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Lyme Regis – The Church of St. Michael the Archangel

Jul 26th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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St. Michael the Archangel is a church steeped in history, yet one that seems perilously close to being lost to the sea. Although it was suspected the Saxons built a church where St. Michael’s now stands, until 1994-5 there was no proof of this. During that time repairs to the tower uncovered a window dating from about 980 in a wall of the belfry chamber. This find made it probable that the lower two-thirds of the tower is Saxon. When the Normans rebuilt the remainder of the church about 1120, they largely retained and updated the Saxon stonework.

This and other later developments and alterations made any description of the first church or chapel on the site a matter of conjecture. Certainly the present porch supersedes the foundation of the Saxon nave. The Normans however made their church plan cruciform, and there is some evidence that the nave had an aisle on the north side and an aisle or chantry on the south side. The tower was probably situated centrally with transepts and an apse at the east end. The present porch is all that remains of the Norman nave. It once extended ten feet further west than today, but the extension was demolished when the road outside was widened in 1824.

A room known as “The Old Vestry” formerly occupied the floor above the porch, but was removed during a phase of restoration in 1933. At this time the contractors took the opportunity to reveal as much Norman masonry as possible. They rebuilt the west front, intending to add new north and south aisles to the sides of the porch so that the original 12th century arches could be shown off to best advantage.

When viewed from outside, this end of the church has an unfinished appearance. The work was apparently left incomplete when funding dried up, and because of inflation it is considered unlikely that the work will ever be completed. The various structural alterations to the church over the centuries are also clearly in evidence when the building is viewed from the east (seaward) end of the churchyard. For example, the apex of the nave/aisle roof stands about one metre above the apex of the chancel roof, the elevation being faced with dark shingles or bricks seen no-where else in the church’s fabric or structure.

From the porch the visitor enters the Baptistry under the tower. Standing in the centre must be one of the most sumptuous and elaborate fonts in the county and beyond. The font is the parish’s memorial to the Revd. Frederick Parry-Hodges, who was vicar of Lyme during most of the Victorian period. Beyond the Baptistry the nave is entered through the Norman chancel arch, while the arches to the north and south, though walled up, are 13th century and infused into the earlier Saxon tower. This re-ordering is further complicated by the upper levels of the tower, which were added in the early 16th century, raising its height to the present 58 feet.

The present nave, though roughly contemporary with the elevation of the tower, is in stark contrast to the austerity of the porch. It is well proportioned and spacious, and was pitched at a slight upward gradient towards the high altar. The nave has been restored several times, the most recent being in 1885, when the upward slope was replaced by broad steps which originally spanned the whole church. But the rest of the re-ordering of 1885 was concerned with rendering the interior suitable for the worship of the time. The exterior too, has needed and received frequent restoration work. The nave has six bays, the two easternmost forming the chancel. There are some fine carvings around the pillars, and there is a fine set of roof bosses. The ceiling of the chancel was embellished with a painting of the Raising of the Cross in about 1850.

There are no original stained glass windows remaining in St. Michael’s. The window on the left side of the porch is a memorial to Thomas Coram, a wealthy Lyme captain and merchant seaman who ended his days in penury. The second window along the north side of the nave portrays Sir Galahad’s vision of the Holy Grail. The east window was once nearly twice its present length, but was reduced during the restoration of 1885. But the first window along the north side is particularly interesting, for although she is not portrayed within it, the window is in memory of Mary Anning, Lyme’s pioneering woman fossil collector and dealer of the early 19th century.

The church has two examples of Jacobean wood carving in the west gallery and the pulpit. The chancel screen commemorates the Revd. George Barlow. Among the memorial brasses can be seen the bell from HMS Lyme Regis (1942-1948) which in 1944 took part in the Second Front D-Day landings in Normandy. Most church plate is modern, and the organ was acquired from St. Mary Major church, Exeter, in 1939. Further down the nave on the north side can be seen the most remarkable and enigmatic possession of the church. This is the highly controversial Lyme Tapestry, widely supposed to be the work of Flemish weavers around 1490.

Lyme Church is remarkable for its ring of bells, which today actually number twelve. In their structural alterations to the tower the Normans specifically intended it should house bells, though nothing is known of those which preceded the first new ring of six bells hung in 1770. The fourth of these bells was re-cast in 1843 with the inscription “O Sea Spare Me.” The ring was re-hung in a new oak frame in 1911, when two more were added. Then in 1953 all eight were re-cast again and dedicated to the Bishop of Sherborne. A further four bells (two large and two small) were added in 1988.

The main bells made local news when they had to be lowered into the tower by a Sea King helicopter hired from RNAS Culdrose. The two small bells were mounted in a frame designed and constructed by the ringers themselves.  All the bells are noted for the quality of their tone, and campanologists from all over the country come to Lyme to ring them. In 1995 a record was set when the longest unaided and unbroken peal of Surprise Royal was rung at St.Michael’s.

