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Forton (Alverstoke), Hampshire

Historical Description

Forton, a village and a chapelry in Alverstoke parish, Hants. The name is a corruption of Fort-town. The village is suburban to Gosport, stands outside of the fortifications, at the upper end of a sort of lake of Portsmouth Harbour, near Gosport station on the L. & S.W.R., and has a post, money order, and telegraph office (T.S.O.) under Gosport. Population of the ecclesiastical parish, 7226. It contains -the military prison and the Royal Marine barracks. Portraits of George IIL by Northcote, Lord Sandwich by Zoffany, and Lords Barham and St Vincent by Beachy are in the barracks mess-room. A quondam edifice, on the ground now occupied by the military prison, was used as a place of confinement for French prisoners during the wars with Bonaparte. James Fort, built in the time of Charles IL, and known as Borough Castle, stood on Rat Island, near Forton Lake, and some remains of it exist. The chapelry includes the village, and was constituted in 1841. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Winchester; value, £240 with residence. Patron, the Rector of Alverstoke. The old church was erected under the new Act for building churches, is in the Pointed style. It was restored and greatly improved in 1871. The nave and aisles of a large new church in the Early English style, designed by Sir A, Blom-field, was erected in 1892. There are a barracks chapel, two Baptist chapels, and almshouses.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyHampshire 
Civil parishAlverstoke 
LibertyAlverstoke and Gosport 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Forton (Alverstoke) from the following:


Land and Property

The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hampshire (County Southampton) is available to browse.


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Hampshire newspapers online:


Visitations Heraldic

The Visitations of Hampshire, 1530, 1575, & 1622-34 is available to view on the Heraldry page.