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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Southampton
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(205,000 in 1991) City and seaport in Hampshire, standing on a peninsula between the mouths of the rivers Test and Itchen at the top of Southampton Water, an inlet of the *English Channel. There was a Roman settlement here and it became an important Norman town – the walls, considerably rebuilt, survive in an almost unbroken circuit of about 2km/1.25m. Ever since the departure of *Richard I on crusade in 1190 this has been the main port of embarkation for English armies going abroad. And it was from here, through most of the 20C, that the great liners sailed for New York. The city itself is much rebuilt, having been heavily bombed in World War II. The Art Gallery, founded only in 1939, has rapidly built up an outstanding collection of 20C British sculpture and painting.
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