Solent News Timeline
Key events from undefined to present
Discover the key moments that shaped Solent News. Explore the events that define our community.
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Roman fort built at Portchester
The Roman fort at Portchester, known as Portus Adurni, was constructed around 280 AD as one of the chain of Saxon Shore forts built to defend the sout...
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Saxon settlement of the Solent shore
From the late fifth century, Saxon and Jutish settlers began to establish themselves along the Solent shore, gradually displacing or absorbing the Rom...
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Domesday Book records the Solent manors
William the Conqueror's great survey of 1086, the Domesday Book, provides the first comprehensive written record of the settlements, manors, and resou...
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Titchfield Abbey founded
Titchfield Abbey was founded in 1232 by Peter des Roches, Bishop of Winchester, as a house of Premonstratensian canons. The order, also known as the W...
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Henry V musters his army at Portchester
In the summer of 1415, King Henry V assembled his invasion force at Portchester Castle before embarking for France and the campaign that would culmina...
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The Mary Rose sinks in the Solent
On 19 July 1545, the Tudor warship Mary Rose sank in the Solent during a battle with a large French invasion fleet, in full view of King Henry VIII wa...
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Portsmouth Dockyard expanded under William III
In the 1690s, under the reign of William III, Portsmouth Dockyard underwent a major expansion that transformed it into the principal naval base of Eng...
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The Spithead Mutiny
In April 1797, the crews of the Channel Fleet anchored at Spithead, the roadstead off Portsmouth, refused to put to sea and presented demands to the A...
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HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar
On 21 October 1805, HMS Victory, flying the flag of Vice Admiral Lord Nelson, led the British fleet to its decisive victory over the combined French a...
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HMS Warrior launched as Britain's first iron warship
HMS Warrior was launched on the Thames in December 1860 as the world's first iron-hulled, armour-plated warship, a revolutionary vessel that rendered ...
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Construction of the Palmerston Forts
Between 1860 and 1880, a chain of fortifications was built around Portsmouth and the Solent on the orders of Lord Palmerston's government, in response...
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Gosport railway opens
The London and South Western Railway opened a branch line to Gosport in November 1841, giving the town a direct rail link to London via a junction at ...
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Gosport railway line closes
On 8 June 1953, the last passenger train ran on the branch line between Fareham and Gosport, ending 112 years of railway service to the town. The clos...
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HMS Daedalus naval air station opens
In 1917, during the First World War, a seaplane training school was established on the land behind the seafront at Lee-on-the-Solent, marking the begi...
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Spitfire production begins at Hamble
In 1936, the Supermarine Aviation Works began production of the Spitfire at its factory facilities on the Hamble peninsula, near the village of Hamble...
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D-Day embarkation from the Solent
On 6 June 1944, the largest seaborne invasion in history was launched from the harbours, beaches, and anchorages of the Solent. Operation Overlord, th...
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The Mary Rose raised from the Solent
On 11 October 1982, the hull of Henry VIII's warship Mary Rose was lifted from the seabed of the Solent in a pioneering salvage operation watched by a...
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Falklands task force sails from Portsmouth
On 5 April 1982, the aircraft carriers HMS Invincible and HMS Hermes sailed from Portsmouth Harbour at the head of the Royal Navy task force dispatche...
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The Portsmouth Blitz
In January 1941, the Luftwaffe launched a series of devastating air raids on Portsmouth, targeting the dockyard, the harbour, and the surrounding urba...
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Henry VIII builds Solent coastal forts
In 1544, facing the threat of French invasion after England's break with Rome, Henry VIII ordered the construction of a chain of coastal artillery for...
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Gunwharf Quays opens
In February 2001, Gunwharf Quays opened on the waterfront at Portsmouth, transforming the site of the former HMS Vernon naval shore establishment into...
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Spinnaker Tower opens
The Spinnaker Tower, at 170 metres the tallest publicly accessible structure on the south coast, opened to the public on 18 October 2005 at Gunwharf Q...
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HMS Queen Elizabeth arrives at Portsmouth
On 16 August 2017, the aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth sailed into Portsmouth Harbour for the first time, watched by tens of thousands of spectat...
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RMS Titanic departs from Southampton
On 10 April 1912, RMS Titanic departed from Southampton's White Star Dock on her maiden voyage to New York, carrying over 2,200 passengers and crew. S...
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The Mayflower departs from Southampton
In August 1620, the Mayflower and her companion vessel the Speedwell departed from Southampton on the first leg of their voyage to establish an Englis...