East Hampshire

East Hampshire, district, administrative and historic county of Hampshire, southern England. The district, a rural area of chalk uplands, is where the most westerly extensions of the North Downs, Weald, and South Downs generally merge. The terrain, at elevations of 600 to 800 feet (180 to 240 metres), is undulating with interspersed scarps and valleys.

The district’s two principal parishes (towns), Alton and Petersfield (the district seat), have many important historical sites. Alton, in the north, is situated on the Pilgrims’ Way (a prehistoric route between the English Channel and the chalk heartland of Britain) and is known for the Curtis Museum of rural implements, an old Norman tower, the house (1590) of the poet Edmund Spenser, and the Church of St. Lawrence, containing bullet marks from the English Civil Wars (1642–51). The novelist Jane Austen was born immediately to the southwest. Historic landmarks of Petersfield, in the southern part of the district, include a Norman church, Georgian houses, and an equestrian statue (1724) of William III (1650–1702). The Old Churcher’s College (1723) has been transformed into an office block. The village of Selborne was the home of Gilbert White (1720–93), the naturalist who wrote The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne, the first work on natural history to attain the status of an English classic.

Agriculture (the raising of vegetables, fruits, and hops) supplemented by dairy farming is the main economic activity in the district. Brewing industries operate in Alton and Horndean. Area 199 square miles (515 square km). Pop. (2001) 109,274; (2011) 115,608.