MO UTH BRANKS O ME C HINE, BO URNE

k o mos o m n c i n s o o e m n s m c o as t . B n som C m O n e f the t pn ct u re s q u e f the a y h e r p g the ra e h e o m n n - c o mo s sm G i v wh o m ss a o t n . was f r erly the la d i g pla e f the fa u uggler ull er, a a ed f r u e

’ 9 ’ Blacé ze 89 S on s Beau tifu l S er ies

r i e n me in bo r d P c 2s . et er volu a s p , .

"Beautiful fin glan b

O"FOR D T H E C O R N I s H BATH AND WELLS T H E E N G L I s H R IVIER A R IPON AND HAR — LAKES DICKENS LAND R OGATE CANTER BUR " WINCH ESTER SCAR BOR OUG H S H R H Is O F B R M T H AKESPEA E T E L E O U N E O U , W H P O LAND IG T O L E, A N D T H E T H AMES C H ESTER "OR K C H R ISTCH UR CH WINDSOR CASTLE T H E NEW FOR EST DOVER AND FOLKE CAM BR IDG E HAM PTON COUR T STONE NOR WICH AND TH E E"ETER S W A N A G E A N D BR OADS HER EFOR D NEIG H BOUR T H E HEAR T OF DAR TM OOR WESS Ex T H E D UKER IES H A S T I N G S A N D T H E PEAK DIS WAR WICK AND NEIGH BOUR LEAM INGTON

ficautiful Eirelan h

LEINSTER U LSTER MONSTER CONNAUG H T

fleautiful é mitgerlan h

LUCER NE C H AM ONIx LAUSANNE

V R H M ER " C . ILLA S, C A P , ET LI ST OF I LLUSTRATI ONS

Br e e B r e h anksom Chin , ou n mout

' Bournemouth Pier and S ands from E as tclifi

B r e h "Th e S re G r e r M ou n mout qua and a d ns, f om ont Doré

Th e er G r e B r e Wint a d ns, ou n mouth

th e er G r e B r e In U pp a d ns, ou n mouth

Boscombe Chine

’ B r e "Th e re r er er G r e ou n mouth Child n s Co n , Low a d ns

Bo r e Talbot Woods, u n mouth

Poole Harbour from Constitutional Hill

Christchurch Priory fr om Wick Ferry

r r R hr r P io y uins, C istchu ch

Christchurch Mill

M31 01 45

The scenery which impresses most of us is certainly that in which Nature is seen in her wild

n f t a d primitive condition, telling us o grow h and

’ d of ecay, and the land s submissio"n to eternal laws unchecked by the hand of man . et we also feel a certain pleasure in the contemplation of those scenes which combine natural beauty with human artifice, and attest to th e ability with which architectural

’ science has developed Nature s virtues an d concealed n atural disadvantages .

To a greater extent, perhaps, than any other spot in southern England , does Bournemouth possess this rare combination of natural loveliness an d archi

r l tectu a art, so cunningly interwoven that it is diffi cult to distingu ish the artificial from the natural elements of the landscape . "6 BO URNEMO UTH

To human agency Bournemouth owes a most

- delightful set of modern dwelling houses, some Charm f ing marine drives , and an abundance o Public

Gardens . Through Nature the town receives its unique group of Chines , which alone set it apart from

- - other watering places ; its invigorating s ea breezes, and its woods of fir and pine Clustering upon slopes of emerald green, and doing the town excellent service by giving warmth and colour to the land scape when winter has stripped the oak and the elm of their glowing robes . Considerably less than a century ago Bourne “ ” Or Burn e mou h o f mouth , t , consisted merely a

’ ’ fi h r me n s collection of s e huts and smugglers cabins, scattered along the Chines and among the pine woods . The name Bournemouth comes from the

- b u m e b ou r n e Anglo Saxon words , or , a stream ,

m fith a and , a mouth ; thus the town owes its name to its situation at the mouth of a little stream which rises in the parish of Kinson some five or s ix miles distant . From Kinson the stream flows placidly through a

s ea narrow valley of much beauty, and reaches the by way o f one of those romantic Chine s s o charac m te ris tic o f this corner of the Ha pshire coast, and of the neighbouring Isle of Wight . A century ago the whole of the district between

BOURNEMO UTH 7

Poole on the west and Christchurch on the east

of was an unpeopled waste pine and heather, and the haunt o f gangs of smugglers . So great had the practice of smuggling grown in the eighteenth cen

1 20 tury, that, in 7 , the inhabitants of Poole presented to the House of Commons a petition, calling attention to “ the great decay of their home manufacturers by

of o f reason the great quantities goods run, and prayed the House to provide a remedy In 1 747 there flourished at Poole a notorious band Of “ ” smugglers known as the Hawkhurst Gang , and towards the close of the same century a famous smuggler named Gulliver had a favourite landing place for his cargoes at Branksome Chine, whence his pack-horses made their way through the New

Forest to London and the Midlands, or travelled westward across Crichel Down to Blandford, Bath, and Bristol .

m n Gulliver is said to have employed fifty e , who wore a livery, powdered hair, and smock frocks . This l smuggler amassed a arge fortune, and he had the

E ardon l audacity to purchase a portion of g g Hi l, in

n west Dorset, o which he planted trees to form a

- mark for his homeward bound vessels . H e also kept a band of watchmen in readiness to light a beacon

fire on the approach of danger. This state of things continued until an Act o f Parliament was pass e d 8 BOURNEMOUTH which made the lighting of signal fires by unauthorized f persons a punishable o fence . The Earl of M almes

M em oi r s o a n E ar-M i n i te r bury, in his f s , relates

of many anecdotes and adventures Gulliver, who lived to a ripe Old age without molestation by the authorities, for the reason , it is said, that during the wars with France he was able to obtain, through his agents in that country, valuable information of f the movement o troops, with the result that his smuggling was allowed to continue as payment for the services he rendered in disclosing to the English Government the nature of the French naval and military plans .

1 800 Warner, writing about , relates that he saw

or twenty thirty wagons, laden with kegs, guarded

r by two o three hundred horsemen, each bearing

H en is tb u r three tubs, coming over g y Head, and making their way in the open day past Christchurch to the New Forest. On a tombstone at Kinson we may read

A l e tea on e le f e l ittl , a I did not st a ; For guiltless blood shed I to G od appeal ; ’ tea on e le h her Put in sca , uman blood in t ot , ’ ” An d think what tis to slay thy harmless brother

The villagers of Kinson are stated to have all

an d been smugglers, to have followed no other occupation, while it is said that certain deep mark ’ ‘ BOU R NE MOU I H 9 ings on the walls of the church tower were caused by the constant rubbing of the ropes used to draw up and lower the kegs o f brandy and the cases of tea . That many church towers in the neighbourhood were used for the storage of illicit cargoes is well

s of known, and the sympathie the local clergy were nearly always o n the side of the smugglers in the days when a keg of old brandy would be a very acceptable present in a retired country parsonage .

Occasionally, perhaps, the parson took more than a passive interest in the proceedings . A story still circulates around the neighbourhood of Poole to the effect that a new-comer to the district was positively shocked at the amount of smuggling that went on . One night he came across a band of s mugglers in f “ ” act o . the unloading a cargo Smuggling, he “ f . " o " shouted Oh, the sin of it the shame it Is there no magistrate, no j ustice of the peace, no clergyman, no minister, no “ ” n There be the Parson, replied o e of the smug

lers f g , thinking it was a case o sickness . “ ” Where "Where is he"demanded the stranger.

’ a- of Why, that s him holding the lanthorn, was the laconic reply.

It was early in the nineteenth century that a Mr.

Tr e n ll f g o we o Cranborne, a Dorset man who owned I o BOURNE MO UTH

o a large piece of the mo rland, found, on the west V side of the Bourne alley, a sheltered combe of exceptional beauty, where he built a summer residence

(now the Exeter Park Hotel), the first real house to be erected on the virgin soil of Bournemouth . A little later the same gentleman also built some

“ ” Tr e on w ell cottages, and the g Arms , an inn which became known as the half-way house between Poole and Christchurch , and so remained until it was pulled down to make way for other buildings .

