Thehistory ofPoole, a town inDorset, England, can be traced back to the founding of a settlement aroundPoole Harbour during theIron Age. The town now known as Poole was founded on a small peninsula to the north of the harbour. Poole experienced rapid growth as it became an important port following theNorman Conquest of England.
The town's name derives from theOld English wordspool which means a place near a pool or creek andpol which was given to people who lived near a small body of water.[1] Variants include Pool, Pole, Poles, Poll, Polle, Polman, and Poolman.[2][3]
ThePoole Harbour area has been inhabited for at least 2,500 years.[3] During the Iron Age,Celtic people known as theDurotriges lived in Dorset, particularly aroundWareham, five miles (8 km) to the west. In the 3rd century BC, these Celtic people moved from hilltop settlements, such asMaiden Castle andBadbury Rings on the chalk downs to the north, to the lowervales and heathland around theRiver Frome and Poole Harbour. This marshy area may have lent its name to the Durotriges, which means "water dwellers". The Durotriges engaged in cross-channel trading at Poole with theVeneti, a seafaring tribe fromBrittany.[2] The earliest significant archaeological find in the harbour is thePoole Logboat, a 10 metres (33 ft) boat made from a single oak tree and dating to 295BC.[4] During that time, the harbour was shallower than it is today and any settlement would now be under water.[5]
Poole was one of a number of harbouring sites along the south coast of Britain where theRomans landed during theirconquest of Britain the 1st century.[3] TheRoman Emperor,Vespasian, brought theSecond Augustan Legion to the harbour in 43 AD and foundedHamworthy, an area just west of themodern town centre. The Romans continued to use the harbour throughout the occupation.[6]
Following theSaxon invasion of southwestern Britain in the 7th century, Poole was included in the newly established Kingdom ofWessex.[7] Poole was used as a base for fishing and a place for ships to anchor on their way toWareham, an important Saxon stronghold.[8] A DanishViking army captured Wareham in 876 but they were besieged and defeated by a Saxon army led byAlfred the Great. The Danish fleet retreated though Poole Harbour but most of theirlongships sank in a violent storm off the coast ofPoole Bay andStudland.[9] The Danes returned to England underCanute the Great in 1015. He led his fleet to Poole Harbour which he used as a base to pillage the surrounding settlements of Wessex before returning along the coast to attack London.[7][10]
Poole remained a small fishing town until theNorman Conquest. During the 12th and 13th centuries the maritime and fishing trade of Poole grew as the importance of Wareham declined.[11] Acharter of liberties was sold to theBurgesses of Poole in 1248 by theLord of the Manor and son of theEarl of Salisbury,Sir William Longspee, to raise funds for his participation theSeventh Crusade.[3][7] As a result of this charter, Poole obtained the right to appoint a mayor, hold a court within town, and was granted an exemption from certain tolls and customs duties on goods from the Port.[12]
A French and Spanish naval fleet attacked Poole in 1405, burning and looting much of the town in revenge for the exploits of Pooleprivateer captainHarry Paye.[13][14] Paye frequently led successful raids against the Spanish and French along the coast fromNormandy through to theBay of Biscay andCape Finisterre.[13] Despite this setback, the town continued to grow and became the biggest port in Dorset.[11] In 1433 it was grantedPort of the Staple status byKing Henry VI, which enabled Poole to begin the lucrative trade of wool exportation.[11] This status also allowed Poole to receive a licence for the construction of fortifications; a wall and ditch were constructed and a stonegatehouse was erected on the northern side of the town.[13]
During theEnglish Civil War Poole was staunchlypuritan and aParliamentary stronghold within a mostlyRoyalist Dorset. Nearby,Wimborne and theBankes family in nearbyCorfe Castle had sided withKing Charles.[15] The walled town of Poole constantly under the threat of siege but remained one ofCromwell's strongholds until the end of the war. In 1646 with the Royalists on the verge of defeat, the Parliamentary army from Poole laid siege to Corfe Castle.[16] The defence of the castle was led by Dame Mary Bankes, who had successfully defended the castle from siege in 1643. She might have repelled the siege again, but for the perfidy of one of her men, Colonel Pitman, who betrayed her. Parliament ordered the destruction of the castle to ensure that it could never stand again as a Royalist stronghold,[15] but in recognition of Dame Mary's bravery, the besiegers presented her with the keys of the castle, now on display at another Bankes property, Kingston Lacy near Wimborne Minster. Upon therestoration of the monarchy Poole's defences were demolished on the orders ofKing Charles II.[17]
The town continued to grow in importance despite the effects ofpiracy. In 1568, Poole was granted a greater amount of independence from Dorset when it was made acounty corporate by the Great Charter ofQueen Elizabeth I. The Great Charter also granted Poole the title of 'the County of the Town of Poole', a name it retained until the 18th century.[12]
Poole established successful commerce with theNorth American colonies, including the importantfisheries ofNewfoundland that later resulted in significant lasting trade.[12][18] By the mid 16th century records show that large quantities of salt, an essential ingredient for thesalt cod trade, was being landed at Poole. Over the next fifty years the trade with Newfoundland steadily grew to meet the demand for fish from theCatholic countries of Europe. Poole's share of this trade varied but the most prosperous period of trade started in the early 18th century and lasted until the early 19th century.[18] The trade was a three-cornered route; ships went out to Newfoundland loaded with salt and provisions. Caught, dried, and salted in Newfoundland, the fish was brought back to ports in Spain, Portugal and Italy. Finally the ships returned to Poole with wine, olive oil, dried fruits, and salt.[18]
