Portsea Island "northern end" of Kingston. Old Portsmouth lies on the south west corner of Portsea Island and forms the eastern side of the narrow entrance to Portsmouth Harbour at the ports mouth. Old Portsmouth contains most of the traditional High Street and heritage of the original old town of Portsmouth, including Portsmouth Point (also known as "Spice Island") and the Camber Dock. Portsea is a parish and narrower, informal area of the city of Portsmouth, occupying much of its south-west. Engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel was born in Britain Street in 1806; writer Charles Dickens was born nearby at Landport on 7
Portsmouth air raids which destroyed 6625 houses and severely damaged 6549 of them. The air raids caused 930 deaths and wounded almost 3000 people, many of them in the dockyard and military establishments. On the night of the city's heaviest raid on 10 January 1941, the Luftwaffe dropped 140 tonnes of high explosive bombs, killing 171 people and leaving 3000 homeless. Many of the city's houses were damaged and areas of Landport and Old Portsmouth destroyed, with the future site of Gunwharf Quays being razed to the ground. On the same night, the Guildhall was hit by an incendiary bomb which