These, however, were isolated dwellings , and it

1 8 6 t was not until 3 that Sir George Gervis , Bar , of

H inton Admiral , Christchurch, commenced to build on an extensive scale on the eastern side of the

m o f strea , and so laid the foundations the present town . Sir George employed skilful engineers and

out hi s eminent architects to plan and lay estate, s o that from the beginning great care was taken in the formation and the selection of sites for the houses and other buildings, with the result that Bournemouth is known far and wide as the most charming, artistic, and picturesque health resort in the country . This happy result is due, in a large measure, to the care with which its natural features have been preserved and made to harmonize with the requirements of a large residential population . It is equally gratifying to note that successive land

1 2 BO URN EMO UTH

and visiting purposes . "ear by year the town has spread and broadened, stretching out wide arms to adjacent coigns of vantage like Parkstone, Boscombe, “ Pokesdown, and Southbourne, until the Queen of

” the South n ow covers many miles in extent. It is one of those favoured spots where Autumn lingers on till Christmas, and when Winter comes

’ he is Autumn s twin brother, only distinguishable from him by an occasional burst of temper, in the

of of form an east wind, soon repented and as soon forgotten . Thus it is that a large number of holiday visitors are tempted to make their stay a long one, an d every winter brings an increasingly greater number of new-comers to fill the places of the summer absentees, so that, taking the year through, Bourne mouth is always full . Contrast is on e of the charms of the place; con trast between the shade and quietude of the pine

of woods, and the whirl and movement modern life and luxury in its most splendid and pronounced development . It is a town whose charm and whose reproach alike is its newness; but unlike many an ancient town, it has no unlovely past to rise up and shame

it. The dazzle and glitter of the luxury which has descended upon her wooded shores does not frighten

Bournemouth , since she was born in splendour, and BOURNEMO UTH 1 3 the very brightness of her short life is compensation

of enough for the lack an historical, and perhaps a melancholy past .

‘ of on s h e With the exception the soil which stands,

of and the growths that soil, everything in Bourne

— — mouth is modern churches, houses, and shops but all are as beautiful as modern architects and an n u limited supply of money can make them . There are hundreds of costly houses, Charming both within and without; their gardens always attractive in the fresh

of ness their flowers , and in the trimness of their

- tree lined lawns . On every side there is evidence o f o f a universal love and culture flowers, due, no doubt, to the wonderful Climate . Nowhere are

or or geraniums larger redder, roses fairer sweeter, or foliage beds more magnificently laid out ; while in few other parts of the country can one find so many large houses, representative of the various schools of modern architectural art, as in Bournemouth and

- her tree clad parks . Another factor that has played a large part in the rapid development o f the town is the excellence of the railway services from all parts of the country, and particularly from London . During the summer months several trains run daily from Waterloo to

Bournemouth without a stop , doing the journey in two hours ; so that if the London and South Western 1 4 BO URNEMO UTH

Railway Company are fortunate in having a monopoly f f o this tra fic, the town is equally fortunate in being served by a railway company which has made it almost

of a marine suburb London .

n Bournemouth West Railway Station, situated o

Poole Hill, was completed and the line opened in

— 1 8 . 1 88 the summer of 74 In 4 5 the Central Station,

r w o Bournemouth East as it was then called, as built,

- and the two stations connected by a loop line . The whole of the Bournemouth district lies in the western part of the great valley or depression which f stretches rom Shoreham , in Sussex, to near Dor

o f Chester, occupying the whole South Hampshire

o f and the greater part the south of Sussex and Dorset.

The valley is known as the chalk basin of Hampshire, and is formed by the high range o f hills extending from Beachy Head to Cerne Abbas . To the north

n the Chain of hills remai s intact, whilst the southern portion of the valley has been encroached upon, and two great portions o f the wall of chalk having been removed , one to the east and one to the west, the Isle of Wight stands isolated and acts as a kind o f breakwater to the extensive bays , Channels, and harbours which have been Scooped ou t of the softer strata by the action o f the s e a. Sheltered by the Isle of Wight are the Solent and Southampton Water ; westward are the bays and harbours ofChrist

BO URN EMOUTH 1 5

church , Bournemouth, Poole, Studland, and Swanage . The great bay between the promontories of the

Needles and Ballard Down, near Swanage, is sub divided by the headland of H e n g is tb u ry Head into

o f the smaller bays Christchurch and Bournemouth . The site of the town is an elevated tableland formed by an extensive development of Bagshot

r sands and clays covered with peat o turf, and

on f partly, the upland levels, with a deep bed o gravel .

- m The sea board is arked with narrow ravines, “ ” or gorges, glens, here called Chines , but in the “ ” of north England designated Denes . f For boating people the bay a fords a daily delight, although Christchurch and Poole are the nearest real

’ . of harbours At the close a summer s day, when s ea s and sky and shore are enveloped in oft mist, nothing c an be more delightful than to flit with a

or favouring wind past the picturesque Chines, by the white cliffs of Studland . The water in the little inlets

' in and bays lies still and blue, but ou t the dancing swirl o f waters s e t up by the sunken rocks at the

o f f base a headland, all the colours o the rainbow seem to be running a race together. "achts come sailing in from Cowes, proud, beautiful shapes, their

- polished brass work glinting in the sunlight, while farther out in the Channel a great ocean liner steams 1 6 BO URNEMO UTH

steadily towards the Solent, altering her course

s h e repeatedly as nears the Needles .

And yet, with all her desirable qualities an d attrac

’ is tive features , Bournemouth not to everyone s taste, particularly those whose holidays are incomplete with

u n . o t mediae val ruins o their doorsteps The town, however, is somewhat fortunate even in this respect,

f own since, although she has no antiquities o her , she is placed close to Wimborne and Poole on the

n o e hand, and to Christchurch , with its ancient Priory, o n the other. Poole itself is not an ideal place to

u live in, while Wimborne and Christchurch are o t

f- - o the way spots , interesting enough to the antiquary,

ld- o . but dull, fashioned towns for holiday makers f The clean , firm sands o Bournemouth are excellent for walking on, and make it possible for the pedestrian to tramp, with favourable tides, the whole of the four teen miles of shore that separate Poole Harbour from

Christchurch . By a coast ramble of this kind the f f bo ld and varied forms o the cli fs, and the coves cutting into them , give an endless variety to the scene ; while many a pretty peep may be obtained

or where the Chines Open out to the land , where the warmly-coloured cliffs glow in the sunlight between the deep blue of the s ea and the sombre tints of

- the heather lands and the pine clad moor beyond .

The d ays and sandy beds of these Cliffs are re ( 0 742)

1 8 BO URNEMOUTH

o f the deep gorges the Chine . This estate extends for a considerable distance to where a Martello tower, said to have been built with stones from

on ‘ f Beaulieu Abbey, stands the cli f, from which point the land gradually diminishes in height until, t o owards the entrance to Po le Harbour, it becomes a j umbled and confused mass of low and broken

- - sand hills . Thes e North Haven sand hills occupy a spit of land forming the enclosing arm of th e e stuary on this side . Near Poole Head the bank i s o n low and narrow; farther it expands until, at h o n t e termination of North Haven Point, it is e

- third o f a mile broad . Here the sand dunes rise in circular ridges, resembling craters , many reaching

or . a height of fifty sixty feet Turning Haven Point, t h e view of the great sheet o f water studded with green islands and backed by the purple hills of

n e f Dorset is o o the finest in England . From Haven Point on e may reach Poole along a good road that skirts the shores of th e harbour all the

’ w a aflo rds o f y, and some lovely vistas shimmering

- water and pine Clad banks .

Poole Harbour looks delightful from Haven Point. At the edge of Brown s ea Island the foam - fle c ke d

- beach glistens in the s u n . The sand dunes fringing f the enclosing sheet o water are yellow, the salt marshes of the shallow pools stretch in surfaces IN THE R AR D S B R M H UPPE G EN , OU NE OUT

T s G ns con i n W lth ln B nksom s n cons n o wn he e arde are ta ed the ra e e tate, a d are eque tly thr open to visitors only by the courtesy of th e owner .

BO URN EMOUTH 1 9

o f dull umber, brightened in parts by vivid splashes

of o f green . On a calm day the stillness utter peace

e e e s ms to rest over the spot, brok n only by the

o f lapping of the waves, and the hoarse cries the s e a-birds as they search for food o n the mud-banks left by the receding tide . With such a scene before us it is difficult to realize that only a mile or two distant is on e of the most popular watering-places

s in England , with a throng of fashionable people eek i n g their pleasure and their health by the s ea. It is well worth while to take a boat a n d pull

w s o Br o e a. ver to n The island, which once belonged

o t Cerne Abbey, is elliptical in shape, with pine c c overed banks rising, in some pla es, to a height of ninety feet . In the centre of the isle is a valley k i n which are two ornamental la es . In addition

Br own s ea to a large residence, Castle, and its exten sive grounds, there is a village o f about twenty cottages, called Maryland, and an ornate Gothic

old oak Church, partly roofed and panelled with fine

of G taken from the Council Chamber rossby Hall,

’ Cardinal W ols ey s palace . The islan d once had a hermit occupier whose cell and chapel were dedicated

to . St Andrew, and when Canute ravaged the Frome Valley early in the eleventh century he carried his spoils to Brown s ea. The Castle was first built by

H V of n enry I I I for the protection the harbour, o 20 BO URNEMOUTH condition that the town of Poole supplied s ix men to

1 keep watch and ward . In 543 the Castle was granted

V n to John ere, Earl of Oxford, who sold it to Joh “ Duke . In the reign of Elizabeth it was termed The

’ ’ ” C Brown ecks ea in Queen s Maj estie s astell at , and

1 6 57 the Queen sold it, together with Corfe Castle, “ l to Sir Christopher Hatton, whom she made Admira

” o f Purbeck . In the early days of the Great Rebellion

for the island was fortified the Parliament, and, f like Poole, it withstood the attacks o the Royalists .