The Church registers date from 1538 and with the exception of a single entry in 1649, there is a gap from 1572 to 1653. The pages also contain information about certain significant dates for events. For example there is one entry stating. “1759, 31st May – the sea flowed in three times in an hour at Lyme.”

The churchyard, while not overcrowded with burials, features headstones or table-tombs almost entirely worked from local Lias limestone. As in many Dorset churchyards inscriptions have become largely obscured by lichen. For different reasons two of these monuments in particular stand out from all the rest. One is the large limestone slab marking the last resting-place of Mary Anning, and which lies almost opposite her memorial window in the church. This grave, however, is not exclusively hers, for she shares it with her brother Joseph and some infant children of the family.

The other memorial is prominent by being pristine, un-weatherable red granite monument within a low enclosure in the south-east quarter of the churchyard. This is the grave of the aforementioned Revd. Frederick Parry-Hodges, incumbent at St. Michael’s from 1833 to 1880. It can be assumed therefore, that it was this minister who would have presided over the burials of Mary Anning and her family.

Posted in: Lyme Regis.

A Day Out in Bournemouth

Jul 18th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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The smart resort of Bournemouth is a relatively modern place, unlike the historic ports of Poole and Christchurch either side. Bournemouth was created by the Victorians, much aided by the arrival of the railway, which gave the masses previously undreamed possibilities of travel.

Today, Bournemouth is the largest conurbation in Dorset, with some 163,000 residents, part of the seamless urban belt that runs from Upton in the west to Barton-on-Sea in the east, with a slight break at the River Avon. Until 1974, Bournemouth was part of Hampshire, with the boundary at County Gates, were Westbourne meets Poole. Becoming a unitary authority in 1997, it still stands much apart from Dorset – indeed – some die-hard traditionalists still won’t accept it’s not still in Hampshire!

Sea bathing had become fashionable in the times of King George III at the nearby resort of Weymouth, but Bournemouth – literally where the meandering river Bourne joins the sea – was very much a late developer. Two centuries ago it was a largely empty length of coastline, with sand dunes by the sea and heathland at the rear. Captain Lewis Tregonwell built a summer home in 1811, on open land now occupied by the Royal Exeter Hotel. The Tapps Arms Inn of 1809 was the only other building hereabouts.

Today Bournemouth is one of the best known resorts in England. The strength of Bournemouth has always been the beauty of its seafront and gardens. Early landowners planted lots of pine trees and their distinctive scent is everywhere. Some say it sends them to sleep! The course of the River Bourne from Meyrick Park down into the Upper Gardens, then into the Lower Gardens forms the valley on which the town is centred. Quite steep hills rise either side of the gardens, wide roads in which the ladies will spend hours in the many shops and boutiques. Lots of super restaurants, from classic English to ethnic, line the streets and interleave with the smart shops and arcades. The Borough Council claims the highest number of Rolls Royce owners live in Bournemouth, which they say has more pubs and clubs than Soho.

Let us begin – as all seaside tours should – at Bournemouth Pier. A jetty was built in 1856, but the present iron pier had its beginnings in 1880. Looking inland from the pier head – where boats still call on day excursions to the Isle of Wight and Swanage, the green spine along the twinkling stream is clearly seen. On the right rises the majestic Royal Bath Hotel on the Eastcliff, with the steel box of the Imax cinema placed in front of it, rather like Dr. Who has just left his tardis there! Students of planning should include this architectural abomination in their studies, how could the planners allow it? To the right of centre, seen from the pier head, is the gracefully ageing Pavilion, the 1929 centre of entertainment, including a theatre, ballroom, restaurant and a tea room. To the left, along the Westcliff, is another modern building – the Bournemouth International Centre – which blends in with the hillside. The venue for national political conferences and major exhibitions, it brings much trade to the area.

Out at sea, the bay begins at Durlston Head in the west and ends at Hengistbury Head in the east, famous for its Iron Age forts. Boscombe Pier survives to the east. You may see the ferries and the fast “Condor” catamarans bound for Cherbourg or Guernsey, emerging from the narrow entrance to Poole Harbour in the west, having crossed the chain ferry at Sandbanks.

Walking through Lower Gardens is a special delight in summer, when the riot of colour and scent are at their height. The rectangular bandstand still hosts band concerts. Lots of seats give space to sit and enjoy the peace. The tall buildings of Westover Road dominate the east view, including the Metro Palace Court Hotel – my tip for a fine meal in smart surroundings – but not cheap.

The Square is the meeting point of six roads, today partly pedestrianised, but I well remember the yellow trolleybuses of the 1950s and 1960s, which all converged on this point. Many major stores are at once visible, not least Beales department store in old Christchurch Road – a great Bournemouth institution, with its own restaurant on the top floor. Outside in the road is a clock, a gift from the people of Lucerne in Switzerland, with whom they are twinned.

