_Beautiful England_

BOURNEMOUTH

POOLE & CHRISTCHURCH

_Described by_ SIDNEY HEATH

_Painted by_ ERNEST HASLEHUST

[Illustration]

BLACKIE AND SON LIMITED LONDON GLASGOW AND BOMBAY 1915

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[Illustration: BRANKSOME CHINE, BOURNEMOUTH

One of the most picturesque of the many "chines" or openings in thecoast. Branksome Chine was formerly the landing-place of the famoussmuggler Gulliver, who amassed a fortune. ]

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_Blackie & Son's "Beautiful" Series_

_Price 2s. Net per volume, in boards. _

Beautiful England

OXFORDTHE ENGLISH LAKESCANTERBURYSHAKESPEARE-LANDTHE THAMESWINDSOR CASTLECAMBRIDGENORWICH AND THE BROADSTHE HEART OF WESSEXTHE PEAK DISTRICTTHE CORNISH RIVIERADICKENS-LANDWINCHESTERTHE ISLE OF WIGHTCHESTER YORKTHE NEW FORESTHAMPTON COURTEXETERHEREFORDDARTMOORTHE DUKERIESWARWICK AND LEAMINGTONBATH AND WELLSRIPON AND HARROGATESCARBOROUGHBOURNEMOUTH, POOLE, AND CHRISTCHURCHDOVER AND FOLKESTONESWANAGE AND NEIGHBOURHOODHASTINGS AND NEIGHBOURHOOD

Beautiful Ireland

LEINSTERULSTERCONNAUGHTMUNSTER

Beautiful Switzerland

LUCERNECHAMONIXLAUSANNEVILLARS, CHAMPÉRY, ETC. 

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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 PageBranksome Chine, Bournemouth _Frontispiece_

Bournemouth Pier and Sands from Eastcliff 6

Bournemouth: The Square and Gardens, from Mont Doré 10

The Winter Gardens, Bournemouth 14

In the Upper Gardens, Bournemouth 18

Boscombe Chine 24

Bournemouth: The Children's Corner, Lower Gardens 28

Talbot Woods, Bournemouth 32

Poole Harbour from Constitutional Hill 38

Christchurch Priory from Wick Ferry 46

Priory Ruins, Christchurch 52

Christchurch Mill 60

[Illustration: PRIORY CHURCH. CHRISTCHURCH]

BOURNEMOUTH POOLE AND CHRISTCHURCH

The scenery which impresses most of us is certainly that in which Natureis seen in her wild and primitive condition, telling us of growth anddecay, and of the land's submission to eternal laws unchecked by thehand of man. Yet we also feel a certain pleasure in the contemplation ofthose scenes which combine natural beauty with human artifice, andattest to the ability with which architectural science has developedNature's virtues and concealed natural disadvantages. 

To a greater extent, perhaps, than any other spot in southern England, does Bournemouth possess this rare combination of natural loveliness andarchitectural art, so cunningly interwoven that it is difficult todistinguish the artificial from the natural elements of the landscape. 

To human agency Bournemouth owes a most delightful set of moderndwelling-houses, some charming marine drives, and an abundance of PublicGardens. Through Nature the town receives its unique group of Chines, which alone set it apart from other watering-places; its invigoratingsea-breezes, and its woods of fir and pine clustering upon slopes ofemerald green, and doing the town excellent service by giving warmth andcolour to the landscape when winter has stripped the oak and the elm oftheir glowing robes. 

Considerably less than a century ago Bournemouth, or "Burnemouth", consisted merely of a collection of fishermen's huts and smugglers'cabins, scattered along the Chines and among the pine-woods. The name"Bournemouth" comes from the Anglo-Saxon words _burne_, or _bourne_, astream, and _mûtha_, a mouth; thus the town owes its name to itssituation at the mouth of a little stream which rises in the parish ofKinson some five or six miles distant. 

From Kinson the stream flows placidly through a narrow valley of muchbeauty, and reaches the sea by way of one of those romantic Chines socharacteristic of this corner of the Hampshire coast, and of theneighbouring Isle of Wight. 

[Illustration: BOURNEMOUTH PIER AND SANDS FROM EASTCLIFF

Besides offering the usual attractions, Bournemouth Pier is the centreof a very fine system of steamship sailings to all parts of the coast. ]

A century ago the whole of the district between Poole on the west andChristchurch on the east was an unpeopled waste of pine and heather, andthe haunt of gangs of smugglers. So great had the practice of smugglinggrown in the eighteenth century, that, in 1720, the inhabitants of Poolepresented to the House of Commons a petition, calling attention to "thegreat decay of their home manufacturers by reason of the greatquantities of goods run, and prayed the House to provide a remedy". In1747 there flourished at Poole a notorious band of smugglers known asthe "Hawkhurst Gang", and towards the close of the same century a famoussmuggler named Gulliver had a favourite landing-place for his cargoes atBranksome Chine, whence his pack-horses made their way through the NewForest to London and the Midlands, or travelled westward across CrichelDown to Blandford, Bath, and Bristol. 

Gulliver is said to have employed fifty men, who wore a livery, powderedhair, and smock frocks. This smuggler amassed a large fortune, and hehad the audacity to purchase a portion of Eggardon Hill, in west Dorset, on which he planted trees to form a mark for his homeward-bound vessels. He also kept a band of watchmen in readiness to light a beacon fire onthe approach of danger. This state of things continued until an Act ofParliament was passed which made the lighting of signal fires byunauthorized persons a punishable offence. The Earl of Malmesbury, inhis _Memoirs of an Ex-Minister_, relates many anecdotes and adventuresof Gulliver, who lived to a ripe old age without molestation by theauthorities, for the reason, it is said, that during the wars withFrance he was able to obtain, through his agents in that country, valuable information of the movement of troops, with the result that hissmuggling was allowed to continue as payment for the services herendered in disclosing to the English Government the nature of theFrench naval and military plans. 

Warner, writing about 1800, relates that he saw twenty or thirty wagons, laden with kegs, guarded by two or three hundred horsemen, each bearingthree tubs, coming over Hengistbury Head, and making their way in theopen day past Christchurch to the New Forest. 

On a tombstone at Kinson we may read:--

 "A little tea, one leaf I did not steal; For guiltless blood shed I to God appeal; Put tea in one scale, human blood in t'other, And think what 'tis to slay thy harmless brother". 

The villagers of Kinson are stated to have all been smugglers, and tohave followed no other occupation, while it is said that certain deepmarkings on the walls of the church tower were caused by the constantrubbing of the ropes used to draw up and lower the kegs of brandy andthe cases of tea. 

That many church towers in the neighbourhood were used for the storageof illicit cargoes is well known, and the sympathies of the local clergywere nearly always on the side of the smugglers in the days when a kegof old brandy would be a very acceptable present in a retired countryparsonage. Occasionally, perhaps, the parson took more than a passiveinterest in the proceedings. A story still circulates around theneighbourhood of Poole to the effect that a new-comer to the districtwas positively shocked at the amount of smuggling that went on. Onenight he came across a band of smugglers in the act of unloading acargo. "Smuggling, " he shouted. "Oh, the sin of it! the shame of it! Isthere no magistrate, no justice of the peace, no clergyman, no minister, no----"

"There be the Parson, " replied one of the smugglers, thinking it was acase of sickness. 

"Where? Where is he?" demanded the stranger. 

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

It was early in the nineteenth century that a Mr. Tregonwell ofCranborne, a Dorset man who owned a large piece of the moorland, found, on the west side of the Bourne Valley, a sheltered combe of exceptionalbeauty, where he built a summer residence (now the Exeter Park Hotel), the first real house to be erected on the virgin soil of Bournemouth. Alittle later the same gentleman also built some cottages, and the"Tregonwell Arms", an inn which became known as the half-way housebetween Poole and Christchurch, and so remained until it was pulled downto make way for other buildings. 

These, however, were isolated dwellings, and it was not until 1836 thatSir George Gervis, Bart. , of Hinton Admiral, Christchurch, commenced tobuild on an extensive scale on the eastern side of the stream, and solaid the foundations of the present town. Sir George employed skilfulengineers and eminent architects to plan and lay out his estate, so thatfrom the beginning great care was taken in the formation and theselection of sites for the houses and other buildings, with the resultthat 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 havebeen preserved and made to harmonize with the requirements of a largeresidential population. It is equally gratifying to note that successivelandowners, and the town's Corporation, following the excellent exampleset by Sir George Gervis, continue to show a true conservative instinctin preserving all that is worthy of preservation, while ever keeping awatchful eye on any change which might detract from the unique beauty ofBournemouth. 

[Illustration: BOURNEMOUTH: THE SQUARE AND GARDEN FROM MONT DORE]

The town is situated on the curve of a large and open bay, bounded bylofty if not precipitous cliffs, which extend as far west as HavenPoint, the entrance to Poole Harbour, and eastwards to Hengistbury Head, a distance of fourteen miles from point to point. 

