Southampton Water

“ The rivers flowing into Southampton Water joined those coming from the westward by way of the Solent, and formed a broad estuary communicating with the sea by Spithead.
(b) Mr. Prestwich has correlated [32] the Brighton beach and the Sussex gravel-beds with the estuarine beds of Menchecourt, and has also remarked [33] on the close resemblance which the Menchecourt beds bear, marine characters apart, to those at Fisherton, near Salisbury. The flint implements from the coast between Gosport and Southampton Water bear a corresponding resemblance to those from Fisherton and from Menchecourt. ”

“ The Itchen rises near Alresford, and flowing by Winchester and Eastleigh falls into Southampton Water east of Southampton. The Hamble rises near Bishops Waltham, and soon forms a narrow estuary opening into Southampton Water. The Wey, the Loddon and the Blackwater, rising in the north-eastern part of the county, bring that part into the basin of the Thames. The streams from the chalk hills run clear and swift, and the trout-fishing in the county is famous. ”

“ Ill fortune has of late haunted each annual Saturday fixture of the Royal Southampton Club, and that of August 5, instead of attracting the fleet of heavy weights, was reduced to a match between the 'Navahoe' and 'Calluna.' The 'Britannia' had her new mast in, but was not ready, 'Satanita' was getting a strengthening band shrunk on her masthead, and 'Valkyrie,' which had come across from Cowes to Southampton Water, did not start, fearing there would be too much wind for her sprung main-boom. ”

“ On the plains about Beaulieu, and on the eastern side of Southampton Water, 6 or 7 feet appears to be the average thickness, while at low levels, as in the cliff-section between Southampton Water and Gosport, it is generally 10 feet, and sometimes 15 or 16 feet, and in a pit near Southsea at least 27 feet thick, extending to below the sea-level.
(d) No organic remains have hitherto been found in the gravel covering the plains. ”

“ The coast of the mainland is low but picturesque, and is broken by the shallow estuaries of the Beaulieu River and the Lym, with the small port of Lymington upon it. The coast of Wight rises more steeply. On this side the Medina estuary opens northward, and those of the Newtown and the Yar north-westward into the strait. At the mouth of Southampton Water is a projecting bar resembling but smaller than that of Hurst Castle, and like it bearing a Tudor fortress, Calshot Castle. The Solent is frequently the scene of yacht races. The configuration of the coast causes a double tide in the strait. ”

“ From almost every part of this down we gain the most splendid views; below, is the rich vale of Arreton, Newchurch, and Godshill: beyond is seen on the north, Portsmouth and the neighbouring anchorages, with the wooded heights above Southampton Water; eastward are the beautiful shores of Sandown Bay; to the west the prospect is continued far beyond the white cliffs of Freshwater, by the coasts of Hants and Dorset: and on the south expands the azure horizon of the boundless ocean. ”

“ The place where the conversation, of which a fragment has just been given, occurred, was a broad gravelled path, the favourite promenade of such of the worthy townspeople of Southampton as prefer the beauties of nature to the attractions of the shops in the High-street. On one side was the broad water glistening in the bright, cheerful October sun, on the other a large strip of greensward fringed on the farther edge by a row of shining, white-faced lodging-houses and hotels. ”

“ There must have been a great quickening of activity in Otterbourne soon after the Restoration, for it was then that the Itchen canal or barge river, as it used to be called, was dug, to convey coals from Southampton, and, of course, this much improved the irrigation of the water meadows. This canal was one of the first made in England, and was very valuable for nearly two hundred years, until the time of railways. ”

“ A condensing apparatus intended for use on the island was made for me by Mr. Hornsey of Southampton. The boiler was a strong twenty-gallon drum, and a forty-gallon tank contained the worm. At sea these two were disconnected and lashed in the saloon, serving as water-tanks. We carried in all 600 gallons of water. The precious fluid was, of course, never used for washing purposes at sea. Salt-water-soap and the Atlantic had to content us for our ablutions, and, where possible, sea-water was employed for cooking purposes as well. ”