Here the two faces of the town are most evident. “Shopping Bournemouth,” with its fine shops and restaurants, is really busy all year round. At the other end of the gardens, the beach and the Undercliff – the level walk alongside the beach – are thronged only in Summer. In the winter they are the haunt of hardy dog-walkers. Behind the shops, in quiet Hinton Road, is the church of St. Peter, blessed with a tower and a spire, built in the Gothic style so beloved of 1843. In the churchyard lays Mary Shelly, author of the Frankenstein stories and wife of the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose heart is buried here. In an historic county where ancient buildings are almost too common, it comes as a surprise that nothing in central Bournemouth is more than 170 years-old.

Coming to the west side off the Square, note Debenhams massive store at the start of Avenue Road. On this site in the 18th century stood a hunting lodge, called Decoy House, where the Lord of the Manor enclosed a few acres. Then rough heathland, he would be astounded to see the developments which have been achieved today. As Avenue Road curves up the hill – almost everywhere you go in Bournemouth is a hill – there are yet more shops, national names and local businesses cheek by jowl.

By now you may be tired and in need of refreshment. At the top of Avenue Road is Poole Hill and by turning left into Commercial Road, then right into West Hill Road, you will certainly arrive at the civilised Goat and Tricycle. Once two pubs side-by-side, the Pembroke Arms side is still evident from the inside and outside. It’s certainly the best real ale pub in Bournemouth. There may be up to 11 real ales to sample – many from Wadworth who own this listed gem and the lunches are pretty good too.

At the end of West Cliff Promenade, return to sea level by the steep path or better still, use the 1908 cliff railway (open March to October,) which is much less taxing. A little further on are the chines, steep ravines populated by the inevitable pine trees. The first is Durley Chine, then Middle Chine, Alum Chine and then Branksome Dene Chine. The beach along here is quieter than around the Pier. Some smart eating places and cafes have sprung up along the sea wall by the chines. Some are incredibly expensive, so check the menu before you sit down!

You’re never far from the park, an antidote to the frenetic activity of the town centre. These days, Bournemouth includes suburbs like Winton, Wallisdown, Southbourne, Westbourne, Newtown and Pokesdown, making it a big sprawling settlement. They say there are 2,000 acres of parkland in Bournemouth and the temptation has been resisted to build over them – so far! Yet Bournemouth fits nicely in the modern age and still attracts many visitors, winter and summer.

Posted in: A Day Out, Bournemouth.

Faces of Trent

Jul 7th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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This picturesque village with its many stone houses and thatched cottages has changed little over the years. Frederick Treves commented in 1907 that someone revisiting from a century earlier would find little changed and the same could be said today. The births, marriages and deaths in the village have been registered in the Sherborne district since the start of the registration service in 1837 but it was not until 1896 that the parish was transferred from Somerset to Dorset.

There are several photographs in the gallery of inhabitants of Trent who lived in the 19th and early 20th century. Here is what the registers and census returns reveal about their lives.

The Revd. Charles Richmond Tate

Mr Tate came to Trent in 1875 to take up the position of Rector, a position he held until his death in the summer of 1895. He was born at Portsea in Hampshire and moved to Trent from Send in Surrey.  The Trent congregation would have noticed changes at the Rectory. The wife of his predecessor was an heiress who maintained a household that included a steward, butler, page and a retinue of house and parlour maids. Villagers would touch their hats and curtsey even to the empty carriage and pair!

Charles Tate and his wife came with no such airs and graces and made do with a cook and parlour maid. He was a fellow of Corpus College, Oxford.

Charlotte Batson

Born Charlotte Garrett sometime around 1827-1830, she was the daughter of William and Mary Garrett of East Chinnock, Somerset. Charlotte’s life seems to have been one of hard work: in the 1851 census she, her sister, and her brothers are all described as agricultural labourers;  she was widowed twice. In 1860 she married George Colley, an agricultural labourer – Charlotte at the time was a laundress. The couple lived at Marston Magna with her mother-in-law, Mary Colley (73) who was formerly a glove maker. George and Charlotte had two children: Edward born in 1862 and Sarah born in 1864. George Colley died early in 1874, aged 51 years.

Widowed at 45, it is easy to imagine an offer of marriage, however soon after the death of her first husband, would have been attractive. In the summer of 1874 she married a 72-year-old widower, William Batson, an agricultural labourer who was also Trent’s Parish Clerk.
 
In 1881 the couple were living at Five Elms, Trent Road, Trent; with them was Charlotte’s son Edward. From the 1891 census we learn that Charlotte is again widowed and working as a laundress living at Wrigs Lane, Trent. By 1901 she has moved into one of Trent’s Almshouses. Charlotte died in the summer of 1908; we believe she was probably a couple of years older than the 72 years declared on her death certificate.