In addition to its splendid marine drives, its retiring vales, itspine-woods, and its rustic nooks and dells, the town is splendidlyprovided with Public Gardens, excellently laid out, and luxuriouslyplanted in what was once mere bog and marsh land. The Gardens contain aliberal supply of choice evergreens, and deciduous shrubs and trees, while it is noticeable that the _Ceanothus azureus_ grows here withoutrequiring any protection. The slopes of the Gardens rise gradually towhere the open downs are covered with heaths, gorse, and plantations ofpines and firs. 

It was not long after the first houses had been built that the truesource of Bournemouth's attractiveness was realized to be her climate, her salt-laden breezes, and her pine-scented air. Since then she hasbecome more and more sought, both for residential and visitingpurposes. Year by year the town has spread and broadened, stretching outwide arms to adjacent coigns of vantage like Parkstone, Boscombe, Pokesdown, and Southbourne, until the "Queen of the South" now coversmany miles in extent. 

It is one of those favoured spots where Autumn lingers on tillChristmas, and when Winter comes he is Autumn's twin brother, onlydistinguishable from him by an occasional burst of temper, in the formof an east wind, soon repented of and as soon forgotten. Thus it is thata large number of holiday visitors are tempted to make their stay a longone, and every winter brings an increasingly greater number ofnew-comers to fill the places of the summer absentees, so that, takingthe year through, Bournemouth is always full. 

Contrast is one of the charms of the place; contrast between the shadeand quietude of the pine-woods, and the whirl and movement of modernlife and luxury in its most splendid and pronounced development. 

It is a town whose charm and whose reproach alike is its newness; butunlike many an ancient town, it has no unlovely past to rise up andshame it. The dazzle and glitter of the luxury which has descended uponher wooded shores does not frighten Bournemouth, since she was born insplendour, and the very brightness of her short life is compensationenough for the lack of an historical, and perhaps a melancholy past. 

With the exception of the soil on which she stands, and the growths ofthat soil, everything in Bournemouth is modern--churches, houses, andshops--but all are as beautiful as modern architects and an unlimitedsupply of money can make them. There are hundreds of costly houses, charming both within and without; their gardens always attractive in thefreshness of their flowers, and in the trimness of their tree-linedlawns. On every side there is evidence of a universal love and cultureof flowers, due, no doubt, to the wonderful climate. Nowhere aregeraniums larger or redder, roses fairer or sweeter, or foliage bedsmore magnificently laid out; while in few other parts of the country canone find so many large houses, representative of the various schools ofmodern architectural art, as in Bournemouth and her tree-clad parks. 

Another factor that has played a large part in the rapid development ofthe town is the excellence of the railway services from all parts of thecountry, and particularly from London. During the summer months severaltrains run daily from Waterloo to Bournemouth without a stop, doing thejourney in two hours; so that if the London and South Western RailwayCompany are fortunate in having a monopoly of this traffic, the town isequally fortunate in being served by a railway company which has made italmost a marine suburb of London. 

Bournemouth West Railway Station, situated on Poole Hill, was completedand the line opened in the summer of 1874. In 1884-5 the CentralStation, or Bournemouth East as it was then called, was built, and thetwo stations connected by a loop-line. 

The whole of the Bournemouth district lies in the western part of thegreat valley or depression which stretches from Shoreham, in Sussex, tonear Dorchester, occupying the whole of South Hampshire and the greaterpart of the south of Sussex and Dorset. The valley is known as the chalkbasin of Hampshire, and is formed by the high range of hills extendingfrom Beachy Head to Cerne Abbas. To the north the chain of hills remainsintact, whilst the southern portion of the valley has been encroachedupon, and two great portions of the wall of chalk having been removed, one to the east and one to the west, the Isle of Wight stands isolatedand acts as a kind of breakwater to the extensive bays, channels, andharbours which have been scooped out of the softer strata by the actionof the sea. Sheltered by the Isle of Wight are the Solent andSouthampton Water; westward are the bays and harbours of Christchurch, Bournemouth, Poole, Studland, and Swanage. The great bay between thepromontories of the Needles and Ballard Down, near Swanage, issubdivided by the headland of Hengistbury Head into the smaller bays ofChristchurch and Bournemouth. 

[Illustration: THE WINTER GARDENS, BOURNEMOUTH

The famous Winter Gardens and spacious glass Pavilion where concerts areheld are under the management of the Corporation. Bournemouth spends asum of _£_6000 annually in providing band music for her visitors. ]

The site of the town is an elevated tableland formed by an extensivedevelopment of Bagshot sands and clays covered with peat or turf, andpartly, on the upland levels, with a deep bed of gravel. 

The sea-board is marked with narrow ravines, gorges, or glens, herecalled "Chines", but in the north of England designated "Denes". 

For boating people the bay affords a daily delight, althoughChristchurch and Poole are the nearest real harbours. At the close of asummer's day, when sea and sky and shore are enveloped in soft mist, nothing can be more delightful than to flit with a favouring wind pastthe picturesque Chines, or by the white cliffs of Studland. The water inthe little inlets and bays lies still and blue, but out in the dancingswirl of waters set up by the sunken rocks at the base of a headland, all the colours of the rainbow seem to be running a race together. Yachts come sailing in from Cowes, proud, beautiful shapes, theirpolished brass-work glinting in the sunlight, while farther out in theChannel a great ocean liner steams steadily towards the Solent, altering her course repeatedly as she nears the Needles. 

And yet, with all her desirable qualities and attractive features, Bournemouth is not to everyone's taste, particularly those whoseholidays are incomplete without mediæval ruins on their doorsteps. Thetown, however, is somewhat fortunate even in this respect, since, although she has no antiquities of her own, she is placed close toWimborne and Poole on the one hand, and to Christchurch, with itsancient Priory, on the other. Poole itself is not an ideal place to livein, while Wimborne and Christchurch are out-of-the-way spots, interesting enough to the antiquary, but dull, old-fashioned towns forholiday makers. The clean, firm sands of Bournemouth are excellent forwalking on, and make it possible for the pedestrian to tramp, withfavourable tides, the whole of the fourteen miles of shore that separatePoole Harbour from Christchurch. By a coast ramble of this kind the boldand varied forms of the cliffs, and the coves cutting into them, give anendless variety to the scene; while many a pretty peep may be obtainedwhere the Chines open out to the land, or where the warmly-colouredcliffs glow in the sunlight between the deep blue of the sea and thesombre tints of the heather lands and the pine-clad moor beyond. 

The clays and sandy beds of these cliffs are remarkable for therichness of their fossil flora. From the white, grey, and brownish claysbetween Poole Harbour and Bournemouth, no fewer than nineteen species offerns have been determined. The west side of Bournemouth is rich inPolypodiaceæ, and the east side in Eucalypti and Araucaria. These, together with other and sub-tropical forms, demonstrate the existence ofa once luxuriant forest that extended to the Isle of Wight, where, inthe cliffs bounding Alum Bay, are contemporaneous beds. The Bournemouthclay beds belong to the Middle Eocene period. 

Westwards from the Pier the cliffs are imposing, on one of the highestpoints near the town being the Lookout. A hundred yards or so farther onis Little Durley Chine, beyond which is a considerable ravine known asGreat Durley Chine, approached from the shore by Durley Cove. The largercombe consists of slopes of sand and gravel, with soft sand hummocks atthe base; while on the western side and plateau is a mass of heather andgorse. Beyond Great Durley Chine is Alum Chine, the largest opening onthis line of coast. Camden refers to it as "Alom Chine Copperas House". 

The views from the plateaux between the Chines are very beautiful, especially perhaps that from Branksome Chine, where a large portion ofthe Branksome Tower estate seems to be completely isolated by the deepgorges of the Chine. This estate extends for a considerable distance towhere a Martello tower, said to have been built with stones fromBeaulieu Abbey, stands on the cliff, from which point the land graduallydiminishes in height until, towards the entrance to Poole Harbour, itbecomes a jumbled and confused mass of low and broken sand-hills. TheseNorth Haven sand-hills occupy a spit of land forming the enclosing armof the estuary on this side. Near Poole Head the bank is low and narrow;farther on it expands until, at the termination of North Haven Point, itis one-third of a mile broad. Here the sand-dunes rise in circularridges, resembling craters, many reaching a height of fifty or sixtyfeet. Turning Haven Point, the view of the great sheet of water studdedwith green islands and backed by the purple hills of Dorset is one ofthe finest in England. From Haven Point one may reach Poole along a goodroad that skirts the shores of the harbour all the way, and affords somelovely vistas of shimmering water and pine-clad banks. 