1 66 In 5, when the Court was at Salisbury, an out break of the plague sent Charles I I and a few of

n On his courtiers o a tour through East Dorset .

1 sth September of that year Poole was visited b y a distinguished company, which included the King,

h e Lords Ashley, Lauderdale, and Arlington, and t

e youthful Duke of Monmouth, whos handsome face and graceful bearing were long remembered in th e

al d town . After the roy party had been entertaine by Peter Hall, Mayor of Poole , they went by boat “ o wn s a V w to Br e , where the King took an exact ie

to o f the said Island, Castle, Bay, and Harbour his great contentment Little could the boyish Duke of Monmouth have

n then foreseen that fatal day, twenty years later, whe he crossed the road from Salisbury again like a hunted animal in his vain endeavour to reach the shelter of BO URNEMOUTH 21

h e t New Forest ; and still less, perhaps, could his

f E tricke ather have foreseen that Antony , whom h e e of had made R corder Poole, would be the man b efore whom his hapless s on was taken to be identified

before being sent to London , and the Tower.

Br own s ea . The next owner of was a Mr Benson, wh o succeeded Sir Christopher Wren as first surveyor

f . o works When he bought the island, he began to alter the old castle and make it into a residence . The burgesses of Poole Claimed that the castle was a of national defence, which they were the hereditary

custodians . Mr. Benson replied that as he had paid £300 for the entire island the castle was naturally i 1 2 ncluded . In 7 0 the town authorities appealed to

1 2 . George I I , and in 7 3 Mr Benson and his counsel a - ppeared before the Attorney general, when the

proceedings were adj ourned, and never resumed, s o that the p urchaser appears to have obtained a

grant of the castle from the Crown . Mr. Benson w as an enthusiastic botanist and he planted the island with various kinds of trees and shrubs . H e also made a collection of the many specimens o fplants g rowing on the island . During the next hundred and thirty years Brown s ea had various owners, including Colonel Waugh (notorious for his connection with the disastrous failure o f the British Bank) and the Right Hon . Frederick BO URNEMOUTH

Cavendish Bentinck, who restored the castle and im ported many beautiful specimens of Italian s culpture and works of art . At the end of 1 900 the estate was

Van bought by Mr. Charles Raalte, to whose widow it still belongs .

Shortly before his death Mr. Van Raalte wrote a brief account of his island home, which Closed with the following lines

All through th e island th e slopes are covered with rh ododen dron s er firs r r , " , S c c s g s, c c C rs c n es unip ot h , in i ni ma o a pa, o i a pin , e r r e e e er ree e ll l h and many oth va i ti s of v g ns , pl ntifu y ming ed wit r ce dars and de ciduous forest trees . Wild fowl in g eat variety th e th e l - l l th e s ea- l visit island , and ow ying and within wal is th e favourite haunt of many s ea-birds ; and several varietie s of er th e re ree er e b plov , dshank , g nshank , sandpip , and snip may e here Th e r e er fe th e ree found t . c ossbill com s v y o t n , and g n wood ’ r Bu er th e pe cker s c ry is q uite familia . t p haps most beautiful little h r h fi r winged creature t at favou s us is t e king she .

A prominent feature on the mainland as seen from Brown s e a is the little Early English church

f on out o o Arne, standing a promontory running int

- in the mud banks of the estuary, and terminating f ’ a narrow tongue o land known as Pachin s Point . At one time Arne belonged to the Abbey of S h afte s bury, and it is said that the tenants of the estate,

e n on paying their rent, were given a ticket titling them to a free dinner at the Abbey when they were passing through Shaftesbury. The vast

24 BO URN EMOUTH landward termination o f Boscombe Chine is very abrupt, which is the more remarkable as the little stream by which it .is watered occupies only a very slight depression beyond the Christchurch road o n

s ea Li l d w its way down to the from tt e o n Heath .

Boscombe House t OOd formerly in the midst o f a

o f fine wood Scotch pines . The estate is now being rapidly developed for residential purposes . The house was the home for many years o f descendants o f the poet Shelley, who erected a monument in Christchurch

Priory to the memory oftheir illustrious ancestor . The

an d s e a house lies between the Christchurch road the , and was almost entirely rebuilt by Sir Percy Shelley f about the middle o the nineteenth century. The rapid growth of Boscombe may be gauged by the fact that between thirty and forty years ago Boscombe House and a few primitive cottages were the only buildings between Bournemouth and Pokesdown .

\ r r n f s h e Like h e p a e t o Bournemouth , whom closely

on resembles , Boscombe is built what was once a

- stretch o f sandy heaths and pine woods . A pier was

Opened here in 1 889 by the Duke of Argyll . It was

Was built entirely by private enterprise, and it not until 1 904 that it was taken over by the Corporation . To the east o f the pier the Cliffs have been laid out

o f as gardens, much the land having been given by the owners of Boscombe House o n their succeeding

BOURNEMOUTH 25

to the estate . The roads here are very similar to

of e f those Bourn mouth, with their rows o pines, and

e c u villas encircled by the same beautiful trees . A p

’ liar designation of Owl s Road has no direct connec

h e Owl tion with birds, but is commemorative of T , a satirical j ournal in which Sir H enry Drummond

e Wolf , a large landowner of Boscombe, was greatly

interested . From Boscombe Pier very pleasant walks can be

taken along the sands or on the cliffs . From the

’ sands a long Slope leads up to Fisherman s Walk,

- a beautiful pine shaded road , although houses are now being built and s o somewhat despoiling the original f beauty o the spot . The cliffs may be regained once more at Southbourne, and after walking for a short

distance towards H e n g is tb ury Head the road runs

inland to Wick Ferry, where the Stour can be crossed

old f and a visit paid to the fine Priory o Christchurch . Wick Ferry is o n e o f the most beautiful spots in the neighbourhood, and is much resorted to by those " who are fond of boating. Large and commodious fe rry-boats land passengers on the opposite bank with

’ in a few minutes walk of Christchurch . The main road from Bourn emouth to Christchurch crosses the Stour a short distance inland from Wick Ferry by

Tu k n - c to Bridge with its toll house, a reminder that,

ld on by some o rights , toll is still levied all those who 26 BOU RN EMO UTH

r cross the Stour, whether they use the bridge o the ferry.

Bournemouth is very proud of her Public Gardens,

s h e as has every right to be . Out of a total area o f nearly 6000 acres no fewer than 694 acres have

ou been laid t as parks and pleasure grounds . The

Pleasure Gardens are divided by the Square, that

’ - of central meeting place the town s tramway system, into two portions, known as the Lower and the Upper

Gardens . These follow the course of the Bourne stream , and they have had a considerable influence in the planning of this portion of the town . The Pinetum is the name given to a pine -shaded avenue that leads from the Pier to the Arcade Gate . Here,

r r in storm o shine, is shelter from the winter wind o

s u n shade from the summer , while underfoot the fallen acicular leaves of the pines are impervious to the damp . These Gardens are more than a mile and a half in extent, and are computed to possess some four miles o f footpaths . The Upper Gardens are contained within the Branksome estate, and are con sequently thrown open to the public only by the cour tesy ofthe owner. They extend to the Coy Pond, and are much quie ter and less thronged with people than the Lower Gardens, with their proximity to the Pier and the shore . Another of those picturesque Open spaces which BOURNEMO UTH 27

do so much to beautify the town is Meyrick Park,

1 Opened in 894, and comprising some hundred and twe nty acres of undulating land o n which an eigh

- teen hole golf course has been constructed . Another

’ course o f a highly sporting character is in Queen s

o f . Park, reached by way the Holdenhurst Road Beyond the Meyrick Park Golf Links lie the Talbot fi Woods, a wide extent of pine forest which may t

’ tingly be included in Bournemouth s parks . These woods are the property o f the Earl of Leven and

Melville, who has laid down certain restrictions which must be observed by all visitors . Bicycles are allowed

b ut on the road running through the woods, no motor

or cars dogs , and smoking is rightly forbidden, as a lighted match carelessly thrown among the dry bracken with which the woods are carpeted would

n fl cause a c o ag ration appalling to contemplate . The famous Winter Gardens are under the man a eme n t o f 1 8 g the Corporation , and in 93 the spacious

a h gl ss Pavilion was taken over by t e same authority.