Levi and Mary Garrett

Levi Garrett was the son of Nathaniel and Rebecca Garrett, being baptised at St. Andrew’s Church in the village of Trent on the 24th of August 1823. In the summer of 1850 at the age of 27 Levi

married Mary Bosey, who was 25 years old. The couple spent the first few months of their marriage living with Levi’s widowed mother, Rebecca, who lived to the age of 90. She spent the last six years of her life living in one of the Almshouses, where she died in the Spring of 1867. Mary Bosey was the daughter of Thomas and Ann Bosey.

In the 1851 census Levi and Mary are both described as Agricultural labourers. Between 1852 and 1870 they had three daughters and two sons. In 1901 Levi and Mary were living at The Plot, Trent. Levi died late in 1905; his age at death was given as 77 but his baptism record would suggest he was nearer 83. Mary died the following year.

Henrietta Melmoth

George Garrett was born in 1835 in the village of Trent. The 1870’s seem to have been George’s decade, for in 1871 he was working as a Thatcher and living with his widowed mother, Frances, but by the end of that year he had met and married Jane Hunt. Jane was from Avening near Cirencester in Gloucester, which is where the couple married in the autumn of 1871. Their only child, named Henrietta, was born in the spring of the following year. By 1881 George Garrett had established himself as a farmer with 46 acres upon which he employed two labourers.
 
Henrietta attended the village school and in 1891 at the age of 19 she was employed at the school as an assistant teacher; the family lived at the School Building in Mill Lane. The 1901 census tells us that George Garrett was still farming at Gore Farm, Trent, and that Henrietta was living with her parents. George Garrett passed away in the spring of 1903.

With Henrietta’s help her mother continued with the farm. In the 1911 census Jane Garrett is described as a Farmer. It reveals that living with the mother and daughter is James Desmond Melmoth, who is described as a Servant and Farm Bailiff. We also learn he is 33 years old and was born in Hampshire.
Jane Garrett lived to see Henrietta and James Melmoth married early in 1916 when Henrietta was 44. Her mother passed away early the following year.

Sarah Hart

Sarah Edds was born in Trent in 1820. In both the 1841 and 1851 census returns she is shown as working as a House Servant to John Pitman. In 1841 John Pitman and his brother are farming at Adber, Trent. John Pitman had returned by 1851 and moved to Queen’s Camel in Somerset; the census for that year reveals that Sarah Edds continues to be employed by him as a Servant.

In 1856 Sarah married William Hart, who was born in Nether Compton in 1808, being twelve years older than Sarah. William Hart worked as an agricultural labourer and died early in 1874. Judging by the 1881 and 1891 census returns Sarah had a pension, probably from her employment with John Pitman. After her husbands death she moved to the Almshouses in Trent where she lived until her death in 1896 at the age of 76.

Posted in: Real Lives, Trent.

The Royal Bathing Machines

Jul 1st, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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Weymouth was not the first seaside resort to have Bathing Machines. Prior to their appearance here in the 1770’s, they were already a feature at Scarborough and Margate but those resorts did not enjoy the patronage of King George III.

The earliest type of bathing house was a static hut; the revolutionary idea of putting the hut on wheels came along in the mid 18th century and the mobile bathing hut became known as a bathing machine. It could be drawn out into the sea by a horse to avoid the bather having to make an exhibition of themselves walking down the beach.

King George III first dipped his toe in the sea at Weymouth on the 7th of July 1789 in the company of a select group of lady bathing attendants. Apparently it was a great surprise to the king when a band concealed in a neighbouring machine, struck up God Save Great George our King as soon as he ducked his head under the water.

The first Royal Bathing Machine was octagonal in design and in 1791 it was replaced by a larger and more extravagantly fitted-out machine. Altogether three bathing machines were available that year for the exclusive use of the Royal Family.  The original machine continued to be used on Weymouth beach until 1916.
 
A newspaper report from 1791 describes the vehicle thus: “The King’s Bathing Machine is in the form of an oblong at its base, and painted white, with the panels blue and red cornices, but is destitute of lining. The outside, at the top, forms a semi-circle, on the extremity of which stands upon a pole of about two feet in length, the Crown; and on the other, the British Flag on a pole or standard about ten feet high; on the front is painted the King’s Arms.”

Another newspaper reported that the Queen had decided to try the effects of bathing, so another machine had been newly painted and fitted for her use. This conflicts with other reports suggesting Queen Charlotte showed no enthusiasm for sea bathing; the Royal Princesses however, were regular “dippers.”

When the King came to Weymouth in 1792 his bathing experience was greatly improved by the introduction of the Royal Floating Bathing Machine, which gave more privacy to the Royal Family. This was a large structure resembling a house-boat or a floating dock, with dressing rooms and three large baths. It allowed the user to bathe in complete privacy and could be used in pretty much all weathers; it was covered by a roof and sea water flowed in through grills at each end. At one end of the structure were the Royal Bath and Royal Dressing Room and at the other end were baths and dressing rooms for the use of the king’s guests. It was first used on the 24th of August 1792.