Poole Harbour looks delightful from Haven Point. At the edge of BrownseaIsland the foam-flecked beach glistens in the sun. The sand-dunesfringing the enclosing sheet of water are yellow, the salt-marshes ofthe shallow pools stretch in surfaces of dull umber, brightened inparts by vivid splashes of green. On a calm day the stillness of utterpeace seems to rest over the spot, broken only by the lapping of thewaves, and the hoarse cries of the sea-birds as they search for food onthe mud-banks left by the receding tide. With such a scene before us itis difficult to realize that only a mile or two distant is one of themost popular watering-places in England, with a throng of fashionablepeople seeking their pleasure and their health by the sea. 

[Illustration: IN THE UPPER GARDENS, BOURNEMOUTH

These Gardens are contained within the Branksome estate, and areconsequently thrown open to visitors only by the courtesy of the owner. ]

It is well worth while to take a boat and pull over to Brownsea. Theisland, which once belonged to Cerne Abbey, is elliptical in shape, withpine-covered banks rising, in some places, to a height of ninety feet. In the centre of the isle is a valley in which are two ornamental lakes. In addition to a large residence, Brownsea Castle, and its extensivegrounds, there is a village of about twenty cottages, called Maryland, and an ornate Gothic church, partly roofed and panelled with fine oldoak taken from the Council Chamber of Crossby Hall, Cardinal Wolsey'spalace. The island once had a hermit occupier whose cell and chapel werededicated to St. Andrew, and when Canute ravaged the Frome Valley earlyin the eleventh century he carried his spoils to Brownsea. The Castlewas first built by Henry VIII for the protection of the harbour, oncondition that the town of Poole supplied six men to keep watch andward. In 1543 the Castle was granted to John Vere, Earl of Oxford, whosold it to John Duke. In the reign of Elizabeth it was termed "TheQueen's Majestie's Castell at Brownecksea", and in 1576 the Queen soldit, together with Corfe Castle, to Sir Christopher Hatton, whom she made"Admiral of Purbeck". In the early days of the Great Rebellion theisland was fortified for the Parliament, and, like Poole, it withstoodthe attacks of the Royalists. In 1665, when the Court was at Salisbury, an outbreak of the plague sent Charles II and a few of his courtiers ona tour through East Dorset. On 15th September of that year Poole wasvisited by a distinguished company, which included the King, LordsAshley, Lauderdale, and Arlington, and the youthful Duke of Monmouth, whose handsome face and graceful bearing were long remembered in thetown. After the royal party had been entertained by Peter Hall, Mayor ofPoole, they went by boat to Brownsea, where the King "took an exact viewof the said Island, Castle, Bay, and Harbour to his great contentment". 

Little could the boyish Duke of Monmouth have then foreseen that fatalday, twenty years later, when he crossed the road from Salisbury againlike a hunted animal in his vain endeavour to reach the shelter of theNew Forest; and still less, perhaps, could his father have foreseen thatAntony Etricke, whom he had made Recorder of Poole, would be the manbefore whom his hapless son was taken to be identified before being sentto London, and the Tower. 

The next owner of Brownsea was a Mr. Benson, who succeeded SirChristopher Wren as first surveyor of works. When he bought the island, he began to alter the old castle and make it into a residence. Theburgesses of Poole claimed that the castle was a national defence, ofwhich they were the hereditary custodians. Mr. Benson replied that as hehad paid _£_300 for the entire island the castle was naturallyincluded. In 1720 the town authorities appealed to George II, and in1723 Mr. Benson and his counsel appeared before the Attorney-general, when the proceedings were adjourned, and never resumed, so that thepurchaser appears to have obtained a grant of the castle from the Crown. Mr. Benson was an enthusiastic botanist and he planted the island withvarious kinds of trees and shrubs. He also made a collection of the manyspecimens of plants growing on the island. 

During the next hundred and thirty years Brownsea had various owners, including Colonel Waugh (notorious for his connection with thedisastrous failure of the British Bank) and the Right Hon. FrederickCavendish Bentinck, who restored the castle and imported many beautifulspecimens of Italian sculpture and works of art. At the end of 1900 theestate was bought by Mr. Charles Van Raalte, to whose widow it stillbelongs. 

Shortly before his death Mr. Van Raalte wrote a brief account of hisisland home, which closed with the following lines:--

 "All through the island the slopes are covered with rhododendrons, juniper, Scotch firs, insignis, macrocarpa, Corsican pines, and many other varieties of evergreens, plentifully mingled with cedars and deciduous forest trees. Wild fowl in great variety visit the island, and the low-lying land within the sea-wall is the favourite haunt of many sea-birds; and several varieties of plover, the redshank, greenshank, sandpiper, and snipe may be found there. The crossbill comes very often, and the green woodpecker's cry is quite familiar. But perhaps the most beautiful little winged creature that favours us is the kingfisher. "

A prominent feature on the mainland as seen from Brownsea is the littleEarly English church of Arne, standing on a promontory running out intothe mud-banks of the estuary, and terminating in a narrow tongue of landknown as Pachin's Point. At one time Arne belonged to the Abbey ofShaftesbury, and it is said that the tenants of the estate, on payingtheir rent, were given a ticket entitling them to a free dinner at theAbbey when they were passing through Shaftesbury. The vast size ofPoole Harbour is realized when we consider that, excluding the islands, its extent is ten thousand acres, and from no other spot does the sheetof water look more imposing than from the wooded heights and sandyshores of Brownsea. At low tide several channels can be traced by thedarker hue of the water as it winds between the oozy mud-banks, but athigh tide the whole surface is flooded, and there lies the great saltlake with her green islands set like emerald gems on a silver targe. 

Eastwards from Bournemouth Pier the cliffs are bold and lofty, and arebroken only by small chines or narrow gullies. On the summit of thecliff a delightful drive has been constructed, while an undercliffdrive, extending for a mile and a half between Bournemouth Pier andBoscombe Pier, was formally opened with great festivities on 3rd June, 1914. Boscombe Chine, the only large opening on the eastern side ofBournemouth, must have been formerly rich in minerals, and Camden, whocalls it "Bascombe", tells us that it had a "copperas house". On theeastern side of the Chine a spring has been enclosed, the water beingsimilar to the natural mineral water of Harrogate. The whole of theChine has been laid out as a pleasure garden, although care has beentaken to preserve much of its natural wildness. Unlike most of the otherchines along this stretch of shore, the landward termination ofBoscombe Chine is very abrupt, which is the more remarkable as thelittle stream by which it is watered occupies only a very slightdepression beyond the Christchurch road on its way down to the sea fromLittledown Heath. Boscombe House stood formerly in the midst of a finewood of Scotch pines. The estate is now being rapidly developed forresidential purposes. The house was the home for many years ofdescendants of the poet Shelley, who erected a monument in ChristchurchPriory to the memory of their illustrious ancestor. The house liesbetween the Christchurch road and the sea, and was almost entirelyrebuilt by Sir Percy Shelley about the middle of the nineteenth century. The rapid growth of Boscombe may be gauged by the fact that betweenthirty and forty years ago Boscombe House and a few primitive cottageswere the only buildings between Bournemouth and Pokesdown. Like herparent of Bournemouth, whom she closely resembles, Boscombe is built onwhat was once a stretch of sandy heaths and pine-woods. A pier wasopened here in 1889 by the Duke of Argyll. It was built entirely byprivate enterprise, and it was not until 1904 that it was taken over bythe Corporation. To the east of the pier the cliffs have been laid outas gardens, much of the land having been given by the owners of BoscombeHouse on their succeeding to the estate. The roads here are verysimilar to those of Bournemouth, with their rows of pines, and villasencircled by the same beautiful trees. A peculiar designation of Owl'sRoad has no direct connection with birds, but is commemorative of _TheOwl_, a satirical journal in which Sir Henry Drummond Wolfe, a largelandowner of Boscombe, was greatly interested. 

[Illustration: BOSCOMBE CHINE]

From Boscombe Pier very pleasant walks can be taken along the sands oron 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 sosomewhat despoiling the original beauty of the spot. The cliffs may beregained once more at Southbourne, and after walking for a shortdistance towards Hengistbury Head the road runs inland to Wick Ferry, where the Stour can be crossed and a visit paid to the fine old Prioryof Christchurch. Wick Ferry is one of the most beautiful spots in theneighbourhood, and is much resorted to by those who are fond of boating. Large and commodious ferry-boats land passengers on the opposite bankwithin a few minutes' walk of Christchurch. The main road fromBournemouth to Christchurch crosses the Stour a short distance inlandfrom Wick Ferry by Tuckton Bridge with its toll-house, a reminder that, by some old rights, toll is still levied on all those who cross theStour, whether they use the bridge or the ferry. 

