Place:


Spithead  Hampshire

 

In 1887, John Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isles described Spithead like this:

Spithead, roadstead, at the entrance of Portsmouth harbour, Hants, extending 2 miles NW. and SE. along the SW. side of the Spit Sand, with an average breadth of 1½ mile; its natural advantages for safe anchorage, and its vicinity to the great naval establishments of Portsmouth, have made it a favourite rendezvous of the British fleet, and the system of fortifications intended for the defence of Portsmouth harbour and dockyards is also designed as a protection for the roadstead at Spithead, a term which is often applied, in a more extended sense, to the whole of the channel which separates the NE. ...


coast of the Isle of Wight from the mainland of Hants.

Spithead through time

Spithead is now part of the Isle of Wight district. Click here for graphs and data of how the Isle of Wight has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Spithead itself, go to Units and Statistics.

How to reference this page:

GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Spithead, in The the Isle of Wight and Hampshire | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.

URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/23997

Date accessed: 28th March 2024


Not where you were looking for?

Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "Spithead".