Hampshire Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated Hants) is a county on the southern coast of England. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, the former capital of England. After the metropolitan counties and Greater London, Hampshire is the most populous ceremonial county (1.84 million in 2017) in the United Kingdom. Its two largest settlements, Southampton and Portsmouth, are administered separately as unitary authorities and the rest of the area forms the administrative county, which is governed by Hampshire County Council. First settled about 14,000 years ago, Hampshire's recorded history dates back to Roman times, when its capital was Winchester. When the
Venta Silurum Venta Silurum Venta Silurum was a town in the Roman province of "Britannia" or Britain. Today it consists of remains in the village of Caerwent in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. Much of it has been archaeologically excavated and is on display to the public. Venta was established by the Romans in AD 75 as an administrative centre for the defeated Silures tribe in Roman Wales. Venta Silurum seems to mean "Market town of the Silures" (cf. Venta Belgarum and Venta Icenorum). This is confirmed by inscriptions on the "Civitas Silurum" stone, now on display in the parish church. The town,