Fascinating facts about Hampshire .....

We've bought together some of the fascinating facts about the county of Hampshire, one of the largest English counties (9th by size area). Set mid-way along the south coast of the UK, it is home to ancient forests, rolling chalk downs, cities, steeped in history and beautiful countryside. Winchester, set in the centre of the county, is just an hour on the train from England's capital city of London, so makes a perfect place to be based to explore Hampshire.

Hampshire, which covers an area of 1,420 square miles .........

  • Has 5,500 miles of roads

  • Has 240 miles of coastline

  • Has 2 National Parks - the New Forest National Park and the South Downs National Park. These cover 45% of the county

  • Has 4,000 miles of footways and cycle ways

  • Has 2,000 bridges

  • Operates 465 county council managed schools

  • Has 11 Districts or Boroughs

  • Has 96,000 businesses based here

  • A population of 1.4 million people

  • Has 3 cities - Portsmouth, Southampton and Winchester

  • Welcomes over 11,000,000 people to the city of Portsmouth each year

  • Has a high point of just 286 metres above sea level

  • Is home to 2 of the most famous chalk streams in the world - the River Itchen and the River Test. There are only 200 chalk streams in the whole world!

  • Currently (2023) has only one football team in the Premiere League - Southampton FC, based at St. Mary's Stadium. Portsmouth FC, based at Fratton Park are currently in Division 1

  • Will welcome an anticipated 250,000 people arriving on 63 cruise ships in to Portsmouth in 2023

  • played host to the wedding of Henry IV who was married in Wolvesey Palace in Winchester in 1403

  • An amazing history, including being the place that the Spitfire plane was designed and built and first flown on 5th March 1936

  • Is home to Hendog; a mysterious street artist who paints under the cover of darkness

  • Plays hosts to many festivals throughout the year including Boomtown music festival, the Southampton Lantern Festival and Victorious music festival in Portsmouth

  • Has a highest point of 286 metres (938 feet). Pilot Hill lies around 2 miles (3.2 km) to the south-east of Walbury Hill, the county top of Berkshire, which is 297 m (974 ft) high.

Hampshire has 11 boroughs / districts:

Borough of Havant / Borough of Gosport / Borough of Rushmoor / Borough of Basingstoke and Deane / Borough of Eastleigh / New Forest District / Borough of Fareham / Borough of Test Valley / East Hampshire District / Winchester District / Hart District

If you've some interesting facts about Hampshire which we could add to this blog, we would love to hear from you on hello@experiencehampshire.uk

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