When not being used for bathing this Floating Bathing Machine doubled as a Royal Landing Stage and was moored alongside Weymouth Pier. The dressing rooms provided the family with the opportunity to smarten up their appearance before coming ashore after their frequent trips to sea with the Royal Navy.

The King first visited Weymouth in 1789. A letter written at Gloucester Lodge, Weymouth on the 13th of July 1789 by Fanny Burney to her father illustrates wonderfully how the inhabitants of the town felt about their Sovereign being amongst them.  She reports “The loyalty of all this place is excessive; they have dressed out every street with labels of ‘God save the King’: all the shops have it over the doors; all the children wear it in their caps, all the labourers in their hats, and all the sailors in their voices, for they never approach the house without shouting it aloud, nor see the King or his shadow, without beginning to huzza, and going on to three cheers.”

The three luxurious Royal Bathing Machines of 1791 did not survive after the last of the Royal visits in 1805, although machines of the original design both octagonal and rectangular continued in use for more than a century.

In 1810 a local byelaw decreed that no one was to “bathe in any manner than by means of a Bathing Machine upon the Sea Sands, or in the Harbour, or Back Water within the town”. In 1864 a byelaw was introduced to stop the use of Bathing Machines on a Sunday after 10 a.m. This law required residents to be allowed the use of a machine for a charge of 6d, whereas visitors had to pay 9d. All machines had to be fitted with a looking glass and carpet and two hand towels for each person and also a pair of drawers for the use of each gentleman. Males were permitted to bathe nude before 8 am, and there had to be a space of 50 yards between machines used by men and women.

Two much larger bathing machines came to the beach in 1890, these had several cubicles. These larger machines, one for men and one for women, had very large wheels and the authorities ordered that they be kept in deep water. Around this time there were many complaints about the wearing of “proper bathing drawers”.

Fanny Burney, writing from Weymouth in 1789, tells her father that she had difficulty keeping a straight face when observing the ladies bathing apparel: flannel dresses, tucked up, with no shoes or stockings, with bandeaus and girdles. King George III preferred to bathe in the nude.

Posted in: Weymouth.
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The Lyme Tapestry

Jun 21st, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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On the north side of the nave of the parish Church of St. Michael the Archangel in Lyme Regis there is a piece of craftsmanship in embroidery on display which has been the subject of much controversy ever since it was acquired for the church in the latter 19th century.

This possession is the Lyme Tapestry, widely supposed to be the work of Flemish weavers around 1490, but still veiled in uncertainty over the identity of the people involved in the marriage or betrothal the tapestry portrays. Some authorities hold that it depicts the marriage of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, while others consider it could equally represent that between Henry VIII (or his brother Prince Arthur) and Catherine of Aragon. However, the work shows a pomegranate – the emblem of the recently conquered Granada and a clerical figure presumed to be Cardinal Wolsey – a high churchman unknown in Henry VII’s reign.

Whichever is correct this textile has had a chequered history. The connection with Lyme began on the day in 1886 when the vicar, the Revd. Edward Peek bought it for the church from an obscure source for £20. The story goes that until the time of the purchase the tapestry had been concealed behind a false wall at the Somerset home of a Royalist anxious to secure such a treasure from plunder by Cromwellian forces during the Civil War. The tapestry hidden for over 200 years; the house however, has never been traced.
In January 1912 the Revd. W. Jacob was informed after consultation with a valuer that the tapestry was worth between £1,500 and £2,000. Over the next 41 years there followed a long series of correspondence and consultations between the Church Council and a curator at the Victoria and Albert Museum about the possible acquisition of the tapestry for the Museum.

Then in 1953 the President of the Royal Academy of Arts wrote to the vicar of Lyme asking if the tapestry could be loaned for an exhibition to mark the Coronation. As the piece was only insured against fire and the church had no money for its upkeep, the tapestry was not released on this occasion; the exhibition was cancelled. Twenty-two years later the Revd. Nicholson, concerned about the tapestry’s condition and maintenance costs, sought to donate it to a museum, but the tapestry did not come to be moved on this occasion either.

Following this the Church Council decided unanimously to place the work with a museum or art gallery in the southwest, and in 1977 an arrangement was made to place the tapestry in the custody of the National Trust at its Barn Restaurant property at Trerice in Cornwall. Here it remained until 1996 when, following negotiations with the Trust and some preparatory conservation work undertaken at Hampton Court, the Lyme Tapestry was returned and re-hung in St. Michael’s.

Posted in: Lyme Regis.

Wareham – Attack and Counter Attack

Jun 16th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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The population of the town of Wareham during the Civil War was predominantly for the Royalist cause, while Poole was almost to a man for Parliament. In 1643 the Poole garrison was commanded by Capt. Lay; he decided to attack Wareham by boat and landed 200 men at Redcliffe taking a small party of Royalists by surprise. The Roundheads chased the Royalists along the river path to the quay, where battle raged for most of the day, the fierce and bloody fighting leaving many dead, some from drowning. As the Poole men departed they seized ammunition, took many prisoners and carried off much of the produce intended for the following day’s market.

