Solent of nationally important protected landscapes including the New Forest National Park, and the Isle of Wight AONB. The word first appears in the Saxon record as "Solentan", but pre-dates the English language and is first recorded as "Soluente" in 731. This original spelling suggests a possible derivation from the Brittonic element "-uente", which has endured throughout the history of Hampshire, being present in the Roman city of Venta Belgarum, the medieval kingdom of Gwent (or Y Went), and the modern town of Winchester. A pre-Celtic and supposedly Semitic root meaning "free-standing rock" has also been suggested as a possible description
Venta (river) the Venta River at Akmenė district municipality, Šiauliai County, northern Lithuania. Venta (river) The Venta (Latvian pronunciation , Lithuanian , , , Livonian "Vǟnta joug") is a river in north-western Lithuania and western Latvia. Its source is near Kuršėnai in the Lithuanian Šiauliai County. It flows into the Baltic Sea at Ventspils in Latvia. Towns along the Venta include Mažeikiai (Lithuania), Kuldīga and Ventspils (Latvia). It has only one tributary longer than 100 km, the Abava. Other major tributaries include the Virvyčia (99.7 km) and the Varduva (96 km), which flows into the Venta at the Lithuanian-Latvian border. Smaller tributaries