It may be mention e d incidentally that Bournemouth spends a s u m o f six thousand pounds annually in providing band music for her visitors . The full band numbers no fewer than fifty musicians , and is divided

o n e for into two portions , the Pier, the other for the

Pavilion . The Winter Gardens are charmingly laid ou on t with shrubs and ornamental flower beds, and 28 BOURN EMO UTH special gala days clusters offairy lights give an added brilliancy to the scene . Boscombe possesses her own group of gardens an d open spaces . Boscombe Chine Gardens extend f from the Christchurch Road to the mouth o the Chine .

At the shore e n d is an artificial pond wh e re the j uvenile natives meet the youthful visitors for the

of K n e ton purpose sailing toy ships . The yv Gardens lie in the valley between S outh c ote Road and K n yve ton

’ Road , and cover some five acres of land . King s Park,

’ P -Car n ar and the larger Queen s ark, together with von Crescent Gardens, show that Boscombe attaches as much importance as Bournemouth to the advantages o f providing her visitors an d residents with an abun

o f h avm , dance open Spaces, tastefully laid out, and g in some cases, tennis courts and bowling greens . The piers o f both Bournemouth and Boscombe are great centres of attraction for visitors, apart from those who only use them for the purpose o f reaching the many steamboats that ply up and down the coast .

s ix A landing pier ofwood , eight hundred feet long and

in on 1 1 861 . teen feet width , was opened 7th September,

It cost the modest s u m of J£4000 . During the winter o f 1 865— 6 many of the wooden piles we re found to

. c on have rotted , and were replaced by iron piles A s iderab le portion o f the pier was treated in a similar m 1 868 . c o manner in 1 866, and again in With this

BOURNEMOUTH 29 p os ite and unsightly structure Bournemouth was con

1 8 8 tent until 7 , when the present pier was commenced ,

in 1 8 being formally opened 1 880 . It was extended in 94,

1 and again in 909 . Boscombe Pier, as already stated,

1 8 was opened in 8 9 by the then Duke o f Argyll .

’ Of Bournemouth s many modern churches that o f d f St. Peter, situate at the junction o the Gervis and the Hinton Roads, has interesting historical associa l tions, apart from its architectural appea . In the south transept John Keble used to s it during his prolonged stay at Bournemouth in the f closing years o his life . H e is commemorated b y “ ” “ ” the Keble Windows , and the Keble Chapel , f within the church, and by a metal tablet a fixed to “ the house Brookside near the pier, where he passed away in 1 866. The churchyard is extremely

n - Th e pretty, being situated o a well wooded hillside .

1 8 1 . churchyard cross was put up in July, 7 I n the of churchyard are buried the widow the poet Shelley,

e tog ther with her father, Godwin the novelist, and

dis in c her mother, who was also a writer of some t tion . Taken altogether, this Church , with its splendid

- windows and richly wrought reredos and screens, is. o n e of the most pleasing modern Churches in th e

i s country, both with regard to its architecture and t delightful situation .

This hillside churchyard under the pine trees, to 30 BO URN EMOUTH

“ gether with Brookside where Keble lived, and

o f Boscombe Manor, with its memories the Shelleys, ar e the only literary shrines Bournemouth as yet possesses .

W olls on e Mary Godwin, whose maiden name was t

was an craft, Irish girl who became literary adviser to

s h Johnson, the publisher, by whom e was introduced to n ma y literary people, including William Godwin, w h . hom s e married in 1 797 Their daughter Mary, h whose birth s e did not survive, became the poet

’ Shelley s second wife . Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

’ n n ff was o e o ft h e earliest writers o woman s su rage, an d her Vi n di c ati on s of th e R igh ts of Wom en was m uch criticized on account of, to that age, the advanced views it advocated . Among her other books was a

o f Or i i n a l S tor i es or Ch i ld r e n volume g f , illustrated by William Blake .

Her father, William Godwin, was a native of Wis

1 6 b each , where he was born in 75 , and at first he was o rdained for the Presbyterian ministry. He was the author ofa good many novels and philosophical works . In the later years o f his life he was given the office

“ o f "eoman Usher o f the Exchequer It was Mary Godwin with whom Shelley eloped to

1 8 1 1 8 16 o n Italy in 4, and whom he married in , the death of his first wife, Harriet Westbrook, who drowned

f. 1 1 hersel In 85 , Mary Shelley was laid by the side BO URNEMOUTH 31

f . o her father and mother, brought down from St

d own s on Pancras Churchyar , and her , and the woman

s on who was loved by that , all now sleep their last f ’ o . sleep under the greensward St Peter s Church . To many o f us it is the o n e spot in Bournemouth most worth visiting. Climbing the wooded hill we

" o f h w stand by the Shelley grave, and think o much

n intellect, aspiration , and achievement lies there e f tombed , and o the pathetic cenotaph to the memory o fthe greatest of all the Shelleys in the fine old Priory o f Christchurch, five miles away. Previous to his coming to Bournemouth to recover

of his health , John Keble was vicar Hursley, near

Th h r i ti n . e a "ea r Winchester C s , upon which his literary position must mainly rest, was published anony m l ou s 1 8 2 . y in 7 It met with a remarkable reception,

its K and author becoming known, eble was appointed

o f to the Chair Poetry at Oxford, which he held until “ 1 8 1 . o f 4 In the words a modern writer, Keble was o n e o f the most saintly and unselfish men who ever adorned the Church of England , and , though personally s h y and retiring, exercised a vast spiritual influence ” “ upon his generation . His Life was written by

. . 1 86 . J D Coleridge in 9, and again, by the Rev. W

1 . Lock, in 895

S its The tour valley, with picturesque river scenery, forms a charming contrast to the seaboard o f Bourne 32 BO U RN EMOUTH

S o uth b orn e mouth and her suburbs of Boscombe and , while to those who are fond of river boating the whole district is full of attraction . For the pedestrian the valley is very accessible . The route from Bourne

is o f mouth by way the Upper Gardens, and right

h roo through the Talbot Woods to T p , where the f banks o the river are covered with trees . The

on e village is a straggling , and the mill and weir give an additional charm to some of the prettiest river scenery in the neighbourhood . A short distance

of from Throop is the village Holdenhurst, which,

on e i with Throop, forms par sh While in this district a vi s i t may be paid to

or of f H urn, Heron Court, the seat the Earl o

Malmesbury. The house, largely rebuilt since it

of was owned by the Priors Christchurch, is not shown to the public, but the park, with its beautiful

f h o plantation o r dodendrons, may be seen from the

of o f middle May till the end June, that is, when the flowers are in full bloom . From Holdenhurst the

of return j ourney may be made by way Iford, and

o n so to the main road at Pokesdown, whence

Bournemouth is soon reached . To those who visit the ancient town of Poole

is for the first time by road from Bournemouth, it difficult to tell where the one town ends and the other begins, so continuous are the houses, shops, B W DS B R M H TAL OT OO . OU NE OUT

34 POOLE

Poole and Hamworthy, with their many industries and busy wharves , form a piquant contrast to spick and -span Bournemouth with her tidy gardens and well-dressed crowds ; but whatever the port of Poole may lack in other ways she has an abundance of m history, although her Clai to figure as a Roman station has been much disputed . We do know, how ever, that after the Norman Conquest Poole was included in the neighbouring manor of Canford, and

n its first charter was granted by William Lo g s p é e ,

Earl of Salisbury . It was not until the reign of the third Edward that the town became o f much importance . This monarch used it as a base for fitting ou t his ships during the protracted war with

France, and in 1 347 it furnished and manned four ships for the siege of Calais . The lands that lie between Poole and Hamworthy were held in the

Turb erville s of Middle Ages by the , Bere Regis,

Carews f and during the Stuart period by the , o

Devonshire . I n the reign of Queen Elizabeth the town had a considerable commerce with Spain until the war with that country put a stop to this par i l m t cu ar traffic . As some co pensation for their losses in this direction Elizabeth granted the town two new charters , and confirmed all its ancient privileges . During the Great Rebellion the town was held for

1 6 2 the Parliament, and in 4 the Royalist forces , POOLE 35

o f of under the leadership the Marquis Hertford,

re attempted its capture, but were forced to

treat . The town is situated on a peninsula on the north

e side of Poole Harbour, and at one tim it was the f l ’ home of many smugglers . Part o an o d smuggler s

house has recently been discovered in the town .