Bournemouth is very proud of her Public Gardens, as she has every rightto be. Out of a total area of nearly 6000 acres no fewer than 694 acreshave been laid out as parks and pleasure grounds. The Pleasure Gardensare divided by the Square, that central meeting-place of the town'stramway system, into two portions, known as the Lower and the UpperGardens. These follow the course of the Bourne stream, and they have hada considerable influence in the planning of this portion of the town. The Pinetum is the name given to a pine-shaded avenue that leads fromthe Pier to the Arcade Gate. Here, in storm or shine, is shelter fromthe winter wind or shade from the summer sun, while underfoot the fallenacicular leaves of the pines are impervious to the damp. These Gardensare more than a mile and a half in extent, and are computed to possesssome four miles of footpaths. The Upper Gardens are contained within theBranksome estate, and are consequently thrown open to the public only bythe courtesy of the owner. They extend to the Coy Pond, and are muchquieter and less thronged with people than the Lower Gardens, with theirproximity to the Pier and the shore. 

Another of those picturesque open spaces which do so much to beautifythe town is Meyrick Park, opened in 1894, and comprising some hundredand twenty acres of undulating land on which an eighteen-hole golfcourse has been constructed. Another course of a highly sportingcharacter is in Queen's Park, reached by way of the Holdenhurst Road. Beyond the Meyrick Park Golf Links lie the Talbot Woods, a wide extentof pine forest which may fittingly be included in Bournemouth's parks. These woods are the property of the Earl of Leven and Melville, who haslaid down certain restrictions which must be observed by all visitors. Bicycles are allowed on the road running through the woods, but no motorcars or dogs, and smoking is rightly forbidden, as a lighted matchcarelessly thrown among the dry bracken with which the woods arecarpeted would cause a conflagration appalling to contemplate. 

The famous Winter Gardens are under the management of the Corporation, and in 1893 the spacious glass Pavilion was taken over by the sameauthority. It may be mentioned incidentally that Bournemouth spends asum of six thousand pounds annually in providing band music for hervisitors. The full band numbers no fewer than fifty musicians, and isdivided into two portions, one for the Pier, the other for the Pavilion. The Winter Gardens are charmingly laid out with shrubs and ornamentalflower beds, and on special gala days clusters of fairy lights give anadded brilliancy to the scene. 

Boscombe possesses her own group of gardens and open spaces. BoscombeChine Gardens extend from the Christchurch Road to the mouth of theChine. At the shore end is an artificial pond where the juvenile nativesmeet the youthful visitors for the purpose of sailing toy ships. TheKnyveton Gardens lie in the valley between Southcote Road and KnyvetonRoad, and cover some five acres of land. King's Park, and the largerQueen's Park, together with Carnarvon Crescent Gardens, show thatBoscombe attaches as much importance as Bournemouth to the advantages ofproviding her visitors and residents with an abundance of open spaces, tastefully laid out, and having, in some cases, tennis courts andbowling greens. 

The piers of both Bournemouth and Boscombe are great centres ofattraction for visitors, apart from those who only use them for thepurpose of reaching the many steamboats that ply up and down the coast. A landing pier of wood, eight hundred feet long and sixteen feet inwidth, was opened on 17th September, 1861. It cost the modest sum of_£_4000. During the winter of 1865-6 many of the wooden piles were foundto have rotted, and were replaced by iron piles. A considerable portionof the pier was treated in a similar manner in 1866, and again in 1868. With this composite and unsightly structure Bournemouth was contentuntil 1878, when the present pier was commenced, being formally openedin 1880. It was extended in 1894, and again in 1909. Boscombe Pier, asalready stated, was opened in 1889 by the then Duke of Argyll. 

[Illustration: BOURNEMOUTH: THE CHILDREN'S CORNER, LOWER GARDENS

Owing to their proximity to the Pier and the shore, these Gardens aremuch frequented by the people and afford great delight to children. ]

Of Bournemouth's many modern churches that of St. Peter, situated at thejunction of the Gervis and the Hinton Roads, has interesting historicalassociations, apart from its architectural appeal. 

In the south transept John Keble used to sit during his prolonged stayat Bournemouth in the closing years of his life. He is commemorated bythe "Keble Windows", and the "Keble Chapel", within the church, and by ametal tablet affixed to the house "Brookside", near the pier, where hepassed away in 1866. The churchyard is extremely pretty, being situatedon a well-wooded hillside. The churchyard cross was put up in July, 1871. In the churchyard are buried the widow of the poet Shelley, together with her father, Godwin the novelist, and her mother, who wasalso a writer of some distinction. Taken altogether, this church, withits splendid windows and richly-wrought reredos and screens, is one ofthe most pleasing modern churches in the country, both with regard toits architecture and its delightful situation. 

This hillside churchyard under the pine trees, together with"Brookside", where Keble lived, and Boscombe Manor, with its memories ofthe Shelleys, are the only literary shrines Bournemouth as yetpossesses. 

Mary Godwin, whose maiden name was Wollstonecraft, was an Irish girl whobecame literary adviser to Johnson, the publisher, by whom she wasintroduced to many literary people, including William Godwin, whom shemarried in 1797. Their daughter Mary, whose birth she did not survive, became the poet Shelley's second wife. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley wasone of the earliest writers on woman's suffrage, and her _Vindicationsof the Rights of Women_ was much criticized on account of, to that age, the advanced views it advocated. Among her other books was a volume of_Original Stories for Children_, illustrated by William Blake. 

Her father, William Godwin, was a native of Wisbeach, where he was bornin 1756, and at first he was ordained for the Presbyterian ministry. Hewas the author of a good many novels and philosophical works. In thelater years of his life he was given the office of "Yeoman Usher of theExchequer". 

It was Mary Godwin with whom Shelley eloped to Italy in 1814, and whomhe married in 1816, on the death of his first wife, Harriet Westbrook, who drowned herself. In 1851, Mary Shelley was laid by the side of herfather and mother, brought down from St. Pancras Churchyard, and her ownson, and the woman who was loved by that son, all now sleep their lastsleep under the greensward of St. Peter's Church. To many of us it isthe one spot in Bournemouth most worth visiting. Climbing the woodedhill we stand by the Shelley grave, and think of how much intellect, aspiration, and achievement lies there entombed, and of the patheticcenotaph to the memory of the greatest of all the Shelleys in the fineold Priory of Christchurch, five miles away. 

Previous to his coming to Bournemouth to recover his health, John Keblewas vicar of Hursley, near Winchester. _The Christian Year_, upon whichhis literary position must mainly rest, was published anonymously in1827. It met with a remarkable reception, and its author becoming known, Keble was appointed to the Chair of Poetry at Oxford, which he helduntil 1841. In the words of a modern writer, "Keble was one of the mostsaintly and unselfish men who ever adorned the Church of England, and, though personally shy and retiring, exercised a vast spiritual influenceupon his generation". His "Life" was written by J. D. Coleridge in 1869, and again, by the Rev. W. Lock, in 1895. 

The Stour valley, with its picturesque river scenery, forms a charmingcontrast to the seaboard of Bournemouth and her suburbs of Boscombe andSouthborne, while to those who are fond of river boating the wholedistrict is full of attraction. For the pedestrian the valley is veryaccessible. The route from Bournemouth is by way of the Upper Gardens, and right through the Talbot Woods to Throop, where the banks of theriver are covered with trees. The village is a straggling one, and themill and weir give an additional charm to some of the prettiest riverscenery in the neighbourhood. A short distance from Throop is thevillage of Holdenhurst, which, with Throop, forms one parish. 

While in this district a visit may be paid to Hurn, or Heron Court, theseat of the Earl of Malmesbury. The house, largely rebuilt since it wasowned by the Priors of Christchurch, is not shown to the public, but thepark, with its beautiful plantation of rhododendrons, may be seen fromthe middle of May till the end of June, that is, when the flowers are infull bloom. From Holdenhurst the return journey may be made by way ofIford, and so on to the main road at Pokesdown, whence Bournemouth issoon reached. 

[Illustration: TALBOT WOODS, BOURNEMOUTH]

To those who visit the ancient town of Poole for the first time by roadfrom Bournemouth, it is difficult to tell where the one town ends andthe other begins, so continuous are the houses, shops, and otherbuildings which line each side of the main thoroughfare; and thisnotwithstanding that to the left hand of the road connecting the twoplaces lies the charming residential district of Parkstone, where thehouses on a pine-clad slope look right over the great harbour of Poole. As a matter of fact Bournemouth is left long before Parkstone isreached. The County Gates not only mark the municipal boundaries ofBournemouth, but they indicate also, as their title implies, that theydivide the counties of Hampshire and Dorset. Thus it is that althoughthe beautiful houses of Branksome and Parkstone are linked to those ofBournemouth by bricks and mortar, as well as by road, rail, and tramway, they otherwise form no part of it. They are in Dorset, and countyrivalry is never stronger or keener than where two beautiful residentialdistricts face each other from opposite sides of a boundary line. Bournemouth would dearly like to take Parkstone, a natural offshoot fromherself, under her municipal care, but if this were done Dorset wouldlose some of her most valuable rateable property, as, between them, Poole and Parkstone pay no less than one-fifth of the whole of thecounty rate of Dorset. 

