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 Roman temple, perhaps dedicated to Mars and the Celtic god Ocelus, have been identified on the site. A bowl with a chi-rho symbol shows that the worship of early Christian worship had begun in the late 3rd century. Following the withdrawal of the Roman legions from Britain, the town remained occupied until at least the mid-5th century. Early Christian worship was still established. The town might have had a bishop. A monastery was founded by Saint Tatheus in the 6th century. The site of the present church occupies part of an early Christian cemetery. The name "Venta" gave its name