In 1868 Portsea was described as a parish and fortified town, including the royal dockyard, on a flat island of the same name, locally in Portsdown hundred, and borough of Portsmouth, adjoining Portsmouth, and 69 miles from London by road, or 90 by the South-Western and 95 by the Brighton and South Coast railways. The parish comprises the town of Portsea, the towns and villages of Southsea, Halfway houses or Landport, Milton, Somers Town, Kingston, Stamshaw, and Buckland.