The people of Wareham were inspired by the loyal sermons of their Rector the Reverend William Wake, who was not shy of involving himself in military matters and is described by a contemporary writer as “a jolly soldier like cleric.” Reverend Wake was taken prisoner on nineteen occasions during the Civil War and was at the Siege of Sherborne Castle.
 
Wareham remained in Royalist hands during the winter of 1643 but on 27th February 1644 Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper for Parliament launched a full scale attack on the town. The assault came from all sides and the Royalists were greatly outnumbered. A fierce battle took place on Holme Bridge where forty five men, both horse and foot, beat off three hundred Roundheads for five hours, killing forty of them. It was reported that Captain Purton was wounded and “bled to death while encouraging his men with great cheerfulness” After a day of relentless attacks by the Roundheads from Poole the outnumbered Royalists surrendered the garrison.

 As the 13th of April 1644 dawned a force of Royalist Cavaliers under the command of Colonel Ashburnham attacked the town, a savage encounter resulting in total victory for the Royalists. Thirty-nine Roundheads were killed and one hundred and fifty were captured including six Captains; the remainder fled back to Poole by water. Many guns and muskets were taken off the enemy.  Whitelocke in his History writes of the Roundheads: “they obtained places by treachery and when in occupation committed many rapes and diverse acts of cruelty” It is likely the people of Wareham were glad to see the back of them.

In the months of June and July there were skirmishes round the town but the Royalist garrison held firm even on the 18th of June, ignoring a call to surrender made by the Earl of Essex, the Parliamentarian Lieutenant-General, to surrender.

On the 8th of August the tide of events at Wareham was to turn again and for the Royalists the day of reckoning had arrived – Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, newly promoted to the rank of Field-Marshall-General, was back and intent on revenge. He came with two thousand men, more than enough to overwhelm the small Royalist garrison. Battle was engaged: the old Walls had been fortified with palisades and every male stood behind them bravely defending the town. By the end of the day the town was no longer a Royalist stronghold and the Rector again found himself a prisoner.

Sir Anthony, proud of his success, went to Parliament and delivered an account of the storming of the town of Wareham, for which he received more honours. The King’s supporters were being beaten in their castles and towns and it was not long before the Parliamentarians were triumphant everywhere. In Dorset there was one last fight at Wareham. A Royalist, Colonel Cromwell (a cousin of Oliver) stormed into the town with a troop of horses, captured the Roundhead Governor and two Committee men, and carried them off to Corfe Castle, which was still holding out.

A vindictive Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper asked Parliament: “Query, whether it not be absolutely necessary to pluck down Wareham, it being impossible to victual; if Sir William Waller ever drew away his Foot the town it is left naked to the pleasure of the enemy, who will certainly posssess it unless it can be made no Town. There can be no arguments against demolishing it, being extremely mean built and the inhabitants almost all dreadful malignants; besides the keeping will certainly starve more honest men than the destroying will undo knaves. A few Foot in Lulworth will keep Corfe Castle far better than Wareham…If they are unwilling to destroy the town of Wareham it may be left for a horse quarter with instructions that when they are forced to quit it; to set it on fire.” Wareham survived but Corfe Castle was demolished.

Writing a century after the events the Reverend John Hutchins says: “No evidence can be stronger as to the loyal feelings of the Good Townsmen of Wareham towards the Crown”.

 

Posted in: Wareham.

The Great Town of the King

Jun 9th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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In the north of the county, commanding superb views over the Blackmore Vale, Stour Valley and distant hills is the parish of Kington Magna, which means “the Great Town of the King”. Extending to nearly 2,000 acres the parish is divided into two parts: by the River Cale to the north-east is Kington and to the south-west is Nyland. Within the parish boundaries are the hamlets of Higher Nyland, Bye, Hartmoor and Bowden. The village is at the foot of the steep west slope of Stour Hill with the Parish Church of All Saints standing in an elevated position overlooking the village, where some of the cottages date from the 17th and 18th century. In the 19th century bricks were made here.

The village is mentioned in the Domesday Book. During the reign of King John (1199-1216) John de Ingham died, having owned the manor. William de Boterelles is recorded giving two coursers and a Norway goshawk for licence to marry Aubrey, John de Ingham’s widow; she paid a fine of 300 marks for licence to marry.

The church has walls built from local rubble with ashlar dressings; the roofs are tiled. Its massive embattled west tower has stood since the late 15th century; it has five bells and a clock. It is quite likely that the men of Kington Magna were busy working on the tower as their king was being slain on Bosworth Field. Before 1862 the church had been described as “small and antique” but then the Revd. William Dugdale had the Chancel, Nave, North and South Aisles and the South Porch rebuilt.  The church registers for baptisms and marriages survive from 1680 and the burial register from 1686; they are held at the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester. A National School was built in 1854 and there is a Methodist Chapel with a stone in the gable inscribed ‘1851 Primitive Methodist Chapel. T Tanner, Mason’  Near to the church is Kington Manor Farm, a 17th century structure that retains many original features.

