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Poole, Dorset
see also: Poole
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When the gravel peninsula which is Poole was first settled is unknown but the name derives from the Celtic Pwll, Saxon Pol. The Normans knew it as La Pole.
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Formation of the Harbour
The coastline here is by no means a static one as may be witnessed by the changes which
have taken place during just the past 15,000 years since the
Last Ice Age when the land stretched over what are now salty waves as far out as the
Old Harry Rocks. The harbour is a drowned river valley which formed, together with Poole Bay
as the rising sea broke through the ancient chalk ridge which connected the Old Harry
Rocks with Needles on the Isle of Wight.
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The coastline 15,000 years ago was very different to that which we find today |
The Harbour is, essentially, the drowned valley of a great river which flowed through the
area before the last Ice Age. The harbour itself was formed, together with Poole Bay, when rising sea levels
caused the waves to break through a chalk ridge which had then connected the Old Harry Rocks in Studland Bay
with the Needles in the Isle of Wight.
The geological record of the area shows evidence that a great river, which geologists have
named the 'Great Solent River', flowed eastwards through the
area from around Dartmoor in Devon. The Great Solent carried huge quantities of flint, gravel and clay which
it deposited along the way, right into Hampshire.
The harbour, as seen today, was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, about 7,000 years
ago. Since then the mud flats and salt flats we are familiar with have been formed as a result of the sediments
deposited in the harbour by its rivers.
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Continuing Changes to the Harbour
The process of change is far from over and the sea constantly removes
material from the soft and sandy cliffs of the bay to deposit it at Sandbanks - the
narrow spit of land which reaches for the Studland Peninsula across the harbour mouth.
The tides also deposit a share of their silt within the basin of the harbour itself
although the majority of the silt deposited in Poole Harbour is carried more
sernely to its quite backwaters by the rivers Frome and Piddle. So much mud do the
rivers deposit that Wareham, once a port of some import, is now only accessible to small
craft.
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One of the earliest human artifacts to be discovered is a 10-metre (30-foot) long dug-out
boat which was fashioned from a giant oak tree. It was dredged up to the north of Brownsea Island and dated
to c.295BC. The boat is displayed in Poole Museum.
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There is strong archaeological evidence that the sea levels in the harbour were considerably lower in prehistoric
times than they are now. This would indicate that any early human settlements on the edges of the harbour would
now be hidden under the waters.
The prosperity of the modern Port of Poole is only made possible by the annual dredging of the main navigation
channel by the Poole Harbour Commissioners.
The Iron Age
see also: Iron-Age Dorset
It is believed that rising sea levels have caused the waters of the harbour to rise and drown the evidence of pre-Iron Age human settlement and activity around the shores of the harbour.
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As well as a great port, Poole Harbour was the centre of an important ceramics industry - over half of
the shards of coarse cooking pots which have been found at Hadrian's Wall in the far north of
Roman England were manufactured in the Poole Harbour area.
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The excavations suggest a very substantial Iron Age trading complex with huge stone and timber jetties
reaching out into the deep-water channel. Such advanced berthing facilities would have allowed the
largest ocean-going ships of the time to use the port - possibly Greek and Roman trading vessels from the
Mediterranean.It was the shear scale of the works which astounded the archaeologists; the longer of the two jetties found
was 80 metres ( feet) in length and the other, of which 45 metres (feet) survives, was probably of the same
length. Both were 8 metres ( feet) wide and paved to a smooth surface with worked flagstones. It has been
estimated that 10,000 tonnes of roack and rubble reinforced with hundreds of oak trunks, sharpened at one end to be
rammed into the harbour bed, to reinforce the structures. Construction on such a large scale would imply
a highly organised society wth a large, skilled and organised workforce.
The shores of Poole harbour were only settled by man (the Durotriges from Northern
Europe) from about 200 BC onwards. these settlements are evidenced by the shards of
their characteristic brown and black pottery which have been found throughout the
area. Evidence of their potteries and salt pans have been found around the harbour.
Green Island,
Hamworthy
and Ower all benefitted from deepwater channels and were
important Iron-Age trading posts and handled imports of
Roman luxury goods from
Armorica (modern Brittany) and the Channel Islands. Nearby Hengistbury Head was an important Iron Age settlement
and port in Dorset (until the discovery of the huge quays at Poole, it was thought to be the most important
British port of the age) and it is likely that goods were trans-shipped through beteen the two.
Excavations of the site of Carter's Pottery in 1920 revealed evidence of an Iron Age
settlement and a supply base for the Roman army.