Just beyond Parkstone a lovely view is obtained of Poole Harbour fromthe summit of Constitution Hill. 

Poole and Hamworthy, with their many industries and busy wharves, forma piquant contrast to spick-and-span Bournemouth with her tidy gardensand well-dressed crowds; but whatever the port of Poole may lack inother ways she has an abundance of history, although her claim to figureas a Roman station has been much disputed. We do know, however, thatafter the Norman Conquest Poole was included in the neighbouring manorof Canford, and its first charter was granted by William Longspée, Earlof Salisbury. It was not until the reign of the third Edward that thetown became of much importance. This monarch used it as a base forfitting out his ships during the protracted war with France, and in 1347it furnished and manned four ships for the siege of Calais. The landsthat lie between Poole and Hamworthy were held in the Middle Ages by theTurbervilles, of Bere Regis, and during the Stuart period by the Carews, of Devonshire. In the reign of Queen Elizabeth the town had aconsiderable commerce with Spain until the war with that country put astop to this particular traffic. As some compensation for their lossesin this direction Elizabeth granted the town two new charters, andconfirmed all its ancient privileges. During the Great Rebellion thetown was held for the Parliament, and in 1642 the Royalist forces, under the leadership of the Marquis of Hertford, attempted its capture, but were forced to retreat. 

The town is situated on a peninsula on the north side of Poole Harbour, and at one time it was the home of many smugglers. Part of an oldsmuggler's house has recently been discovered in the town. 

The quayside is always a busy spot, and a good deal of shipbuilding andrepairing is still carried on. The town is full of old houses, althoughmany of them are hidden behind modern fronts. 

In 1885 the late Lord Wimborne presented the Corporation with some fortyacres of land to be converted into a Public Park. This land has beencarefully laid out, and includes tennis courts and a spacious cricketground. 

As a seaport the town was of great importance and the Royalists sparedno efforts to effect its capture, but like the other Dorset port of LymeRegis, so gallantly defended by Robert Blake, afterwards the famousadmiral, Poole held out to the end. Clarendon, the Royalist historian ofthe Great Rebellion, makes a slighting reference to the two towns. "InDorsetshire", he says, "the enemy had only two little fisher towns, Poole and Lyme. " The "little fisher towns", however, proved a thorn inthe sides of the Royalists, some thousands of whom lost their lives inthe fierce fighting that took place at Poole, and particularly aroundLyme Regis. 

The merchants of Poole became wealthy by their trade with Newfoundland, a commerce that commenced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and lasteduntil well on in the reign of Queen Victoria. The trade is said to havebeen conducted on the truck system, and the merchants grew rich bybuying both their exports and imports wholesale while disposing of themat retail prices. 

Not far from the quay is an almshouse, built in 1816 by George Garland, a wealthy merchant of the town, who, on the occasion of a great feast in1814, presented "one honest plum-pudding of one hundredweight" towardsthe entertainment. Farther on is a house built in 1746 by Sir PeterThompson. It is a good specimen of Georgian architecture, and stillbears the heraldic arms of the merchant who built it. Sir Peter's houseis now Lady Wimborne's "Cornelia Hospital". Most of the other old housesof the town's merchants have been modernized and sadly disfigured. Theoldest almshouses--and the number of ancient almshouses in a town is asure guide to its old-time prosperity--were built originally in thereign of the fifth Henry, and for many years belonged to the Guild ofSt. George. In 1547, at the Reformation, they passed to the Crown, withall the other property of the Guild, and in 1550 they were purchased bythe Corporation. Needless perhaps to say, they have been rebuilt morethan once, although they have continuously provided for the poor formore than five hundred years. 

An interesting antiquarian find was made in a ditch near Poole a fewyears ago of the seal of John, Duke of Bedford, under whose rule asRegent of France Joan of Arc was burned. The occurrence of the seal onthis spot was due, without doubt, to this noble having been Lord ofCanford and Poole. 

Near the church, a modern building on the site of an older one, is asmall gateway which may possibly have been a water gate, as traces ofsea-weed were found clinging to it when the adjacent soil was excavated. 

Older than any other buildings in Poole are the so-called "TownCellars", referred to variously in the town's remarkable collection ofrecords as the "Great Cellar", the "King's Hall", and the "Woolhouse". The original purpose of the building has not yet been definitelydetermined. It is largely of fourteenth-century date, and its doorwaysand windows have a decidedly ecclesiastical appearance. At the same timethere is no evidence whatever that it ever formed part of a monasticfoundation, or was ever built for religious purposes. The old batteredbuilding was the scene of at least one fierce fight, when a combinedFrench and Spanish fleet attacked the town to revenge themselves on thedreaded buccaneer, Harry Paye, or Page, who had been raiding the shoresof France and Spain. When the hostile fleets entered Poole Harbour earlyone morning five hundred years ago, the town was taken by surprise. Theintrepid "Arripay", as his enemies rendered the name, was absent on oneof his expeditions, but his place was worthily taken by his brother, whowas killed in the fighting. The Town Cellars were full of stores andmunitions of war, and when the building had been captured and set onfire, the townsmen retired, while the victorious Spaniards, who had beenreinforced by the French after a first repulse, returned with a fewprisoners to their ships, and sailed out of the harbour, having giventhe mariners of Poole the greatest drubbing they have ever received inthe long history of the place. 

[Illustration: POOLE HARBOUR FROM CONSTITUTIONAL HILL]

Near Poole is Canford Manor, the seat of Lord Wimborne and the "CheneManor" of the Wessex novels. There was a house here in very early times, and in the sixteenth year of his reign King John, by letter-close, informed Ralph de Parco, the keeper of his wines at Southampton, that itwas his pleasure that three tuns "of our wines, of the best sort that isin your custody", should be sent to Canford. In the fifth year of HenryIII the King addressed the following letter to Peter de Mauley:--

"You are to know that we have given to our beloved uncle, William, Earlof Sarum, eighty chevrons (cheverons) in our forest of Blakmore, for therebuilding of his houses (_ad domos_) at Caneford. Tested atWestminster, 28th July. "

The present house occupies the site of the old mansion of the Longspéesand Montacutes, Earls of Salisbury, of which the kitchen remains, withtwo enormous fireplaces, and curious chimney shafts. The greater part ofthe old mansion was pulled down in 1765, and the house which was thenerected became, for a short time, the home of a society of Teresan nunsfrom Belgium. In 1826 it was again rebuilt by Blore, and in 1848 SirJohn Guest employed Sir Charles Barry to make many additions, includingthe tower, great hall and gallery, leaving, however, the dining-room andthe whole of the south front as Blore had designed them. A new wingcontaining billiard and smoking rooms was added so recently as 1887. 

Lady Charlotte Guest, mother of the late Lord Wimborne, was adistinguished Welsh scholar, whose translation of the _Mabinogion_ gavean extraordinary impulse to the study of Celtic literature and folk-lorein England. She was twice married, her first husband being Sir J. J. Guest, and her second Mr. Schreiber, member of Parliament for Poole. 

In addition to a great literary talent Lady Charlotte had a considerablelove for the more mechanical side of the bookmaker's art, and for manyyears Canford could boast of a printing press. In the year 1862 seriousattention was turned to the production of beautiful and artisticprinting. Although Lady Charlotte was the prime mover in this venture, she received valuable assistance from her son (Lord Wimborne), Miss EnidGuest, and other members of the family. It is thought that the firstbook printed here was _Golconda_, the work of a former tutor to thefamily. The most important books produced at this amateur press wereTennyson's _The Window_, and _The Victim_, both printed in 1867. One ofthe Miss Guests had met Tennyson while staying at Freshwater, and thepoet sent these MSS. To Canford in order that they might be printed. Onthe title page of _The Victim_ there is a woodcut of Canford Manor. Acopy of this book was recently in the market. It contained an autographinscription by the late Mr. Montague Guest to William Barnes, the Dorsetpoet. Only two other copies have changed hands since 1887, and theseCanford press publications are eagerly sought by collectors. So longago as 1896 a copy of _The Victim_ realized _£_75 at the sale of theCrampton Library. 

The ancient town of Wimborne, with its glorious minster, is very easilyreached both from Poole and from Bournemouth. The town stands in afertile district which was once occupied by the Roman legions, but thechief glory of the place is its magnificent church with its numeroustombs and monuments. Here are the last resting-places of such famousfamilies as the Courtenays, the Beauforts, and the Uvedales, and herealso lie the two daughters of Daniel Defoe, who joined Monmouth'sRebellion at Lyme Regis. In the south choir aisle is the tomb of AntonyEtricke, before whom the Duke of Monmouth was taken after his flightfrom Sedgemoor. The chained library, near the vestry, consists chieflyof books left by William Stone, Principal of New Inn Hall, Oxford, whowas a native of the town. In 871 King Ethelred I died of wounds receivedin a battle against the Danes near Wimborne. He was buried in theminster, where he is commemorated by a fifteenth-century brass, thisbeing the only memorial of the kind that we have of an English monarch. 

