National Gazetteer (1868) - Widley

"WIDLEY, a parish in the hundred of Portsdown, county Hants, 5 miles N.E. of Fareham, and 4 of Portsmouth. It includes the principal part of the village of Cosham. The soil is fertile, resting upon a substratum of limestone, which is quarried. A considerable portion of the parish is woodland. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Winchester, value with the vicarage of Wymering annexed, £678. The church is dedicated to St. Mary, and has been enlarged. There are two schools, and a chapel for Independents at Cosham. "COSHAM, a village in the parishes of Wymering and Widley, in the county of Hants, 3 miles N.E. of Portsmouth. It is a station on the South Coast and South-Western railways, near their junction. The village is pleasantly situated under Portsdown Hill, in the immediate vicinity of the barracks. "POTWELL, a hamlet in the parishes of Widley and Wymering, county Hants, 4 miles N.E. of Portsmouth. "PURBROOK, a village in the parishes of Farlington and Widley, county Hants, 6 miles N.E. of Portsmouth. It is situated near Portsdown Hill."

[Description(s) from The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland (1868) - Transcribed by Colin Hinson ©2003]