Hotels in Hampshire

Hampshire is an important agricultural region split in two by the Hampshire Downs, a broad belt of chalkland running from west to east through the county. To the north and south of the chalkland, heath and woodland are dominant, with bogs and salt marshes interspersing the drier regions in the south. Rolling grassy downland, gentle river valleys and trout streams punctuate Hampshire, and the New Forest, a royal hunting ground since 1079, occupies some 36,000 hectares (90,000 acres) to the south west of the county.

During the Roman occupation, the towns of Southampton and Winchester flourished, with the latter of the two becoming the capital of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex, remaining of equal importance to London until the 14th century. Southampton developed in the Middle Ages, exporting wool and importing wine, and is now a major passenger and container port.

Hampshire has long been home to the armed forces, Henry VII established the Royal Naval dockyard at Portsmouth in 1496, there is an historic base belonging to the British Army in Aldershot, and the Royal Aircraft Establishment is located at Farnborough.