One cannot wander in these quiet old streets that surround the minsterwithout recalling to memory the nuns of Wimborne, who settled hereabout the year 705, and over whom Cuthberga, Queen of Northumbria, andsister of Ina, King of the West Saxons, presided as first abbess. It waswith the nuns of Wimborne that St. Boniface, a native of Crediton, inDevon, contracted those friendships that cast so interesting a light onthe character of the great apostle of Germany. 

In addition to its minster church, Wimborne has a very old building inSt. Margaret's Hospital, founded originally for the relief of lepers. The chapel joins one of the tenements of the almsfolk, and here comesone of the minster clergy every Thursday to conduct divine service. Neara doorway in the north wall is an excellent outside water stoup in aperfect state of preservation. 

Comparatively few visitors to Bournemouth and Poole are aware to howlarge an extent the culture of lavender for commercial purposes iscarried on at Broadstone, near Poole. Although it is only duringcomparatively recent years that the cultivation of lavender in thiscountry has been sufficiently extensive to raise it to the dignity of arecognized industry, dried lavender flowers have been used as a perfumefrom the days of the Romans, who named the flower _lavandula_, from theuse to which it was applied by them in scenting the water for the bath. It is not known for certain when the lavender plant was brought intoEngland. Shakespeare, in the _Winter's Tale_, puts these words into themouth of Perdita:

 "Here's flowers for you; Hot lavender, mint, savory, marjoram; The marigold, that goes to bed with the sun, And with him rises weeping: these are flowers of Middle summer". 

The Bard of Avon laid his scene in Bohemia; but the context makes itevident that the plants named were such as were growing in an Englishcottager's garden in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. 

Broadstone was the spot chosen by Messrs. Rivers Hill and Company forthe purpose of growing lavender for their perfume distilleries. It is anideal spot, where a large tract of heather land, on a portion of LordWimborne's estate, rises in a series of undulations from Poole Harbour. Although it is quite a new industry for Dorset, it has already proved ofgreat value in finding constant employment, and an employment as healthyas it is constant, for a large number of men and women. Unfortunately, perhaps, it is an industry which demands peculiar climatic conditions torender it commercially profitable. A close proximity to the sea, and anabundance of sunshine, give an aroma to the oil extracted from theflowers that is lacking when lavender is grown inland. 

The farm has its own distillery, where the oil essences are extractedand tested. The lavender is planted during the winter months, and twocrops are harvested--the first in June or July, and the second in Augustor September. The reaping is done by men, and the flowers are packedinto mats of about half a hundredweight each. 

The fields are not entirely given over to the cultivation of lavender, for peppermint, sweet balm, rosemary, elder, and the sweet-scentedviolets are also grown here. In addition to the people occupied in thefields a large number of women and girls are employed to weave thewicker coverings for the bottles of scent, forwarded from this Dorsetflower farm to all parts of the world. 

 * * * * *

CHRISTCHURCH

The ancient borough of Christchurch, five miles from Bournemouth, spreads itself over a mile of street on a promontory washed on one sideby the Dorset Stour, and on the other by the Wiltshire Avon. Just belowthe town the two rivers unite, and make their way through mud-banks tothe English Channel. The town itself is not devoid of interest, althoughthe great attraction of the place is the old Priory church, one of thefinest churches of non-cathedral rank in the country, both with regardto its size, and its value to students of architecture. 

Christchurch was once included in the New Forest, the boundaries ofwhich "ran from Hurst along the seashore to Christchurch bridge, as thesea flows, thence as the Avon extends as far as the bridge ofForthingbrugge" (Fordingbridge). Its inclusion in the New Forestprobably accounts for the great number of Kings who visited it after theNorman Conquest, although King Ethelwold was here so early as 901, longbefore the New Forest was thought of. King John had a great liking forthis part of the country, where the New Forest, Cranborne Chase, and theRoyal Warren of Purbeck made up a hunting-ground of enormous extent. King John was frequently at Christchurch, which was also visited byEdwards I, II, and III, by the seventh and eighth Henrys, and by EdwardVI, the last of whom, we are told by Fuller, passed through "the littletown in the forest". With such a wealth of royal visitors it is fittingthat the principal hotel in the town should be called the "King's Arms". One of the members of Parliament for the borough was the eccentricAntony Etricke, the Recorder of Poole, before whom the Duke of Monmouthwas taken after his capture following the defeat at Sedgemoor. Theunfortunate prince was found on Shag's Heath, near Horton, in a fieldsince called "Monmouth's Close". 

An interesting reference to the place which has been missed by all thetown's historians, including that indefatigable antiquary, Walcott, occurs in "The Note-Book of Tristram Risdon", an earlyseventeenth-century manuscript preserved in the Library of the Dean andChapter of Exeter. The entry is as follows:--

 "Baldwyn de Ridvers, the fifth, was Erl of Devonshire after the death of Baldwyn his father, which died 29 of Henry III. This Baldwyn had issue John, which lived not long, by meanes whereof the name of Ridvers failed, and th'erldom came unto Isabell sister of the last Baldwyn, which was maried unto William de Fortibus, Erl of Albemarle. This Lady died without issue. Neere about her death shee sold th'ile of Weight, and her mannor of Christchurch unto King Edward I for six thowsand mark, payd by the hands of Sir Gilbert Knovile, William de Stanes, and Geffrey Hecham, the King's Receivers. "

Going by the road the town is entered on the north side, at a spotcalled Bargates, where there was once a movable barrier or gate. Eggheite (i. E. The marshy island), the old name of a suburb of the town, gave the appellation to an extensive Hundred in Domesday. Baldwin deRedvers mentions the bridge of Eggheite. Among the Corporation recordsare three indulgences remitting forty days of penance granted atDonuhefd by Simon, Archbishop of Canterbury, July 1331, to all whocontributed to the building or repair of the bridge of Christchurch deTwyneham; by Gervase, Bishop of Bangor, in 1367; and by Geoffrey, Archbishop of Damascus, 6th December, 1373. These indulgences areinteresting as showing the importance attached to keeping the town'sbridges in good repair. 

[Illustration: CHRISTCHURCH PRIORY FROM WICK FERRY

This is one of the finest churches of non-Cathedral rank in the country, both with regard to size and its value to students of architecture. Itis larger than many a Cathedral. ]

On 28th January, 1855, Sir Edmund Lyons, afterwards "Lord Lyons ofChristchurch", received a public welcome in the town, on his return fromhis brilliant action before Sebastopol. At Mudeford, near by, livedWilliam Steward Rose, to whom Sir Walter Scott paid occasional visits. Scott is said to have corrected the proofs of "Marmion" while atMudeford, where, in 1816, Coleridge was staying. 

The town once had a leper hospital in Barrack Street, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalen, but all traces of it have disappeared. 

The views around the town, especially perhaps that from the top of thechurch tower, are very extensive, from the New Forest on the east to thehills of Purbeck and Swanage on the west, while the view seawardsincludes the sweeping curve of Christchurch Bay, the English Channel, and the Isle of Wight. The conspicuous eminence seen on the west of theriver is St. Catherine's Hill, where the monks first began to buildtheir Priory, and on it some traces of a small chapel have been found. Hengistbury Head is a wild and deserted spot, with remains of an ancientfosse cut between the Stour and the sea, possibly for defensivepurposes, as there is a rampart on each side of the entrenchment, towhich there are three entrances. 

At the end of the long High Street stands the Priory church, withexamples to show of each definite period of our national ecclesiasticalarchitecture, from an early Norman crypt to Renaissance chantries. Theextreme length of the church is 311 feet, it being in this respect ofgreater length than the cathedrals of Rochester, Oxford, Bristol, Exeter, Carlisle, Ripon, and Southwell. 

So vast a building naturally costs a large sum of money every year tokeep in repair, and in this respect the parishioners of the ancientborough owe much to Bournemouth, whose visitors, by their fees, providemore than sufficient funds for this purpose. The wonderful purity of theair has been a great factor in preserving the crispness of the masonry, and in keeping the mouldings and carvings almost as sharp in profile aswhen they were first cut by the mediæval masons. 

The out-of-the-way position of the Priory no doubt accounts for theslight and fragmentary references to it in early chronicles, the onlyold writer of note to mention it being Knyghton (_temp. _ Richard II), who speaks of it as "the Priory of Twynham, which is now calledChristchurch". Even Camden, many years later, merely says that"Christchurch had a castle and church founded in the time of theSaxons". It is mentioned in the Domesday Survey, when its value was putat _£_8 yearly, an increase of two pounds since the days of Edward theConfessor. The Cartulary of the Priory is in the British Museum, but itcontains no notes of architectural interest. 

