Meridian History

More than £1million will be invested in maintaining some of Portsmouth's historic sites.

Portsmouth City Council will be spending the money on maintenance and upkeep of the sites. The Square Tower will receive £250,000 and £200,000 will be used to upgrade electrics at Southsea Castle.

The Round Tower and Cumberland House Natural History Museum are also set to benefit.

The funding is part of the council's capital budget, which invests in a range of infrastructure schemes throughout the city like buildings and facilities.

Archaeologists have made a dramatic discovery in Wiltshire, which has led to the town of Amesbury now officially being declared the oldest settlement in Britain.

It was previously thought that Thatcham in Berkshire held the honour. But carbon dating of objects dug up 40 miles west of Thatcham - in Amesbury, now reveal that humans have lived there - for more than ten millennia.

The revelation has also thrown new light on why Stonehenge was built close to the Wiltshire town. Martin Dowse reports.

A pub landlord from Kent has discovered he's been using an ancient piece of history as a candle holder for the last two years. Ian Goodban, from Deal, hadn't realised the urn, which he found on a beach, dated back to the Iron Age. Andrea Thomas has the story.

An exhibition surrounding the history of Bournemouth is on display at Bournemouth library.

The display, called 'Our Town' tells the story of the development of Bournemouth over the years dating back to the 1600s when the town was owned by the Cooper Dean estate.

A selection of reproductions from the Cooper Dean archive will be showcased alongside work by pupils at St Peter's School who created their own proposals for future developments in the town centre.

The exhibition will take place from July 31 until August 11.

Today marks seventy-one years since a German bombing raid killed forty-one people in Reading, Berkshire.

A memorial plaque has been unveiled during a special service at Town Hall Square in Reading to remember those who died. One of the four bombs hit a restaurant where at least twenty nine people lost their lives.

Every year, tourists flock to Battle Abbey where the English were defeated by the Normans in 1066. But have they been to the wrong site?

One historian claims the final battle actually took place in a different location. So is history about to be rewritten? Tom Savvides investigates.

VIDEO: Artefacts recovered from the wreck of the Titanic are set to be sold for $189 million (£120m). The exhibition items range from delicate porcelain dishes and silver cutlery to a 17-ton section of the hull, including portholes, pulled from the Atlantic seabed where Titanic sank 100 years ago.