“ On the side of the hill, a rough hedge divides the private ground of the copse from Otterbourne Common and Hill, which is crossed by the old high road from London to Southampton, the very steep hill having had a cutting made through it. The Cranbury side of the road has the village cricket ground on it, though burrowed under by the concentric brick-work circles of the Southampton Company’s water works, which are entered by a little staircase tower, cemented over so as to be rather ornamental than otherwise. ”

“ Listen to this: ‘The R.M.S. Rhodesian, which arrived at Southampton yesterday evening, reports passing a derelict in latitude 10 degrees 5 minutes north, longitude 16 degrees 36 minutes West. The hull was a dull rusty red, and apparently of about 900 or 1000 tons burthen. The vessel was partly submerged, the forecastle and poop being above water. About eight feet of iron foremast was standing, and rather more of mizzen-mast, with some rigging trailing from it. ”

“ In other cases where the differ ence between the periods of rising and falling is consider able, there are, in each high water, two or three rises and falls. A double high water exists at Southampton. ”

“ It was blowing hard from the eastward, and the sea was, I think, running higher than on any occasion since we left Southampton. The surf on the island was far heavier than we had ever seen it before, and was breaking on every portion of the coast with great fury.
We now ran before the wind towards South-west Bay, and the squalls that occasionally swept down the ravines were so fierce that we sailed with foresail down and the tack of our reefed mainsail triced well up. We saw that the seas were dashing completely over the pier, and sending great fountains of spray high into the air. ”

“ In consequence of the double tides with which Southampton is favoured, the chance of having a long stretch of ill looking and worse smelling mud flats in the foreground of the view is almost negligible. Unless a very thorough knowledge of the shore is desired, the view from the deck will give the stranger an adequate idea of the surrounding country. ”

“ If these submerged outer banks were to be swept away by some change in the set of the currents, large areas now cultivated and inhabited would be flooded by salt water at every spring tide, and the turf of the meadows would be covered by a layer of marine silt, such as we see alternating with the submerged forests in the docks of the Thames. Such alternations, if thin, do not necessarily prove a change in the level of the sea; they may only point to the alternate accumulation and removal of sand-banks in a distant part of the estuary. ”

“ The fine and coarse salts manufactured in Liverpool were in the proportion of fifteen tons of Northwich or Cheshire rock-salt to forty-five tons of seawater, to produce thirteen tons of salt. To show how imperishable salt must be, if such testimony be needed, it is a fact that, in the yard of a warehouse occupied by a friend of mine in Orford-street, the soil was always damp previous to a change of weather, and a well therein was of no use whatever, except for cleansing purposes, so brackish was the water. ”

“ Southampton of to-day may be described as a fairly picturesque town, though modernity and convenience, rather than beauty, distinguish the suburbs, which are so constantly extending on all sides landward; but yachting folk find it a pleasant port, and, moored off pretty and quaint Hythe within reasonable distance of the Royal Pier, can pass a week-end or even longer comfortably enough.
Almost every seaport has its distinguishing feature, and a long acquaintance with Southampton inclines one to think that the mingling of the old with the very new is what strikes the observer most forcibly. ”

“ The permanent seaward movement of sewage discharged into the Thames at Barking when there is only a small quantity of upland water is at the rate of about one mile per day, taking thirty days to travel the thirty-one miles to the sea, while at the mouth of the river the rate does not exceed one- third of a mile per day. ”

“ Liverpool, Sheffield, Bristol, and several other large cities were obliged to resort to like severe methods enforced at Manchester. New York has been using every gallon that the aqueduct is capable of supplying; and, during the drought of last summer, when the head of water at Croton Lake was diminished, the capacity of the aqueduct was so reduced that the flow of water to the city was reduced, and a water-famine averted only by a Providential rain-fall. ”

“ The western shores of Southampton are low. The land behind rises in a succession of ridges each a few feet higher than the one immediately in front. These ridges are formed of broken limestone, evidently the surface portion of underlying ledges. Very little vegetation grows on the ridges, but in the wide depressions between them there is a profusion of grasses and other Arctic plants on the wet ground surrounding the many ponds and lakes found there. ”