According to tradition the first builders began to erect a church on St. Catherine's Hill, but by some miraculous agency the stones were removedevery night, and deposited on the promontory between the two rivers, ata spot which became known by the Saxon name of Tweoxneham, or Twynham. The site for the church having been divinely revealed, the monks beganto build on the sacred spot; but even then there was no cessation ofsupernatural intervention. Every day a strange workman came and toiled;but he never took any food to sustain him, and never demanded any wages. Once, when a rafter was too short for its allotted place, the strangerstretched it to the required length with his hands, and this miraculousbeam is still to be seen within the church. When at last the buildingwas finished, and the workmen were gathered together to see the fruitsof their labour receive the episcopal consecration, the strange workmanwas nowhere to be found. The monks came to the conclusion that He wasnone other than Christ Himself, and the church which owed so much to Hismiraculous help became known as Christchurch, or Christchurch Twynham, although it had been officially dedicated to the Holy Trinity in thereign of Edward the Confessor, and the title of Christchurch does notappear to have been in general use until the twelfth century. 

The early history of the foundation is very obscure. King Aethelstan issaid to have founded the first monastery. More certain is it that, inthe reign of Edward the Confessor, the church at Twynham was held bySecular Canons, who remained there until 1150, when they were displacedby Augustinians, or Austin Canons. The early church was pulled down byRalf Flambard, afterwards Bishop of Durham. He was the builder of thefine Norman nave of Christchurch, and the still grander nave of DurhamCathedral. He was Chaplain to William Rufus, and his life was as eviland immoral as his skill in building was great. He died in 1128, and wasburied in his great northern cathedral. Much of Flambard's Norman workat Christchurch remains in the triforium, the arcading of the nave, andthe transepts. A little later we get the nave clerestory, Early Englishwork, put up soon after the dawn of the thirteenth century, theapproximate date also of the nave aisle vaulting, the north porch, and achapel attached to the north transept. To the fourteenth century belongthe massive stone rood-screen, and the reredos. The Perpendicular LadyChapel was finished about the close of the thirteenth century, while thefourteenth century gave us the western tower, and most of the choir, although the vaulting was put up much later, as the bosses of the southchoir aisle bear the initials W. E. , indicating William Eyre, Prior from1502 to 1520. Last of all in architectural chronology come the chantryof Prior Draper, built in 1529, and that of Margaret, Countess ofSalisbury, niece of Edward IV, and mother of the famous Cardinal Pole. She was not destined, however, to lie here, as she was beheaded at theTower in 1541. 

The church now consists of nave, aisles, choir, unaisled transepts, western tower, and Lady Chapel. The cloisters and the domestic buildingshave disappeared. It is highly probable that there was once a centraltower, an almost invariable accompaniment of a Norman conventual church. There is no documentary evidence relating to a central tower, but themassive piers and arches at the corners of the transepts seem toindicate that provision was made for one, and the representation of atower of two stages on an old Priory seal, may be either the record ofan actual structure, or an intelligent anticipation of a feature thatnever took an architectural form, although it was contemplated. 

In the churchyard are tombstones to the memory of some of the passengerslost in the wreck of the _Halsewell_, off Durlston Head, on 6thJanuary, 1786. The churchyard is large, and a walk round it allows aview of the whole of the north side of the church. On the south side amodern house and its grounds have displaced the cloisters and thedomestic buildings attached to the foundation. Prominent features on thenorth side are a circular transept stairway, rich in diaper work, thearcading round the transept, the wide windows of the clerestory of thechoir, and the upper portion of the Lady Chapel. The fifteenth-centurytower is set so far within the nave as to leave two spaces at the endsof the aisles, one used as a vestry, the other as a store-room. In thespandrels of the tower doorway are two shields charged with the arms ofthe Priory and of the Earls of Salisbury. Above the doorway is a largewindow, and above this again a niche containing a figure of Christ. Theoctagonal stair turret is at the north-east angle. The north porch, muchrestored, is of great size, and its side walls are of nearly the sameheight as the clerestory of the nave. On the west side is a recess withshafts of Purbeck marble and foliated cusps. Around the wall is a lowstone seat, used, it is said, by the parishioners and others who came tosee the Prior on business. The roof has some very beautiful groining, much restored in 1862. Above the porch is a lofty room, probably used asthe muniment room of the Priory. Entrance to the church from this porchis through a double doorway of rich Early English work. 

[Illustration: PRIORY RUINS, CHRISTCHURCH]

An extraordinary epitaph is that on a tombstone near the north porch, which reads as follows:--

 "We were not slayne but raysed, raysed not to life but to be byried twice by men of strife. What rest could the living have when dead had none, agree amongst you heere we ten are one. Hen. Rogers died Aprill 17 1641. "

Several attempts have been made to explain the meaning of this epitaph, one to the effect that Oliver Cromwell, while at Christchurch, dug upsome lead coffins to make into bullets, replacing the bodies from tencoffins in one grave. This solution is more ingenious than probable, asCromwell does not appear to have ever been at Christchurch. Moreover, the Great Rebellion did not begin until over fifteen months later thanthe date on the tombstone. Another and more likely explanation is thatthe ten were shipwrecked sailors, who were at first buried near the spotwhere their bodies were washed ashore. The lord of the manor wished toremove the bodies to consecrated ground, and a quarrel ensued betweenhim and Henry Rogers, then Mayor of Christchurch, who objected to theirremoval. Eventually the lord of the manor had his way, but the Mayor hadthe bodies placed in one grave, possibly to save the town the expense often separate interments. 

The north aisle was originally Norman, and small round-headed windowsstill remain to light the triforium. In the angle formed by the aisleand the north wing of the transept stood formerly a two-storiedbuilding, the upper part of which communicated by a staircase with thenorth aisle, but all this has been destroyed. The north transept ischiefly Norman in character, with a fine arcade of intersecting archesbeneath a billeted string-course. An excellent Norman turret of fourstages runs up at the north-east angle, and is richly decorated, thethird story being ornamented with a lattice-work of stone in highrelief. East of the transept was once an apsidal chapel, similar to thatstill remaining in the south arm of the transept, but about the end ofthe thirteenth century this was destroyed and two chapels were built inits place. These contain beautiful examples of plate tracery windows. 

Above these chapels is a chamber supposed to have been the tracing roomwherein various drawings were prepared. The compartment has a windowsimilar in style to those in the chapels below. 

East of the transept is the choir, with a clerestory of four loftyPerpendicular windows of four lights each, with a bold flying buttressbetween the windows. 

The whole of this part of the church is Perpendicular, the choir aislewindows are very low, and the curvature of the sides of the arches isso slight that they almost appear to be straight lines. The choir roofis flat, and is invisible from the exterior of the church. It isprobable that at one time a parapet ran along the top of the clerestorywalls, similar to that on the aisle walls, but if so it has disappeared, giving this portion of the choir a somewhat bare appearance. The LadyChapel is to the east of the choir and presbytery, and contains threelarge Perpendicular windows on each side; part of the central window onthe north side is blocked by an octagonal turret containing a staircaseleading to St. Michael's Loft, a large room above the Chapel. The largeeastern window of five lights is Perpendicular. The original purpose ofthe loft above the Chapel is uncertain, and it has been used for avariety of purposes. It was described as "St. Michael's Loft" in 1617, and in 1666 the parishioners petitioned Bishop Morley for permission touse it as a school, describing it as having been "heretofore achapter-house". The loft is lighted by five two-light windows havingsquare heads and with the lights divided by transoms. The eastern wallhas a window of three lights. Very curious are the corbels of thedripstones and the grotesquely carved gargoyles. The south sides of theLady Chapel and choir correspond very closely with the north. Thisportion of the church is not so well known as the north side, asprivate gardens come close up to the walls. 

The Norman apsidal chapel still remains on the eastern side of the southtransept. This has a semi-conical roof with chevron table-mouldingbeneath it, and clusters of shafts on each side at the spring of theapse. Of the two windows one is Norman and the other Early English. Onthe northern side of the apse is an Early English sacristy. The southside of the transept was strengthened by three buttresses, and containsa depressed segmental window much smaller than the corresponding windowof the north transept. The south side of the nave has, externally, butlittle interest as compared to the north side, for the cloisters, whichoriginally stood here, have been pulled down. Traces of the cloisterroof can still be seen, also a large drain, and an aumbry and cupboardbuilt into the thickness of the wall. There are also the remains of astaircase which probably led to a dormitory at the western end. 

In the south wall of the nave are two doors, that at the west used bythe canons, and that at the east by the Prior. The latter door is ofthirteenth-century date and is distinctly French in character. 