The quayside is always a busy spot, and a good d eal of shipbuilding and repairing is still carried on .

of o ld f The town is full houses, although many o them are hidden behind modern fronts . In 1 88 5 the late Lord Wimborne presented the Corporation with some forty acres of land to be c onverted into a Public Park . This land has been

ou t carefully laid , and includes tennis courts and a spacious cricket ground . As a seaport the town was of great importance a n d the Royalists spared no efforts to effect its

of c apture, but like the other Dorset port Lyme

s o Regis, gallantly defended by Robert Blake, after w th e o u ards famous admiral, Poole held t to the

r f n d. o e Clarendon, the Royalist histo ian the Great

Rebellion , makes a slighting reference to the two “ “ towns . In Dorsetshire he says, the enemy had ” o nly two little fisher towns, Poole and Lyme . The “ ” little fisher towns , however, proved a thorn in the f s ides o the Royalists, some thousands of whom lost 36 POOLE their lives in the fierce fighting that took place at

Poole, and particularly around Lyme Regis .

The merchants of Poole became wealthy by their f trade with New oundland , a commerce that commenced

of in the reign Queen Elizabeth , and lasted until

n well o in the reign of Queen Victoria. The trade is o n th e said to have been conducted truck system , and the merchants grew rich by buying both their exports and imports wholesale while disposing of them at retail prices .

in Not far from the quay is an almshouse, built

1 8 16 f h by George Garland, a wealthy merchant o t e

o n of 1 1 town, who, the occasion a great feast in 8 4, “ presented o n e honest plum - pudding of on e hundred

” r weight towards the entertainment . Fa ther on i 1 6 I s a house built in 74 by Sir Peter Thompson . t is of a good specimen Georgian architecture, and still bears th e heraldic arms of the merchant wh o

’ ’ W imb or n e s built it. Sir Peter s house is now Lady “ Cornelia Hospital Most o f the other old houses

’ o f the town s merchants have been modernized an d

e — sadly disfigured . The oldest almshous s and the number of ancient almshouses in a town is a sure guide to its old-time prosperity— we re built originally in the reign of the fifth H enry, and for many years

. 1 t f . a belonged to the Guild o St George In 547,

e h the Reformation, they p ass d to the Crown, wit POOLE 37 all of 1 0 the other property the Guild , and in 55 they

r w ere purchased by the Corpo ation . Needless per

s a e e e haps to y, th y hav b en rebuilt more than once, although they have continuously provided for the

r poo for more than five hundred years . An interesting antiquarian find was made in a ditch near Poole a fe w ye ars ago of the se al o f

e e John, Duke of Bedford, under whose rule as R g nt o f Franc e Joan of Arc was burned . The occurrence

h e of t seal on this spot was due, without doubt, to this noble having been Lord of Canford and Poole .

r r of Nea the chu ch , a modern building on the site

on e an older , is a small gateway which may possibly h as s e a- r ave been a water gate , traces of weed we e found clinging to it when the adjacent soil was e xca d vate . Older than any other buildings in Poole are the “ s o-called Town Cellars referred to variously in

’ th e town s remarkable collection o f records as the

“ ” “ ’ “ e 0 1 Gr at Cellar , the King s Hall and the W 0

” r o f house . The original pu pose the building has

r n o t yet been definitely dete mined . It is largely of f - ourteenth century date, and its doorways and windows have a decidedly ecclesiastical appear ance . At the same time there is no evidence whateve r that it

r f ever fo med part o a monastic foundation, or was e ver built for religious purposes . The old battered 38 POO LE

f on e building was the scene o at least fierce fight, when a combined French and Spanish fleet attacked the town to revenge themselves on the dreaded

or buccaneer, Harry Paye, Page, who had been

n raiding the shores of France and Spain . Whe the hostile fleets entered Poole Harbour early on e morning five hundred years ago, the town was taken “ ” Arr i a by surprise . The intrepid p y , as his enemies

o n e of rendered the name, was absent on his expedi tions, but his place was worthily taken by his brother,

' who was killed in the fighting. The Town Cellars

of were full stores and munitions of war, and when

on the building had been captured and set fire, the

Vi townsmen retired, while the ctorious Spaniards, who had been reinforced by the French after a first

- repulse, returned with a few prisoners to their ships,

of and sailed out the harbour, having given the mariners of Poole the greatest drubbing they have ever received in the long history of the place .

of Near Poole is Canford Manor, the seat Lord “ ” Wimborne and the Chene Manor of the Wessex T . e novels h re was a house here in very early times,

o f and in the sixteenth year his reign King John ,

- a e e by letter Close, informed Ralph de P rco, the k per

f h is was h is o wines at Southampton, that it pleasure “ o ur of that three tuns of wines, the best sort that I is in your custody should be sent to Canford . n

40 POOLE her first husband being Sir J . J . Guest, and her second Mr. Schreiber, member o f Parliament for

Poole . In addition to a great literary talent Lady Char lotte had a considerable love for the more mechanical

’ of for side the bookmaker s art , and many years f Canford could boast o a printing press . In the year 1 862 serious attention was turned to the pro f duction o beautiful and artistic printing. Although

e Lady Charlott was the prime mover in this venture , s h e received valuable assistance from her son (Lord

Wimborne), Miss Enid Guest, and other members o f the family . It is thought that the first book

Golc on da of printed here was , the work a former tutor to the family. The most important books produced at this amateur press were Tennyson ’s

Th e Wi n d ow Th e Vi c tim , and , both printed in

o f 1 867. One the Miss Guests had met Tennyson while staying at Freshwater, and the poet sent these MSS . to Canford in order that they might

Th e Vi c ti m b e printed . On the title page of

c o o f there is a woodcut of Canford Manor. A p y this book was recently in the market . It contained an autograph inscription by the late Mr. Montague

Guest to William Barnes , the Dorset poet . Only

1 88 two other Copies have Changed hands since 7, and these Canford press publications are eagerly POOLE 41

1 8 6 sought by collectors . So long ago as 9 a copy o f Th e Vi c ti m realized £75 at the sale of the Crampton Library .

The ancient town of Wimborne, with its glorious minster, is very easily reached both from Poole and from Bournemouth . The town stands in a fertile district which was once occupied by the Roman

r of legions , but the Chief glo y the place is its mag n ific e n t Church with its numerous tombs and monu

H - ments . ere are the last resting places of such famous families as the Courtenays , the Beauforts, and the Uvedales, and here also lie the two daughters

’ of Daniel Defoe, who joined Monmouth s Rebellion at Lyme Regis . In the south choir aisle is the

f E ricke of tomb o Antony t , before whom the Duke Monmouth was taken after his flight from Sedge moor. The chained library, near the vestry, consists chiefly of books left by William Stone, Principal

of o f New Inn Hall, Oxford , who was a native the

‘

8 1 . of town . I n 7 King Ethelred I died wounds received in a battle against the Danes near Wim

in borne . H e was buried the minster, where he

f n h - is commemorated by a fi te e t century brass , this being the only m emorial of th e kind that we have o f an English monarch . One cannot wander in these quiet o ld streets that surround the minster without recalling to memory 42 POOLE

the nuns of Wimborne, who settled here about the

u h b er f year 705, and over whom C t g a, Queen o

of of Northumbria, and sister Ina, King the West

. w Saxons, presided as first abbess It was ith the

f . nuns o Wimborne that St Boniface, a native of

Crediton, in Devon, contracted those friendships that cast s o interesting a light o n the character of the f great apostle o Germany.

h as In addition to its minster church , Wimborne

’ old a very building in St . Margaret s Hospital, founded originally for the relief of lepers . The chapel j oins

of one the tenements of the almsfolk, and here comes on e of the minster clergy e very Thursday to conduct divine service . Near a doorway in the north wall is

an excellent outside water . stoup in a perfect state o f preservation . Comparatively few visitors to Bournemouth and Poole are aware to h ow large an extent the culture of lavender for commercial purposes is carried o n at

Broadstone, near Poole . Although it is only during comparatively recent years that the cultivation o f lavender in this country has been sufficiently extensive f to raise it to the dignity o a recognized industry, dried lavender flowers have been used as a perfume

of from the days the Romans, who named the flower la a n d la u s e v n , from the to which it was applied by them in scenting the water for the bath . It is not POOLE 43 known for certain when the lavender plant was brought

’ . i n le into England Shakespeare, in the W ter s Ta , puts these words into the mouth of Perdita "

’ H ere s flowers for you ; e er i r r r Hot lav nd , m nt, savo y, ma "o am ;

Th e r e . b e d th e ma igold, that go s to with sun , An d with him rises weeping "these are flowers of ” Middl e summer

The Bard o f Avon laid his scene in Bohemia ; but th e context makes it evident that the plants nam e d were such as were growing in an English cottager’s f garden in the reign o Queen Elizabeth .

