Southampton

Southampton, county district (1991 pop. 194,400), Hampshire, S England, at the head of Southampton Water. Southampton is Britain's second largest port. The London-Southampton railway, finished in 1840, and the double tide of the harbor made Southampton an important shipbuilding, trade, and tourist port. It was then England's main ocean liner port. In 1951, a major oil tanker terminal and refinery were built on the western shore, and North Sea oil became a primary economic focus in 1978. There are several major manufactures, including automobiles and aircraft. Cables, electrical engineering products, and petrochemicals are also produced. Southampton is the site of the Roman Clausentum and of the Saxon Hamtune or Suth-Hamtun. Remains of the ancient town walls and reworked Norman structures may be seen. The Crusaders under Richard I, Henry V on his expedition to France (1415), and the Pilgrims all embarked from Southampton. Until the discovery (16th cent.) of a new trade route to India, Southampton had a lucrative trade in goods from the East with Venice. In the 18th cent. it was a fashionable spa. Trade with the United States, the construction of modern docks and the railroad to London (1840), and the coming of the steamboat all worked to convert the spa back into a commercial port. Southampton was one of Britain's chief military transport stations in both world wars. The city suffered considerable damage in World War II, as a result of which there are new dock facilities and shopping districts. The city received a grant of county land after the war to accommodate its growing industrial population. Among its schools are the Univ. of Southampton and a teacher-training college.

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Southampton

City and unitary authority (pop., 2001: 217,478), historic county of Hampshire, England. First settled by Romans, it was chartered (c. 1155) by King Henry II and incorporated in 1445. In the Middle Ages its location on the English Channel helped it to become a major British port. Southampton declined in the 17th–18th centuries but revived in the 19th with the arrival of railways. It is England's second largest port. Historic buildings include the 11th-century St. Michael's Church and the 12th-century King John's Palace, one of Britain's oldest domestic buildings.

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Southampton¹

3rd Earl of, title of Henry Wriothesley. 1573--1624, English courtier and patron of Shakespeare, who dedicated Venus and Adonis (1593) and The Rape of Lucrece (1594) to him: sentenced to death (1601) for his part in the Essex rebellion but reprieved

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Southampton²

1. a port in S England, in Southampton unitary authority, Hampshire on Southampton Water (an inlet of the English Channel): chief English passenger port; university (1952); shipyards and oil refinery. Pop.: 234 224 (2001)

2. a unitary authority in S England, in Hampshire. Pop.: 221 100 (2003 est.). Area: 49 sq. km (19 sq. miles)