“ The loud, stentorian voices of the officers of the magnificent palace steamer L’Orient, of the Peninsular and Oriental Line, sounded all along the Southampton docks, up the streets to the old gates, and even penetrated into some of the business houses of the quaint old English town.
The shout, so commonplace to the citizens of Southampton, was one of serious import to those gathered on the deck of the steamer.
Parting is never pleasant, and when the journey is a long one, and it is known the absence is for years, the last words are always tearful. ”

“ Walking along the pier, we observed some pieces of ordnance, one of which was a large brass cannon of Henry VIII.'s time, about twelve feet long, and very finely made. The bay of Southampton presents a pleasant prospect, and I believe it is the great rendezvous of the yacht-club. Old and young seafaring people were strolling about, and lounging at corners, just as they do on Sunday afternoons in the minor seaports of America.
From the shore we went up into the town, which is handsome, and of a cheerful aspect, with streets generally wide and well paved,—a cleanly town, not smoke-begrimed. ”

“ This canal commences from the navigable River Wey, one mile and three quarters south from the village of Weybridge, and about three miles from its junction with the River Thames. Its course from hence is south-west, passing Horsell, and Pirbright, to Frimley Wharf, whence it takes a southerly course to near the village of Ash, where it crosses the little River Blackwater, and enters the county of Southampton. To this point of the canal it is fifteen miles, and there is a rise, from the River Wey, of 195 feet, by twenty-nine equal locks. ”

“ The water is naturally good and soft. The spots at which it is raised from the Thames used to be within the bounds of the metropolis, at no great distance from the mouths of common sewers; but it is now obtained from parts of the river much higher up, and undergoes a very extensive filtration. Nine companies are concerned in the supply of water,—viz., the New River, East London, Southwark and Vauxhall, West Middlesex, Lambeth, Chelsea, Grand Junction, Kent, and Hampstead Water Companies. ”

“ When once the protecting gravel has been cut through, and the soft Tertiary beds of sand and clay below have been reached, the process seems to go on with great rapidity, A large tract of land west of Southampton appears to have been in this way almost cleared of its gravel, of which but patches are left. Even the principal portion of the old table-land which has survived, that to the east and south-east of Fordingbridge, is deeply cut into by numerous valleys, many of a depth of 200 feet. The existence of these valleys is clearly in accordance with the river theory. ”

“ The modern aspect of Southampton's streets is that of the bustle and activity of a midland town, and the narrow pavements of Below and Above Bar have that metropolitan air which a crowd of well-dressed people intent on business or pleasure gives to the better class provincial city. ”

“ During the Parliamentary Inquiry into the proposal to construct the Manchester Ship Canal, it was given in evidence that each tide brought into this bottle-necked estuary 100,000 tons of sand, which was held by the water in mechanical suspension and deposited on the banks at slack water, which takes place at the top of high water. The ebb tide carries this sand out again. About half ebb a process of erosion takes place. Tidal streams [Pg 116] form through the sand banks, and gradually underpin the sand, which falls into these streams and is carried out to sea. ”

“ I obtained from the company of which I was the engineer in New Jersey a vacation of several weeks, and embarked at New York for the Bermudas.
While I was staying on Hamilton Island, in the vast port of Southampton, an event occurred of great interest to geologists.
One day a whole flotilla of fishers, men, women and children, entered Southampton Harbor. For fifty years these families had lived on the east coast of Back Cup, where they had erected log-cabins and houses of stone. ”

“ In the case of tidal rivers, as at Antwerp and Rotterdam, the quality of the raw water varies with the tide, and there is a great advantage in having the settling-basins low enough so that a whole day’s supply can be rapidly let in when the water is at its best, without pumping. At Antwerp the filters are higher, and the water is pumped from the settling basins to them, and again from the reservoir receiving the effluents from the filters to the city. In several of the London works (East London, Grand Junction, Southwark and Vauxhall, etc.) ”