Broadstone was the spot Chosen by Messrs . Rivers H ill and Company for the purpose of growing lavender

for . their perfume distilleries It is an ideal spot, where

of o n of a large tract heather land, a portion Lord

’ W imb o r n e s of estate , rises in a series undulations

from Poole . Harbour. Although it is quite a new

e industry for Dorset, it has alr ady proved of great

value in finding constant employment, and an employ

e m nt as healthy as it is constant, for a large number

o f men and women . Unfortunately, perhaps, it is an industry which demands peculiar climatic conditions

to render it comm ercially profitable . A close proximity

s ea o f to the , and an abundance sunshine, give an aroma to the oil extracted from the flowers that is

lacking when lavender is grown inland . 44 CH RISTCH U RCH

oil The farm has its own distillery, where the essences are extracted and tested . The lavender is planted during the winter months, and two crops are

— or harvested the first in June July, and the second in August or September. The reaping is done by f men, and the flowers are packed into mats o about half a hundredweight each . The fields are not entirely given over to the culti

of vation lavender, for peppermint, sweet balm , rose

- mary, elder, and the sweet scented violets are also grown here . In addition to the people occupied in the fields a large number of women and girls are employed to weave the wicker coverings for the bottles of r scent, forwa ded from this Dorset flower farm to all parts of the world .

C H R IS TCH U R CH

o f The ancient borough Christchurch, five miles

r of e from Bournemouth , sp eads itself over a mile str et o n a promontory washed o n on e side by the Dorset

o n . Stour, and the other by the Wiltshire Avon Just below the town the two rivers unite, and make their

- way through mud banks to the English Channel . The

of town itself is not devoid interest, although the great f ld attraction o the place is the o Priory church , one CH RISTCH URCH 45 of the finest churches of non - cathedral rank in the

its country, both with regard to size , and its value f to students o architecture .

Christchurch was once included in the New Forest, “ the boundaries of which ran from Hurst along the

s ea seashore to Christchurch bridge , as the flows, thence as the Avon extends as far as the bridge of

For th in g b r u g g e (Fordingbridge). Its inclusion in the New Forest probably accounts for the great number of Kings who visited it after the Norman Conquest,

E th elwold s o 1 although King was here early as 90 , long before the New Forest was thought of. King

of John had a great liking for this part the country, where the New Forest, Cranborne Chase , and the Royal Warren of Purbeck made up a hunting-ground

e of enormous extent . King John was frequ ntly at

Christchurch, which was also visited by Edwards III I , I I , and , by the seventh and eighth Henrys, and

VI o f by Edward , the last whom , we are told by “ ” u Fuller, passed thro gh the little town in the forest . With such a wealth o f royal visitors it is fitting that the principal hotel in the town should be called the

“ ’ ” o f e King s Arms . One the m mbers of Parliament for r E tric ke the borough was the eccent ic Antony , the

e Recorder of Poole, b fore whom the Duke of Monmouth was taken after his capture following the defeat at w Sedgemoor. The unfortunate prince as found on 46 CH RISTCH U RCH

’ Shag s Heath , near Horton, in a field Since called

“ ’ ” Monmouth s Close . An interesting reference to the place which has been

’ missed by all the town s historians , including that “ indefatigable antiquary, Walcott, occurs in The Note

Book o fTr is tram Risdon an early seventeenth-century manuscript pres erved in the Library of the Dean and

Chapter of Exeter. The entry is as follows

B de R idvers th e fi E rl e re fer aldwyn , fth , was of D vonshi a t

h e e B er e 2 e r . t d ath of aldwyn his fath , which di d 9 of H n y I I I This B e e e e ere aldwyn had issu John , which liv d not long, by m an s wh of ’ h e R idve rs f e th er ldom e e er t e nam of ail d, and cam unto Isab ll sist th e B maried de For ib u s of last aldwyn , which was unto William t , E r r r L e e . Nee l of Albema le . This ady di d without issu e about ’ h er e ee h e e h er man n or r d ath sh sold t il of W ight, and of Ch ist r K E r for s ix th ows an d r chu ch unto ing dwa d I ma k , payd by th e S ir G er Kn ovile de S e G effre hands of ilb t , William tan s, and y ’ ” h m h e K R e er H ec a t e . , ing s c iv s

Going by the road the town is entered on the north

Bar ate s side, at a spot called g , where there was once i E h i. . a movable barrier or gate . g g e te ( e the marshy

old o f o f island), the name a suburb the town , gave the appellation to an extensive H undred in Domesday.

Baldwin de Redvers mentions the bridge of E g g h e ite .

Among the Corporation records are three indulge nces remitting forty days o f penance gr anted at Don u h efd

1 1 by Simon , Archbishop of Canterbury, July 33 , to all who contributed to the building or repair of the bridge o f Tw n e h am Christchurch de y ; by Gervase, Bishop

CH RISTCH URCH 47 of 1 6 an d f Bangor, in 3 7 ; by Geo frey, Archbishop o f 6 h t 1 . Damascus , December, 373 These indulgences are interesting as showing the importance attached

’ th e r to keeping town s b idges in good repair.

28 th 1 8 On January, 55, Sir Edmund Lyons, after wards Lord Lyons of Ch ristchurch received a public

on welcome in the town , his return from his brilliant

. M u de for d action before Sebastopol At , near by, live d

William Steward Rose, to whom Sir Walter Scott paid occasional visits . Scott is said to have corrected the “ ” M u deford proofs of Marmion while at , where, in

1 1 . 8 6, Coleridge was staying The town once had a leper hospital in Barrack

Street, dedicated to St . Mary Magdalen, but all traces o f it have disappeared .

e s The vi ws around the town , e pecially perhaps that

of e from the top the church tower, are very xtensive, from the New Forest on the east to the hills of Purbeck

o n and Swanage the west, while the view seawards includes the sweeping curve of Christchurch Bay, the f o . English Channel, and the Isle Wight The con s p ic u ou s emin e nce seen on th e west o f the river is

’ e St. Catherin s Hill, where the monks first began to

on build their Priory, and it some traces of a small

H e n is b ur chapel have been found . g t y Head is a wild and dese rted spot, with remains of an ancient fosse

s e de fe n c u t between the Stour and the a, possibly for 4s CH RISTCH URCH

sive purposes , as there is a rampart on each side of

the entrenchment, to which there are three entrances . At the end of the long High Street stands the Priory

Church , with examples to show of each definite period of our national ecclesiastical architecture, from an early

Norman crypt to Renaissance chantries . The extreme

1 1 length of the church is 3 feet, it being in this respect of greater length than the cathedrals of Rochester, C x ford , Bristol, Exeter, Carlisle, Ripon , and Southwell .

So vast a building n aturally costs a large s u m o f money every year to keep in repair, and in this respect the parishioners of the ancient borough owe much to

Bournemouth, whose visitors , by their fees, provide more th an sufficient funds for this purpose . The wonderful purity of the air h as been a great factor

o f in preserving the crispness the masonry, and in keeping the mouldings and carvings almost as sharp in profile as when they were first cut by the mediaeval masons . The out-of-the -way position of the Priory no doubt accounts for the slight and fragmentary references to

old it in early Chronicles, the only writer of note to

K n h ton tem . mention it being yg ( p Richard I I), who “ o f speaks of it as the Priory Twynham , which is

” now called Christchurch . Even Camden , many years “ later, merely says that Christchurch had a castle ” and church founded in the time o f the Saxons . It CH RISTCH URCH 49

is mentioned in the Domesday Survey, when its value

8 i was put at £ yearly, an increase of two pounds S nce the days of Edward the Confessor. The Cartulary of the Priory is in the British Museum , but it contains

e no not s of architectural interest . According to tradition the first builders began to

’

on . erect a church St Catherine s Hill, but by some miraculous agency the stones were removed every night, and deposited on the promontory between the two rivers, at a spot which became known by the

Tw e oxn e h am . Saxon name of , or Twynham The site

e for the church having been divinely r vealed, the monks began to build on the sacred spot ; but eve n then there was no cessation of supernatural in terve n tion . Every day a strange workman came and toiled ; but he never took any food to sustain him , and never

e demanded any wages . Once , when a raft r was too

its a e short for llotted place, the stranger str tched it to the required length with his hands, and this mira

ul u c o s beam is still to be seen within the church .

