History Of Portsmouth

Portsmouth is commonly regarded as having beenpermanent fortification in Portsmouth. He ordered a
founded in 1180 by John of Gisors, although there hadwooden Round tower to be built at the mouth of the
been settlements in the area since before Romanharbour, this was finished in 1426.
times, mostly being offshoots of Portchester. John ofIt was not until Henry VIII that defence was seriously
Gisors purchased the manor of Buckland, whilst thedelt with. He ordered the round tower to be rebuilt of
protected harbour gave safe haven to his merchantstone and a square tower built. At this time building
ships and an ideal location to trade with Normandy.also commenced on the first dry dock in the country. In
In 1194, King Richard I returned from being held captive1527 with money from the dissolution of the
by Duke Leopold V of Austria and set aboutmonasteries Henry VIII built the fort of Southsea
summoning a fleet and an army to Portsmouth, whichCastle.
he had taken over from John of Gisors.In 1545, Henry VIII saw his flagship Maryrose founder
On May 2 1194, King Richard I gave Portsmouth its firstoff Southsea Castle whilst going into action against the
Royal Charter granting permission to hold an annualFrench Fleet, with the loss of over 500 lives.
fifteen day market and exemption from paying theIn the 18th century regular wars, principally with the
annual tax of £18 a year that could now be spentFrench, meant the dockyard flourished. Homes were
on local matters.built outside the town walls in Portsea to house the
In 1200 another Charter was issued by King John,growing population. Trade in Portsmouth quickly
reaffirming the rights and privileges awarded by Kingincreased and with it the cities prosperity.
Richard. Portsmouth was established as a permanentAt the beginning of the 19th century Portsmouth and
naval base as a result of King John's desire to invadePortsea became increasingly overcrowded and
Normandy. 1212 saw the start of construction on thehousing spread across more of the island including the
first docks in Portsmouth.more fashionable suburbs of Southsea in the south.
During the 13th century Portsmouth was commonlyIn 1805 Admiral Lord Nelson left Portsmouth for the
used by Henry III and Edward I as a base for attacksfinal time to command the fleet that would defeat the
on France.larger Franco - Spanish fleet at Trafalgar. From 1808
In the 14th Century Portsmouth was invaded by thethe Royal Navy's West African Squadron operated
French four times. The first in 1338 when they sailedout of Portsmouth as they were tasked with stopping
into the docks under English flags, no one noticing until itthe slave trade.
was to late. Ten years later the city was struck by theAs always, the presence of the dockyard made
plague known as Black Death. The French thenPortsmouth a prime target for attack and in 1916 the
sacked the city in 1369,1377 and 1380 to prevent itcity experienced its first aerial bombardment when a
recovering.zeppelin airship bombed it during World War 1.
In 1418, Henry V was the first king to decide to build a