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It was believed that the development of Poole Harbour (the largest natural sea inlet in Europe )
with significant port structures was a
Roman feature but archaeologists diving beneath the
waters of the harbour in 2002 have
shown that there were impressive port structures within the harbour in the
Iron Age - at several centuries before the
Roman conquest of Britain,
the oldest working harbour to be discovered in the British Isles.The timber pilings which were excavated
from beneath silt on the bed of the harbour were originally thought
to date from Roman times but radio-carbon dating showed them
to date back to at least 250BC.
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Local fishermen, sailors, and amateur divers have also been involved in the hunt for relics of the harbours Iron-Age
past, the team of archeologists
have appealed for any sailor snagging lines or running aground on uncharted obstacle to contact them.
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The excavations suggest a very substantial Iron Age trading complex with huge stone and timber jetties
reaching out into the deep-water channel. Such advanced berthing facilities would have allowed the
largest ocean-going ships of the time to use the port - possibly Greek and Roman trading vessels from the
Mediterranean.It was the shear scale of the works which astounded the archaeologists; the longer of the two jetties found
was 80 metres ( feet) in length and the other, of which 45 metres (feet) survives, was probably of the same
length. Both were 8 metres ( feet) wide and paved to a smooth surface with worked flagstones. It has been
estimated that 10,000 tonnes of roack and rubble reinforced with hundreds of oak trunks, sharpened at one end to be
rammed into the harbour bed, to reinforce the structures. Construction on such a large scale would imply
a highly organised society wth a large, skilled and organised workforce.
The discovery of the Iron-Age port facilities prove that the
Romans did not found the harbour but
naturally made for a place familiar to their mariners through generations of trade, probably
importing luxury goods such as amber, fine ceramics, oil and wine and exporting local products such as
pottery, metal work and shale jewellery.
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Archaeologists now hope that some of the trading ships themselves might be preserved in the silt of the harbour bottom - perhaps complete with their cargos.
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A dug-out boat over 10 metres (30 feet) long was dredged up from the bottom of the harbour near Brownsea Island in 1964. Dating from the 3rd century BC, it is one of only six to have been fund in Western Europe.
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see also: Iron-Age Dorset
The Roman Occupation
see also: Roman Dorset
The Romans occupied several sites around Poole Harbour and Poole Lake. It is surmised that Saxon and
Frankish raids on the Roman settlements around the harbour caused the inhabitants to bury their
possessions to prevent them being captured; a large hoard of Roman dinarii from c. 275AD was
found in 1932 and a similar hoard had been discovered during the previous century.
Vespasian, commanding the invading 2nd Legion Augusta, used an inlet on
the Hamworthy peninsula near the existing Iron Age settlement as a supply port. A road was built to
connect the supply port to the
base near Wimborne which was the Roman headquarters in Britain until about 60Ad when the fortress was
dismantled. it is likely that supplies were also trans-shipped at Poole.
The nearby
Purbeck 'Marble'
was used for construction by the Romans and a jetty found at Ower may have
been used for loading the stone onto Roman ships.
Green Island,
now isolated in the harbour, was connected
to the mainland at Ower by a causeway which may also have been Roman.
see also: Roman Dorset
Saxon Poole Harbour
see also: Saxon Dorset
By the beginning of the 9th century, Wareham had become a prominent
Saxon town and the chief port of
Poole Harbour. Viking raids caused the town to be fortified. In time, as Wareham's rivers (the Frome and the Piddle) silted up, it waned as a
port while Poole
rose to dominate the harbour.
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The battle of Swanage Bay in 877 is hailed by many as the first English naval victory, although Alfred was the ruler of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex.
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In the ninth century, the Danes entered Poole Harbour entrenched themselves strongly in
Wareham itself until routed by
King Alfred the Great both on land and,
in 877, at the battle of Swanage Bay. The Danes killed many clergy throughout the lands they touched and sacked
the churches and monasteries for what booty they could plunder. Such a fate befell the Church of St Nicholas
at Studland where the raiders left only the bare walls standing.
In 1015, the Danes returned as Cnut's (or Canute) raiders destroyed the Saxon priory at Wareham.
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SALT PANS
Evidence of salt pans has been found at
Kimmeridge,
Charmouth, Lyme Regis and Poole Harbour.
Salt extraction from seawater was once a profitable business and salt was exported to france in
the 15th century.
