Ships) started constructing
the first docks of Portsmouth. At about the same time
Pierre des Roches (Bishop of Winchester) founded Domus
Dei (Hospital of St Nicholas) which performed its
duties as an almshouse and hospice until 1540 when
like other religious buildings it was seized by King
Henry VIII). During the thirteenth century Portsmouth
was commonly used by King Henry III and Edward I as
a base for attacks against France. By the fourteenth
century commercial interests had grown considerably,
despite rivalry with the dockyard of nearby Southampton.
Common imports included wool, grain, wheat, woad,
wax and iron, however the ports largest trade was
in wine from Bayonne and Bordeaux.
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Limited are authorised and regulated by the Financial
Services Authority (FSA). The FSA does not regulate
some forms of Mortgage, Inheritance Tax Planning,
Credit Cards, Personal Loans, Deposit Accounts
& Insurance. If you are submitting an online
request, we would advise to read our KeyFacts
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