When at last the building was finished , and the work men were gathered togeth e r to s e e the fruits of their labour receive the episcopal consecration, the strange workman was nowhere to be found . The monks came to the conclusion that He was none

th e other than Christ Himself, and Church which owed so much to H is miraculous help became known as ( 0 742) 4 50 CH RISTCH URCH

Christchurch , or Christchurch Twynham , although it had been officially dedicated to the Holy Trinity in the reign of Edward the Confessor, and the title of Christchurch does not appear to have been in general u s e until the twelfth century .

o f The early history the foundation is very obscure .

King Aeth els tan is said ‘to have founded the first

. o f monastery More certain is it that, in the reign

Edward the Confessor, the church at Twynham was held by Secular Canons , who remained there until

1 1 0 o r 5 , when they were displaced by Augustinians,

was Austin Canons . The early Church pulled down H r . e by Ralf Flamba d, afterwards Bishop of Durham was the builder of the fine Norman nave of Christ

o f . church , and the still grander nave Durham Cathedral

H e was Chaplain to William Rufus , and his life was as evil and immoral as his skill in building was great.

1 1 28 H e died in , and was buried in his great northern

’ o f cathedral . Much Flambard s Norman work at

Christchurch remains in the triforium , the arcading

f . o the nave, and the transepts A little later we get the nave clerestory, Early English work, put up soon

a roxi after the dawn of the thirteenth century, the p p mate date also of the nave aisle vaulting, the north porch , and a chapel attached to the north transept . To the fourteenth century belong the massive stone

- rood screen, and the reredos . The Perpendicular Lady CH RISTCH U RCH 5 1

Chapel was finished about the Close o f the thirteenth

e century, while the fourteenth century gav us the western tower, and most of the choir, although the

was of vaulting put up much later, as the bosses the

. E . south Choir aisle bear the initials W , indicating

r 1 02 1 20 . William Eyre , Prior f om 5 to 5 Last of all in ar chitectural Chronology come the chantry o f Pr ior

1 2 of Draper, built in 5 9, and that Margaret, Countess o f of IV of Salisbury, niece Edward , and mother the famous Cardinal Pole . She was not destined , however,

1 1 . to lie here , as She was beheaded at the Tower in 54 f The church now consists o nave, aisles, choir,

w . unaisled transepts, western to er, and Lady Chapel The Cloisters and the domestic buildings have dis appeared . It is highly probable that there was once

n a central tower, an almost invariable accompa iment

r o f a Norman conventual church . The e is no doc

m n r i u e ta y ev dence relating to a central tower, but the massive piers and arches at the corners of the tran septs seem to indicate that provision was made for o n e t h e , and representation of a tower of two stages

ld e r on an o Priory seal, may be ither the ecord of an

o r of actual structure, an intelligent anticipation a

al feature that neve r took an architectural form , though it was contemplated . In the churchyard ar e tombstones to the memory of some o f the passengers lost in the wreck of the 52 CH R IS TC'H URCH

H a l ll l n h 1 s ew e ff D r s o 6 86. , o u t H ead , on t January, 7

The churchyard is large, and a walk round it allows

e a vi w of the whole of the north side of the church . On the south side a modern house and its grounds have displaced the Cloisters and the domestic buildings attached to the foundation . Prominent features on the north side are a Circular transept stairway, rich in diaper work, the arcading round the transept, the f wide windows o the clerestory of the choir, and the

fif n h upper portion o f the Lady Chapel . The tee t century tower is s e t s o far within the nave as to l e ave f two spaces at the ends o the aisles, one used as a

- t . ves ry, the other as a store room In the spandrels of the tower doorway are two shields Charged with the arms o f the Priory and of the Earls of Salisbury .

Above the doorway is a large window, and above this again a niche containing a figure of Christ .

- The octagonal stair turret is at the north east angle .

is of The north porch , much restored, great size, and its side walls are of nearly the same height as the clerestory of the nave . On the west Side is a recess f with shafts o Purbeck marble and foliated cusps .

Around the wall is a low stone seat, used , it is said , by the parishioners and oth e rs who came to s e e the

Prior o n business . The roof has some very beautiful

1 862. groining, much restored in Above the porch is a lofty room , probably used as the muniment room

CH RISTCH URCH 53

f r o the P iory . Entrance to the church from this porch is

through a double doorway o frich Early English work .

An extraordinary epitaph is that on a tombstone

n e ar th e r e " north po ch , which r ads as follows

We ere s la n e ra s ed ra s ed b e w not y but y , y not to life but to r e e men r W r by l d twic by of st ife . hat est could th e living have w e e e ree eere n r on h n d ad had non , ag amongst you h we te a e e . H n R r e A r e . oge s di d p ill 1 7

Several attempts have been made to explain the mean

of o n e h e ff ing this epitaph , to t e ect that Oliver

Cromwell, while at Christchurch, dug up some lead f co fins to make into bullets, replacing the bodies from

ffi n r ten co ns in o e g ave . This solution is more inge

n io u s as than probable, Cromwell does not appear to

r . e have ever been at Christchu ch Mor over, the Great Rebellion did not begin until over fifteen months later

than the date o n the tombstone . Another and more likely explanation is that the ten were shipwrecked

e sailors , who were at first buried n ar the spot where

r o f th e ir bodies were washed a shore . The lo d the manor wished to remove the bodies to consecrated

e ground , and a quarrel ensued b tween him and Henry

of e Rogers, then Mayor Christchurch , who object d

o f to their removal . Eventually the lord the manor

had his way, but the Mayor had the bodies placed

in one grave, possibly to save the town the expense o f ten separate interments . 54 CH RISTCH URCH

The north aisle was originally Norman , and small round -headed windows still remain -to light the tri foriu m . In the angle formed by the aisle and the north wing of the transept stood formerly a two- storied building, the upper part of which communicated by a staircase with the north aisle , but all this has been destroyed . The north transept is chiefly Norman in f character, with a fine arcade o intersecting arches

- beneath a billeted string course . An excellent Norman

h e - n l turret of four stages runs up at t north east a g e , and is richly decorated , the third story being orna m n - e te d with a lattice work of stone in high re lie f.

East of the transept was once an apsidal chapel , similar to that still remaining in the south arm of

f e the transept, but about the end o the thirt enth century this was destroyed and two chapels were built

of in its place . These contain beautiful examples plate tracery windows . Above these Chapels is a chamber supposed to have been the tracing room wherein various drawings were prepared . The compartment has a window similar in style to those in the chapels below.

East of the transept is the Choir, with a clerestory o f four lofty Perpendicular windows of four lights each , with a bold flying buttre ss between the windows . The whole of this part of the church is P e r p en dic u lar low , the Choir aisle windows are very , and the CH RISTCH URCH 55 curvature of the sides of the arches is so slight that they almost appear to be straight lines . The Choir

of roof is flat, and is invisible from the exterior the

o n e church . It is probable that at time a parapet f ran along the top o the clerestory walls , similar to

n s o h as that o the aisle walls, but if it disappeared, giving this portion of the choir a somewhat bare

of appearance . The Lady Chapel is to the east the choir and presbytery, and contains three large Per p e n dicu lar windows o n each side ; part of the central window on the north side is blocke d by an octagonal

’ turret containing a staircase leading to St . Michael s

Loft, a large room above the Chapel . The large f eastern window o five lights is Perpendicular . The or iginal purpose of the loft above the Chapel is u n c er tain , and it has been used for a variety of purposes .

“ ’ 161 It was described as St . Michael s Lof in 7, and in 1 666 th e p ar is h ion er s petitioned Bishop Morley for

u s e permission to it as a school, describing it as “ ” e - having been heretofore a chapt r house . The loft is lighted by five two-light windows having square heads and with the lights divided by transoms . The eastern wall has a window of three lights . Very curious are th e corbels of the dripstones and the grotesqu e ly carved gargoyles . The south sides of the Lady Chapel and Choir correspond very closely with the north . This portion of the church is not so well known as 56 CH RISTCH U RCH

the north side, as private gardens come close up to

the walls .

The Norman apsidal Chapel still remains on the

eastern side of the south transept . This has a semi

- conical roof with chevron table moulding b e neath it,

and Clusters of shafts on each side at the spring o f

o n the apse . Of the two windows e is Norman and

the other Early English . On the northern Side of

the apse is an Early English sacristy. The south side o f the transept was strengthened by three but

tresses, and contains a depressed segmental window much smaller than the corresponding window of the

. of north transept The south side the nave has,

externally, but little interest as compared to the north

side, for the Cloisters, which originally stood here, have

e n been pulled down . Trac s of the Cloister roof c a still

- u b e seen, also a large drain , and an aumbry and c p

board built into the thickness of the wall . There are also the remains o f a staircase which probably led

to a dormitory at the weste rn end .

o f In the south wall the nave are two doors, that

at the west used by the canons, and that at the east

- by the Prior. The latter door is of thirteenth century

date and is distinctly French in character. In mediae val days the nave was used as the parish

its ch urch , and had own high altar, while the choir

was reserved for the use of the canons . The nave CH RISTCH URCH 57 is made up of s e ven noble bays ; the lower arcade consists of semicircular arches enriched with the chevron ornament, while the spandrels are fill e d with

- r hatchet wo k carving. The triforium o f each bay on both sides consists o f two arches supported by a

central pillar and enclosed by a semicircular c on taining arch , with bold mouldings .