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At the time of the Norman Conquest, Poole may have been a tiny fishing village. Large deposits of oyster shells,
dating from the late Saxon or early Norman period have been found Poole and Hamworthy Quays.
see also: Saxon Dorset
Medieval Poole Harbour
see also: Medieval Dorset
The medieval port seems to have grown steadily in importance and, in 1433, the monarch made it Dorset's
Staple Port. The Town Cellars, dating from the
14th century, were used to store the important wool prior to its export to Europe. The medieval port had
wide-ranging trading links - from the Baltic to Spain and even Italy.
see also: Medieval Dorset
17th Century
The 17th century brought the start of transatlantic trade with the New World, particularly with Newfoundland.
This trade was the foundation for many a fortune amassed by the merchants of Poole. By the early 18th century,
the Port of Poole had more ships engaged in trade with America than any other English port.
see also: Economic History of Dorset
The Wessex Newfoundland Society
19th Century
At the beginning of the 19th century, some ninety per cent of the working population of Poole was involved
in the activity of either the Port or the Harbour. In part due to the arrival of the railway and new industries
not connected with the harbour, by the turn of the following century this figure had dropped to twenty per
cent. The advent of vessels of deeper draught which could not use the harbour also contributed to this drop
and the decay of the harbour.
The decay of trade led to such a decay in the Port of Poole during the last decades of the century that the
Poole Harbour Commissioners was established by Act of Parliament in 1895 to manage the port and harbour
(see: Management of the Harbour).
20th Century
The ancient ceremony of Beating the Bounds of the Harbour was revived in 1921, quoting the Winchelsea Charter of 1365 which Poole recieved as a limb of the Cinque Port frequently along the way.
The closing decades of the 20th century brought a programme of modernisation and the redevelopment of
commercial links with mainland Europe. This has resulted in a new prosperity and modern Poole is a
thriving Channel Port.
Before World War II changed so much here, the flying boats of BOAC were based in the harbour and linked Poole, and Britain, with the empire.
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POOLE HARBOUR DURING WORLD WAR II
World War II brought different priorities and the RAF's Sunderlands of Coastal Command. The
huge expanse of water and vast length of the shoreline made the harbour an ideal site for
amphibious warfare training with landing craft - the Royal marines have remained at their base
in Hamworthy, a legacy and reminder of those war-time excercises.
In May 1940 Belgian and Dutch refugees who had escaped before the Nazi onslaught on their homeland in small
boats arrived in the sanctuary of the harbour having been shepherded there along the south coast by the
Royal Navy. They made their temporary home on
Brownsea Island.
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Flares were lit at the western end of
Brownsea Island
to mislead the German bombers which sought as their would-be targets the harbour installations of Poole and
Bournemouth. The harbour installations were thus spared but the estate cottages of the village of
Maryland on
the island were all
but destroyed.
Large areas of the Purbecks to the west of Studland are they palyground of the military
with either limited or no access to the public. For a considerable time after World War
II the areas around Agglestone and Little Sea were
ringed with signs warning of the dangers of military obstructions and there were instances
of accidents involving hidden explosives (see also:
The Explosive Legacy of WW-II).
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The latter half of the 20th century saw a growing appreciation of the value of natural resources such as
lanscape and wildlife. The waters and mudflats on the shores of the harbour attract many waders wildfowl which
over-winter in the harbour and many of which roost here throughout the year. The
area to the south and west of the harbour
has not only been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty but and harbour and many of the
heathlands there are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSI's),
Amongst other fascinating species and habitats, all six species of
reptiles native to the British Isles can
be found here. The nature reserve on Brownsea Island is one of the last havens of our native red squirrel south
of the Scottish border. It was the first reserve to be managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Oil, the fossil which drives our industrialized society
has been discovered in large quantities under the rocks of the harbour and has been exploited, amongst much initial
controversey, during the later part of the 20th century and into the 21st from Wytch Farm.
Managing the Harbour
The port and harbour have been managed since 1895 by the
Poole Harbour Commissioners who are a statutory body established by Act of Parliament. Their
aim is to maintain the harbour as a commercially viable port so as to finance improvements
and conservation. The
Commissioners have to balance recreation, fishing and economical
interests as well as commercial ones.
Links
TOWN OF POOLE
Port of Poole
Poole Harbour Commissioners
Poole Harbour Heritage Committee
DORSET
Locally
POOLE
POOLE HARBOUR
POOLE HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS
PORT OF POOLE
BROWNSEA ISLAND
BOURNEMOUTH
WAREHAM
Bibliography
Recommend a Book for this Page
The Story of Poole, Old Town, Port & Harbour
Joan Sutton ©1988 ISBN 0 906596 04 1
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