Gosport.-- a fortified seaport and market town with ry. sta., Alverstoke par., S. Hannts, occupying peninsula on W. side of Portsmouth harbour, opposite Portsmouth, pop. 12,343; P.O., T.O., 3 Banks. Market-days, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. It owes its importance wholly to the position it holds as a naval depot, including the Royal Victualling Yard, the Haslar Hospital, and large Government factories. There are likewise infantry barracks. The town has a considerable coasting trade, and carries on mfrs. of anchors and chain cables; it has also yacht-building and sail-making. It is connected with Portsmouth by a floating bridge.

(John Bartholomew, Gazetteer of the British Isles (1887))