In the early 18th century, Poole had more ships trading with North America than any other English port, which brought vast wealth to Poole's merchants.[5] This prosperity supported much of the development which now characterises the Old Town near the Quay. Many of the town'sMedieval buildings were replaced with extravagantGeorgian houses, many of which can still be seen. Examples includeSir Peter Thompson's 1746Grade I listed mansion designed byJohn Bastard, and Beech Hurst, a Grade II* listed mansion built on Poole High Street in 1789.[18][19]
The end of theNapoleonic Wars in 1814 and the conclusion of theWar of 1812 changed the fortunes of Poole's Newfoundland merchants.[12] Peace meant that the French and Americans could fish the waters and take over many of the services provided by Poole merchants at a lower cost.[20] The result was rapid decline in trade and within a few years most of the merchants had ceased trading.[21]
The town grew rapidly during theIndustrial Revolution as urbanisation took place and the town became both an area of mercantile prosperity and of overcrowded poverty. At the turn of the 19th century, nine out of ten workers in Poole were engaged in harbour activities, but as the century progressed ships became too large for the shallow harbour and the port began losing business to the deep water ports atLiverpool,Southampton andPlymouth.[5] In 1847 Poole's first railway station opened inHamworthy and later extended to the centre of Poole in 1872, effectively ending the port's busy coastal shipping trade.[21] TheRoyal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stationed alifeboat at Sandbanks in 1865. The crew had to travel in a horse-drawn carriage from the Antelope Hotel in Poole High Street whenever it was launched so it was moved to a newPoole Lifeboat Station at the Fisherman's Dock on Poole Quay in 1882.[22]
During the 19th century the beaches and landscape of southern Dorset and south-westHampshire began to attract tourists and the villages to the east of Poole began to grow and merge until theseaside resort of Bournemouth emerged. Although Poole did not become a resort like many surrounding towns, it continued to grow as the rapid expansion of Bournemouth created a large demand for goods manufactured in Poole.[11] In 1897, theHaven Hotel in Poole was the site of some ofMarconi's wireless experiments.[23] Marconi was able to receive radio signals in Poole sent fromAlum Bay, Isle of Wight, 20 miles (32 km) away.
Poole was the third largest embarkation point forD-Day landings ofOperation Overlord, and afterwards served as a base for supplies to theallied forces in Europe.[12] Eighty-onelanding craft containingUS Army troops from the29th Infantry Division and theUS Army Rangers departed Poole Harbour forOmaha Beach in France.[24] Poole was also an important centre for the development ofCombined Operations and it was the base for theUS Coast Guard's 'Rescue Flotilla One' of 60cutters. The cutters patrolled the D-Day invasion areas, with 30 serving off of the British and Canadian sectors and 30 serving off the American sectors.[25] A US Coast Guardensign is buried atSt James' Church and a plaque on the quayside given by the United States Coast Guard commemorates the cutters departure for theNormandy Invasion and expresses appreciation for the kindness of the people of Poole to the crews.[26]
Many of the town's buildings suffered bombing during the Second World War and years of neglect in the post-wareconomic decline in the United Kingdom. Majorredevelopment projects began across the town in the 1960s. Large areas of slum properties were demolished and replaced with modern public housing,Poole General Hospital was built in 1969,[27] and a large indoor shopping centre called the Arndale Centre (now known as the Dolphin Centre) was also finished that year.[28] Many of Poole's historic buildings were also demolished during this period, especially in the Old Town area of Poole. Consequently, a 15-acre (61,000 m2)Conservation Area was created inPoole Town Centre in 1975 to preserve some of Poole's most notable buildings.[29][30] The RNLI moved its headquarters from London to Poole in 1974.[31] This year also saw the lifeboat station at Fisherman's Dock close for conversion into a lifeboat museum. The lifeboat operated from a new station at Lilliput Marina until 1989 when it was moved to a new site on Poole Quay by Poole Bridge.[22] ThePoole chemical explosion of 1988 caused 3,500 people to be evacuated out of thetown centre in the biggest peacetime evacuation the country had seen since theWorld War II.[32][33]
Building regeneration projects include the demolition of Hamworthy (Poole) power station in the early 1990s and the redevelopment of the oldgas works. The latter has become part of thePoole Quarter, a housing project near thetown centre, comprising 512 new homes.[34] Other projects include the renovatedLighthouse arts centre,Baiter Park on Parkstone Bay, and the newRoyal National Lifeboat Institution headquarters. The construction boom was acknowledged in 2007, when the Borough of Poole received an award celebrating the best of the British construction industry.[35]
Poole was administrated byDorset County Council until 1997, after which it became a unitary authority underPoole Borough Council. In 2019, Poole became part of theBournemouth, Christchurch and Pooleunitary authority area.