We have placed a photograph of the church in the gallery.

Posted in: Kington Magna.

Woodsford Castle

Jun 3rd, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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From the 11th century to the early years of 14th century the manor of West Woodsford was held by the Belet family. It then passed in 1335 to William de Whitefield it was then that a licence was granted to crenellate the manor house, in other words to furnish it with battlements or loopholes ie parapets with notches or tooth-edges to shoot through. The work of fortifying the house was probably completed by Guy de Brian, to whom the manor passed in 1367. Thomas Gerard in his 17th century work says: ”it became the possession of Hugh Stafford by one of whose heires it came to Thomas Strangeways”. The Strangeways held it for three hundred years. The manor house is one of the oldest inhabited buildings in England, the oldest part of it being erected in the reign of Edward III.

Known as Woodsford Castle, though there is little here now to suggest a castle, it was a strongly fortified house arranged with the principal accommodation to the north on the first floor, served from below. The servants were housed on the ground and south side of the first floor.
 
Commenting on the house in the early 20th century Sir Frederick Treves described it as an unkempt farmhouse with fowls strutting in and out of its arched doorway. Treves observed there is little left of the castle and remarked on its broken off walls, poorly maintained thatch, drab chimneys and its bricked up windows. It would seem little had changed since 1630 when Thomas Gerard (author of Coker’s Survey of Dorset) described it as being “almost ruinated”.

Originally a square building with five feet thick walls that had arrow slits and towers at each corner topped with machicolated parapets that have long since disappeared. It had vaulted rooms, a chapel, a haunted chamber and a kitchen with a fireplace having a 14 foot span; there was a beacon tower too. Just one side of the original quadrangular stone building survives. Around 1660 it was converted to a farmhouse.
 
This impressive building is Grade I Listed. In recent years it has been restored and is now owned by the Landmark Trust.

There is a photo of the ‘castle’ in the gallery.

Posted in: Woodsford.

Book Review

May 29th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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Dorset’s Great War dead remembered

There cannot be a community in the country that was not deeply affected by the catastrophe that was the First World War. As the county town, Dorchester of course had to endure and suffer its share of bereaved relatives, empty living-room chairs, a generation lost, as the country took stock of the aftermath following the armistice.

Now, author Brian Bates has written a definitive gazette documenting those four momentous years in words and a wealth of illustrations. Dorchester Remembers the Great War is organised into eleven chapters which, following a foreword by Leslie Phillips MBE, is headed by a brief overview of Edwardian Dorchester and an account of how the war came to Dorchester.

For each of the four years of the war there follow accounts organised into two sections: the Battle Front sets the scene with an account of the events, strategies and developments across each theatre of the war for the given year.
Roll of Honour then deals with the backgrounds and obituary accounts of key troops of the Dorset regiments to fall in action. The book then concludes with chapters on a post-war roll of honour and remembrance and two appendices.   

As an example of one of the citations, there is that of Pte Frank Adams of the 3rd Btn the Dorsetshire Regiment (p.54) who enrolled with the Dorsets on 31st August 1914, even though he was only 5’ 2” and weighed under 8 stone. He also lied about his age, stating he was 19. Yet the appaling irony is that Adams was not killed by the enemy; he died after accidently being shot dead by a comrade. Frank’s father had to inform the coroner that Frank had turned 16 sixteen a month before his death. Considerably maturer was 30-year-old Rifleman Fred Piddden (p.131) who died from wounds sustained during the Battle of the Somme in 1916.

Brian Bates, a resident of Dorchester since 1969, has maintained a particular passion for the history of Dorchester ever since writing a thesis on the county town’s economy as it was in the 17th century, a subject on which he lectures from time to time. He particularly focuses on the common man and the community he is a part of.

Bates has previously published a transcription of the diary of William Whiteway, a 17th century Dorchester merchant as well as three biographies of military figures. He lives with his wife Doreen and two daughters.

Dorchester Remembers the Great War comes as a paperback in a six-and-three-quarter by ten inch format and is half-an-inch thick. It is published by the Roving Press at £12.99.
ISBN 978-1-906651-16-9

 A photo of the book cover is in the gallery.

Posted in: Book Reviews, Dorchester.

Lieutenant Philip Salkeld V.C.

May 26th, 2013
by Dorset Ancestors.
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Standing in the churchyard of St. Andrew’s Parish Church at Fontmell Magna is the memorial erected for Lieutenant Philip Salkeld V.C., who died on 10th of October 1857 at Delhi. Philip Salkeld was born and brought up in Fontmell Magna where his father the Revd. Robert Salkeld was Rector.