1 200 The clerestory was built about by Peter,

. o f e the third Prior The present roof is stucco, add d in 1 8 1 9 ; the original Norman roof was probably of wood, although Springing shafts exist, which seem to indicate that a stone vault was contemplated by the Norman builders . The north aisle retains

1 2 . its original stone vaulting, put up about 00 This

o n e aisle is slightly later than the southern , which was completed first in order that the Cloister might

o f be built . The windows are plate tracery, and mark the transition between Early English and

Decorated . The south aisle is very richly decorated with a fine wall arcade enriched with cable and

of billet mouldings . The vaulting is the same date

o f as that in the north aisle, and is also the work

1 1 1 22 . Peter, Prior from 95 to 5 In the western bay is the original Norman window, the others being

filled with modern tracery o f Decorated style . In this aisle is a large aumbry and recess, where the bier and lights used at funerals were stored . There 58 CH RISTCH U RC H

- is also a holy water stoup in the third bay. At the west end are the remains of the stairway which led to the dormitory . The stairway is built into the wall, which , at this particular spot, is nearly seven feet thick.

Under the north transept is an early Norman apsidal crypt with aumbries in the walls . There is a corresponding crypt in the south wing. The ritual choir of the canons included the transept

o n e crossing as well as bay of the parish nave, but at a later date the ritual and the new architectural

Choirs were made to correspond, and the present

- stone rood screen was erected . It dates from the

o f . time Edward I I I It has a plain base, surmounted with a row of panelled quatrefoils, over which is a

- string course with a double tier o f canopied niches . The whole screen is massive and of superb work manship .

The choir is of Perpendicular architecture, lighted by four lofty windows on each side . There is no

f . tri orium , its place being occupied with panelling On each side of the Choir are fifteen stalls with quaintly carved misericords .

The presbytery stands on a Norman crypt, and is backed by a stone reredos far exceeding in beauty the somewhat similar screens at Winchester, South

o f wark, and St . Albans . It is three stories , with

60 CH RISTCH URCH

r parish Church of Ch istchurch . The last Prior was

r of e John D aper I I , vicar Puddletown , Dors t, and titular Bishop of Neapolis . H e surrendered the

r 28 th e 1 Prio y on Nov mber, 539, when he received a

1 6 . 8 d e s . e p nsion of £ 33, ; and was allowed to r tain

r Some ford Grange during his life . The original document reads

r er B N ea ol tan e r r ere To John D ap , ishop of p y , lat p io th

r r 1 é 8 . th e r S er r e (Ch istchu ch), £ 33, s . d ; also mano of om fo d, call d ’ th e r r r e th e r S er r e r P io s lodging, pa c l of mano of om fo d, b ing pa t th e e a er for er e th e of said lat mon st y, t m of lif of said bishop with ” r r out anything yie lding o paying the eof.

The other inmates of the monastery also received

e pensions . The debts ow d by the brethren at the Dissolution include such items as

M e R e r er S for e ale To John ill , co d of outhampton, win and

2 2 8 . e er had of him , £ 4, s . d William Hawland , of Pool , m chant, h 2 u ill mu s r for e fis eer 8 1 . d . G el win , , and b had of him, £ , 3s , tailo , r r r R r s e e 26 . e of Ch istchu ch , as app a th by his bill , s og Thoma , S for r r of outhampton , a pai of o gans,

’ h Heron Court was the Prior s country house , w ile

’ n Somerford and St . Austin s, near Lymingto , were

r g anges and lodges belonging to the foundation . On le aving the Priory a visit should be paid to

o f o ld e on the ruins the Norman Castle, p rched the top of a high mound that commands the town o n every side , and the Priory as well . Only fragments of the walls remain o f the keep erected here by

CH RISTCH URCH 6 1

‘ 1 1 Richard de Redvers , who died in 37, although the castle continued to be held by h is descendan ts Until it was granted by Edward 111 to Williamde Mont

of acute, Earl Salisbury, who was appointed Con

f 1 stable, an o fice he held until 405 . During the tenure by the de Redvers the resident bailiff regulated the tolls, markets, and fairs at his pleasure, and he also fixed the amount of the duties to be levied o n

o f merchandise . It was not until the reign the third Edward that the burgesses were relieved from these uncertain and arbitrary exactions .

of The east and west walls the keep remain, ten feet in thickness and about thirty feet in height. The artificial mound on which they are raised is well over twenty feet high . The masonry of the walls is exceedi ngly rough and solid , for in the days when they were erected

a n d men built for shelter and protection, not with the idea o f providing themselves with beautiful houses to live in . The keep was made a certain heigh t,

s o not as a crowning feature in the landscape, but that from its top the warder could s e e for many

h e miles the glitter of a lance, or t dust raised by a f troop of horse men . One of the greatest charms o the rough , solid walls of a Norman castle is that they are s o honest and straightforward, and tell their story s o plainly . 62 CH RISTCH U RCH

Looking over the town from the Castle mound we realize that Christchurch could correctly be de “ nominated a moated town inasmuch as its two rivers encircle it in a loving embrace . Being s o c u t off by Nature with waterways as to be almost an island, it was obviously a strong position for defence, and a lovely site for a monastery .

- o f A little to the north east the Castle, upon a branch o f the Avon which formed at once the Castle moat and the Priory mill stream , stands a large portion of o n e of the few Norman houses left in this country. It is seventy feet long by thirty feet in breadth , with walls of great thickness . It was built

o f about the middle the thirteenth century, and is

o n h said , Slight authority, to ave been the Con

’ stable s house . The basement story has widely

Splayed loopholes in its north and east walls, and retains portions of the old stone staircases which led to the principal room occupying the whole of the upper story. This upper roo m was lighted by

on three Norman windows each Side, enriched with

e . the bill t, zigzag, and rosette mouldings At the north end the arch and shafts remain o f a large window decorated with the familiar chevron ornament . Near the centre o f the east wall is a fireplace with

o f a very early specimen a round chimney, which has, however, been restored . In the south gable is CH RISTCH URCH 63

a round window, while a small tower, forming a

r th e flank, ove hangs stream which flows through

n it . The buildi g is much overgrown with ivy and creepers, and it is a matter for regret that no efficient means have been taken to preserve s o valuable a specimen o f late Norman architecture from slowly crumbling to piece s under the influences

r o f o f the weather. T aces the other sides of the

Castle moat have been discovered in Church Street, f o . Castle Street, and in the boundary the churchyard A walk along the bank situated between the Avon proper and the stream that flows by the side of the Norman house leads past the Priory and the churchyard to the Quay, the spot where much of the stone for building the Priory was disembarked . Owing to the estuary of the combined rivers being almost choke d with mud and weeds there is very little commer cial Shipping trade carried o n at the

’ Quay, which is now mainly the centre of the town s river life during the summer months, for everyone living at Christchurch seems to own a boat of some kind . During the season motor launches ply several

M d f r times a day between Christchurch and u e o d, with its reputation for Christchurch salmon .

On the quayside is the old Priory Mill, now called

Place Mill, which is mentioned in the Domesday

Survey. It stands o n the very brink of the river; 64 CH RISTCH URCH i s s e t foundations are deep t in the water, and its rugged and buttressed walls are reflected stone by

n stone in the clear, tremulous mirror. The gla cing

o n lights the bright stream , the wealth of leafy foliage, the sweet cadence of the ripples as they plash

“ of against the walls of the Quay, and the beauty the

” r fl ion s — i f long e e ct quiver ng lines o grey, green, and purple— increase the beauty of what is probably the most picturesque corner of the town, while over the tops of the trees peers the grey tower of the ancient

— Priory Church . These three buildings the Priory,

— the Castle , and the Mill sum up the simple history f o the place . The Castle for defence , the Priory for

of prayer, the Mill for bread ; and Christchurch it may

r be said, both by the histo ian and the modern sight

m n i h a ec tr i a s n n t o a . seer,

PR INTE D IN G R E AT BR ITAIN

ld P r s s Glas ow S cotlan d At th e Villafie e , g ,