By Tim Lambert
1180
Jean de Gisors founds a town at Portsmouth
1185
A parish church is built
1194
The king grants Portsmouth a charter (a document giving the townspeople certain rights)
1212
The Domus Dei (House of God) is built
1338
The French burn Portsmouth
1369
The French burn Portsmouth again
1377
The French attack Portsmouth again
1380
The French burn Portsmouth for the last time. Afterward, a wooden wall is built around the town.
c. 1418
The Round Tower is built
1450
The Bishop of Chichester is murdered in Portsmouth
1494
The Square Tower is built
1495
Henry VII founds Portsmouth Dockyard
1522
A great chain of iron is built across Portsmouth Harbour
1527
Henry VIII extends the Dockyard
1540
Henry closes the Domus Dei
1544
Southsea Castle is built
1563
Portsmouth has a population of maybe 2,000 but 300 are killed by an outbreak of plague
1625
Plague strikes Portsmouth again
1628
The Duke of Buckingham is assassinated by John Felton in Portsmouth
1642
Parliamentary soldiers capture Southsea Castle then Portsmouth
1663
A new wharf, the Gun Wharf is built for the navy and Dockyard
1667-1685
The fortifications around Portsmouth are rebuilt
1670
The population of Portsmouth is about 3,500
1704
St Anne’s Church is built in the Dockyard. Dockyard workers are given permission to build houses on the Common by the Dockyard and a new suburb (Portsea) grows.
1733
A man leaves money in his will to found Portsmouth Grammar School
1764
A body of men is formed in Portsea with the power to pave and clean the streets
1768
A similar body is formed in Old Portsmouth
1806
Isambard Kingdom Brunel is born in Portsmouth
1812
Charles Dickens is born in Portsmouth
1809
A new suburb begins at Southsea
1820
Gas street lights are installed in Portsea. Old Portsmouth follows in 1823.
1836
The first modern police force is formed in Portsmouth
1840
Horse drawn buses start to run in Portsmouth
1847
The railway reaches Portsmouth
1849
The first modern hospital in Portsmouth opens
1857
The streets of Southsea are paved, lit and cleaned for the first time
1861
Clarence Pier is built
1865
Horse drawn trams begin running in Portsmouth
1865-1870
Portsmouth council builds sewers
1879
St James Hospital opens
1883
The first public library in Portsmouth opens
1885
A Telephone Exchange opens
1898
St Mary’s Hospital opens
1901-1903
Trams are converted to electricity
1911
The first council houses in Portsmouth are built in Curzon Howe Road
1919
The first motor buses begin running
1920
The boundaries of Portsmouth are extended to include Cosham
1922
The corporation purchases Southsea Common
1928
The Cumberland House opens as a museum and art gallery
1932
The boundaries of Portsmouth are extended to include Drayton and Farlington
1934-36
Highbury estate is built
1936
The last tram runs in Portsmouth
World War II
930 people are killed by bombs
1946
The council begins building a new estate at Paulsgrove
1955
A survey shows that 7,000 houses in Portsmouth are unfit for human habitation. In the 1960s and early 1970s, large areas of the city are rebuilt
1982
The Mary Rose is raised
1984
The D Day Museum opens
1987
HMS Warrior comes to Portsmouth
1989
The Cascades Shopping Centre opens in Portsmouth
2001
A new shopping centre opens at Gunwharf
2005
The Spinnaker Tower opens