Philip Salkeld’s military career started when he entered Addiscombe College in 1846. While he was there he was selected, by competition, for an engineer appointment, attaining the top position in mathematics and modern languages. He achieved the rank of 2nd Lieutenant on the 9th of June 1848. The next two years he spent studying the theoretical and practical side of fortification and engineering at the Royal Engineer establishment at Chatham.

His service records show he was ordered to travel overland to India and he arrived in Calcutta in June of 1850, where he joined the Corp of Sappers and Miners, Bengal Establishment. He quickly acquired an excellent knowledge of Hindustani. In June 1853 he was sent to Meerut as the extra engineer. Later that year he was appointed officer in charge of the Grand Truck Road, a position he held until December 1856. His promotion to the rank of Lieutenant came on 1st of August 1854.

During his service in India Philip was mindful of events at home and he was able to save enough money to send home £100 a year to be used towards the cost of education for his younger brother Charles, in preparation for him to follow Philip to Addiscombe College. On the 10th May 1857 at the outbreak of the Meerut mutiny Philip Salkeld was still stationed in Delhi; he escaped from the city and the massacre but his possessions were lost, including his money which was in a Delhi bank.

He joined Major General Sir Harry Barnard’s column and was recognised as a brave officer. A decision was taken on the night of 13th September 1857 to launch an assault on the Cashmere and Water Bastions at dawn the following day. Colonel G Campbell was commanding the 3rd column consisting of the 32nd Regiment of Foot; 2nd Bengal Fusiliers and 1st Punjab Regiment. They were to attack the Kashmir Gate after it had been blown open.

Three Engineer Officers were attached to the column: Lieutenants Home, Salkeld and Tandy. According to the account of the attack, the column fell in and marched to their respective places. The plan was for the 1st column to storm the breach near the Cashmere bastions, while the 2nd column was to storm the Water bastion. As the exploration party for the 3rd column advanced to the gateway in broad daylight they came under musket fire from above the gateway and from both flanks as they laid and adjusted the powder bags. Lieutenant Salkeld had been shot and had fallen into a ditch. Sergeant Carmichael tried to fire the charge, but was shot dead. Sergeant Burgess successfully fired the charge but was shot dead. In the confusion Sergeant Smith, thinking that Burgess had failed to fire the charge, ran forward and seeing the charge was alight he threw himself into the ditch.

In his account Sergeant John Smith says the Sappers going to the gate were led by Lieutenant Home and Bugler Robert Hawthorne; following a few paces behind, led by Lieutenant Salkeld, came the party carrying the powder; Sergeant Smith bringing up the rear to see none of them remained behind. Four of the Indians in the party refused to go on and Sergeant Smith threatened to shoot them. Lieutenant Salkeld came to see what was happening and said to leave them as they had enough powder. Sergeant Smith says he went on but only Lieutenant Salkeld and Burgess were there. Lieutenant Carmichael was dead, Sergeant Smith at great risk retrieved Carmichael’s bag of powder, set the fuse and reported “all ready” to Lieutenant Salkeld who, stooping down to light the fuse, put one of his feet out and was shot through the thigh; he told Sergeant Smith to fire the charge, but it seems Burgess had already done it.

Sergeant Smith says in his account that: “…as soon as the dust had cleared away we saw Lieutenant Salkeld and Burgess covered with dust their laying in the middle of the ditch having saved them from falling debris…I went to Lieutenant Salkeld and called the bugler to help me remove him under the bridge as the fire had covered upon us, and Lieutenant Salkeld’s arms were broken…LieutenantSalkeld would not let us remove him so I put a bag of powder under his head for a pillow, and bound up his arms and thigh and I left the bugler to look after him and went to Burgess…I got some brandy from Lieutenant Home and gave to both...” Sergeant Smith then went to the rear and obtained two stretchers and with the help of Bugler Hawthorne got Lieutenant Salkeld onto one of the stretchers and had him removed to the hospital.

The gallantry displayed that day by Lieutenant Duncan Charles Home; Lieutenant Philip Salkeld (both of the Bengal Engineers); Sergeant John Smith of the Bengal Sappers and Miners and Bugler Robert Hawthorne of the 52nd Regiment, earned them all the Victoria Cross.

Lieutenant Salkeld was mortally wounded. He survived until 10th of October 1857, when he died of his injuries. One report says that one arm had been amputated. The award of the Victoria Cross was given by Major General Sir Archdale Wilson, who had his Aide-de-Camp, Lieutenant Turnbull, pin the ribbon of the VC upon Philip Salkeld in the hope that it might invigorate his spirits but he said only “…it will be gratifying to send it home…” Philip Salkeld was buried in the cemetery at Delhi and his death was recorded on the War Memorial there.

Philp Salkeld’s brothers, Richard Henry and Charles Edward, both served in the Indian Army.

Posted in: Fontmell Magna, Real Lives.

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