In mediæval days the nave was used as the parish church, and had its ownhigh altar, while the choir was reserved for the use of the canons. Thenave is made up of seven noble bays; the lower arcade consists ofsemicircular arches enriched with the chevron ornament, while thespandrels are filled with hatchet-work carving. The triforium of eachbay on both sides consists of two arches supported by a central pillarand enclosed by a semicircular containing arch, with bold mouldings. 

The clerestory was built about 1200 by Peter, the third Prior. Thepresent roof is of stucco, added in 1819; the original Norman roof wasprobably of wood, although springing shafts exist, which seem toindicate that a stone vault was contemplated by the Norman builders. Thenorth aisle retains its original stone vaulting, put up about 1200. Thisaisle is slightly later than the southern one, which was completed firstin order that the cloister might be built. The windows are of platetracery, and mark the transition between Early English and Decorated. The south aisle is very richly decorated with a fine wall arcadeenriched with cable and billet mouldings. The vaulting is of the samedate as that in the north aisle, and is also the work of Peter, Priorfrom 1195 to 1225. In the western bay is the original Norman window, theothers being filled with modern tracery of Decorated style. In thisaisle is a large aumbry and recess, where the bier and lights used atfunerals were stored. There is also a holy-water stoup in the thirdbay. At the west end are the remains of the stairway which led to thedormitory. The stairway is built into the wall, which, at thisparticular spot, is nearly seven feet thick. 

Under the north transept is an early Norman apsidal crypt with aumbriesin the walls. There is a corresponding crypt in the south wing. 

The ritual choir of the canons included the transept crossing as well asone bay of the parish nave, but at a later date the ritual and the newarchitectural choirs were made to correspond, and the present stonerood-screen was erected. It dates from the time of Edward III. It has aplain base, surmounted with a row of panelled quatrefoils, over which isa string-course with a double tier of canopied niches. The whole screenis massive and of superb workmanship. 

The choir is of Perpendicular architecture, lighted by four loftywindows on each side. There is no triforium, its place being occupiedwith panelling. On each side of the choir are fifteen stalls withquaintly carved misericords. 

The presbytery stands on a Norman crypt, and is backed by a stonereredos far exceeding in beauty the somewhat similar screens atWinchester, Southwark, and St. Albans. It is of three stories, withfive compartments in each tier, and represents the genealogy of ourLord. The screen is flanked on the north side by the Salisbury Chapel. In the crypt beneath is the chantry of de Redvers, now walled up to forma family vault for the Earls of Malmesbury, lay rectors of the church. 

The Lady Chapel is vaulted like the choir, from which it is an easternextension, and has a superb reredos dating from the time of Henry VI. The Chapel contains several tombs and monuments, including that ofThomas, Lord West, who bequeathed six thousand marks to maintain achantry of six priests. 

Beneath the tower is the marble monument by Weekes to the memory of thepoet Shelley, who was drowned by the capsizing of a boat in the Gulf ofSpezzia in 1822. Below the name "Percy Bysshe Shelley" are the followinglines from his "Adonais":--

 "He has outsoared the shadow of our night; Envy and calumny and hate and pain, And that unrest which men miscall delight, Can touch him not and torture not again: From the contagion of the world's slow stain He is secure, and now can never mourn A heart grown cold, a head grown grey in vain; Nor, when the spirits' self has ceased to burn, With sparkless ashes load an unlamented urn". 

At the Reformation the domestic buildings were pulled down, and the oldPriory church became the parish church of Christchurch. The last Priorwas John Draper II, vicar of Puddletown, Dorset, and titular Bishop ofNeapolis. He surrendered the Priory on 28th November, 1539, when hereceived a pension of _£_133, 6_s. _ 8_d. _; and was allowed to retainSomerford Grange during his life. The original document reads:--

 "To John Draper, Bishop of Neapolytan, late prior there (Christchurch), _£_133, 6_s. _ 8_d. _; also the manor of Somerford, called the Prior's lodging, parcel of the manor of Somerford, being part of the said late monastery, for term of life of the said bishop without anything yielding or paying thereof. "

The other inmates of the monastery also received pensions. The debtsowed by the brethren at the Dissolution include such items as:--

 "To John Mille, Recorder of Southampton, for wine and ale had of him, _£_24, 2_s. _ 8_d. _ William Hawland, of Poole, merchant, for wine, fish, and beer had of him, _£_8, 13_s. _ 2_d. _ Guillelmus, tailor, of Christchurch, as appeareth by his bill, 26_s. _ Roger Thomas, of Southampton, for a pair of organs, _£_4. "

Heron Court was the Prior's country house, while Somerford and St. Austin's, near Lymington, were granges and lodges belonging to thefoundation. 

On leaving the Priory a visit should be paid to the ruins of the oldNorman Castle, perched on the top of a high mound that commands the townon every side, and the Priory as well. Only fragments of the wallsremain of the keep erected here by Richard de Redvers, who died in1137, although the castle continued to be held by his descendants untilit was granted by Edward III to William de Montacute, Earl of Salisbury, who was appointed Constable, an office he held until 1405. During thetenure by the de Redvers the resident bailiff regulated the tolls, markets, and fairs at his pleasure, and he also fixed the amount of theduties to be levied on merchandise. It was not until the reign of thethird Edward that the burgesses were relieved from these uncertain andarbitrary exactions. 

[Illustration: PLACE MILL, CHRISTCHURCH

Place Mill was formerly called "The Old Priory Mill" and is mentioned inthe Domesday Survey]

The east and west walls of the keep remain, ten feet in thickness andabout thirty feet in height. The artificial mound on which they areraised is well over twenty feet high. 

The masonry of the walls is exceedingly rough and solid, for in the dayswhen they were erected men built for shelter and protection, and notwith the idea of providing themselves with beautiful houses to live in. The keep was made a certain height, not as a crowning feature in thelandscape, but so that from its top the warder could see for many milesthe glitter of a lance, or the dust raised by a troop of horsemen. Oneof the greatest charms of the rough, solid walls of a Norman castle isthat they are so honest and straightforward, and tell their story soplainly. 

Looking over the town from the Castle mound we realize thatChristchurch could correctly be denominated a "moated town", inasmuch asits two rivers encircle it in a loving embrace. Being so cut off byNature with waterways as to be almost an island, it was obviously astrong position for defence, and a lovely site for a monastery. 

A little to the north-east of the Castle, upon a branch of the Avonwhich formed at once the Castle moat and the Priory mill stream, standsa large portion of one of the few Norman houses left in this country. Itis seventy feet long by thirty feet in breadth, with walls of greatthickness. It was built about the middle of the thirteenth century, andis said, on slight authority, to have been the Constable's house. Thebasement story has widely-splayed loopholes in its north and east walls, and retains portions of the old stone staircases which led to theprincipal room occupying the whole of the upper story. This upper roomwas lighted by three Norman windows on each side, enriched with thebillet, zigzag, and rosette mouldings. At the north end the arch andshafts remain of a large window decorated with the familiar chevronornament. Near the centre of the east wall is a fireplace with a veryearly specimen of a round chimney, which has, however, been restored. Inthe south gable is a round window, while a small tower, forming aflank, overhangs the stream which flows through it. The building is muchovergrown with ivy and creepers, and it is a matter for regret that noefficient means have been taken to preserve so valuable a specimen oflate Norman architecture from slowly crumbling to pieces under theinfluences of the weather. Traces of the other sides of the Castle moathave been discovered in Church Street, Castle Street, and in theboundary of the churchyard. 

A walk along the bank situated between the Avon proper and the streamthat flows by the side of the Norman house leads past the Priory and thechurchyard to the Quay, the spot where much of the stone for buildingthe Priory was disembarked. Owing to the estuary of the combined riversbeing almost choked with mud and weeds there is very little commercialshipping trade carried on at the Quay, which is now mainly the centre ofthe town's river life during the summer months, for everyone living atChristchurch seems to own a boat of some kind. During the season motorlaunches ply several times a day between Christchurch and Mudeford, withits reputation for Christchurch salmon. 

On the quayside is the old Priory Mill, now called Place Mill, which ismentioned in the Domesday Survey. It stands on the very brink of theriver; its foundations are deep set in the water, and its rugged andbuttressed walls are reflected stone by stone in the clear, tremulousmirror. The glancing lights on the bright stream, the wealth of leafyfoliage, the sweet cadence of the ripples as they plash against thewalls of the Quay, and the beauty of the long reflections--quiveringlines of grey, green, and purple--increase the beauty of what isprobably the most picturesque corner of the town, while over the tops ofthe trees peers the grey tower of the ancient Priory church. These threebuildings--the Priory, the Castle, and the Mill--sum up the simplehistory of the place. The Castle for defence, the Priory for prayer, theMill for bread; and of Christchurch it may be said, both by thehistorian and the modern sightseer, _haec tria sunt omnia_. 

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_At the Villafield Press, Glasgow, Scotland_