The coastline here is by no means a static one as may be witnessed by the changes which have taken place during just the past 15,000 years since the Last Ice Age when the land stretched over what are now salty waves as far out as the Old Harry Rocks. The harbour is a drowned river valley which formed, together with Poole Bay as the rising sea broke through the ancient chalk ridge which connected the Old Harry Rocks with Needles on the Isle of Wight.

The coastline 15,000 years ago was very different to that which we find today The Harbour is, essentially, the drowned valley of a great river which flowed through the area before the last Ice Age. The harbour itself was formed, together with Poole Bay, when rising sea levels caused the waves to break through a chalk ridge which had then connected the Old Harry Rocks in Studland Bay with the Needles in the Isle of Wight. The geological record of the area shows evidence that a great river, which geologists have named the 'Great Solent River', flowed eastwards through the area from around Dartmoor in Devon. The Great Solent carried huge quantities of flint, gravel and clay which it deposited along the way, right into Hampshire. The harbour, as seen today, was formed at the end of the last Ice Age, about 7,000 years ago. Since then the mud flats and salt flats we are familiar with have been formed as a result of the sediments deposited in the harbour by its rivers.

It is believed that rising sea levels have caused the waters of the harbour to rise and drown the evidence of pre-Iron Age human settlement and activity around the shores of the harbour.

As well as a great port, Poole Harbour was the centre of an important ceramics industry - over half of the shards of coarse cooking pots which have been found at Hadrian's Wall in the far north of Roman England were manufactured in the Poole Harbour area.

The excavations suggest a very substantial Iron Age trading complex with huge stone and timber jetties reaching out into the deep-water channel. Such advanced berthing facilities would have allowed the largest ocean-going ships of the time to use the port - possibly Greek and Roman trading vessels from the Mediterranean.It was the shear scale of the works which astounded the archaeologists; the longer of the two jetties found was 80 metres ( feet) in length and the other, of which 45 metres (feet) survives, was probably of the same length. Both were 8 metres ( feet) wide and paved to a smooth surface with worked flagstones. It has been estimated that 10,000 tonnes of roack and rubble reinforced with hundreds of oak trunks, sharpened at one end to be rammed into the harbour bed, to reinforce the structures. Construction on such a large scale would imply a highly organised society wth a large, skilled and organised workforce.

see also: Iron-Age Dorset

The nearby Purbeck 'Marble' was used for construction by the Romans and a jetty found at Ower may have been used for loading the stone onto Roman ships. Green Island, now isolated in the harbour, was connected to the mainland at Ower by a causeway which may also have been Roman.

see also: Roman Dorset

By the beginning of the 9th century, Wareham had become a prominent Saxon town and the chief port of Poole Harbour. Viking raids caused the town to be fortified. In time, as Wareham's rivers (the Frome and the Piddle) silted up, it waned as a port while Poole rose to dominate the harbour.

The battle of Swanage Bay in 877 is hailed by many as the first English naval victory, although Alfred was the ruler of the Saxon kingdom of Wessex.

In the ninth century, the Danes entered Poole Harbour entrenched themselves strongly in Wareham itself until routed by King Alfred the Great both on land and, in 877, at the battle of Swanage Bay. The Danes killed many clergy throughout the lands they touched and sacked the churches and monasteries for what booty they could plunder. Such a fate befell the Church of St Nicholas at Studland where the raiders left only the bare walls standing.

In 1015, the Danes returned as Cnut's (or Canute) raiders destroyed the Saxon priory at Wareham.

see also: Saxon Dorset

The medieval port seems to have grown steadily in importance and, in 1433, the monarch made it Dorset's Staple Port. The Town Cellars, dating from the 14th century, were used to store the important wool prior to its export to Europe. The medieval port had wide-ranging trading links - from the Baltic to Spain and even Italy.

see also: Medieval Dorset

see also: Economic History of Dorset   The Wessex Newfoundland Society

The decay of trade led to such a decay in the Port of Poole during the last decades of the century that the Poole Harbour Commissioners was established by Act of Parliament in 1895 to manage the port and harbour (see: Management of the Harbour).

The ancient ceremony of Beating the Bounds of the Harbour was revived in 1921, quoting the Winchelsea Charter of 1365 which Poole recieved as a limb of the Cinque Port frequently along the way.

The closing decades of the 20th century brought a programme of modernisation and the redevelopment of commercial links with mainland Europe. This has resulted in a new prosperity and modern Poole is a thriving Channel Port.

Before World War II changed so much here, the flying boats of BOAC were based in the harbour and linked Poole, and Britain, with the empire.

The latter half of the 20th century saw a growing appreciation of the value of natural resources such as lanscape and wildlife. The waters and mudflats on the shores of the harbour attract many waders wildfowl which over-winter in the harbour and many of which roost here throughout the year. The area to the south and west of the harbour has not only been designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty but and harbour and many of the heathlands there are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSI's), Amongst other fascinating species and habitats, all six species of reptiles native to the British Isles can be found here. The nature reserve on Brownsea Island is one of the last havens of our native red squirrel south of the Scottish border. It was the first reserve to be managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust.

Oil, the fossil which drives our industrialized society has been discovered in large quantities under the rocks of the harbour and has been exploited, amongst much initial controversey, during the later part of the 20th century and into the 21st from Wytch Farm.

The port and harbour have been managed since 1895 by the Poole Harbour Commissioners who are a statutory body established by Act of Parliament. Their aim is to maintain the harbour as a commercially viable port so as to finance improvements and conservation. The Commissioners have to balance recreation, fishing and economical interests as well as commercial ones.

TOWN OF POOLE
Port of Poole
Poole Harbour Commissioners
Poole Harbour Heritage Committee

DORSET

POOLE
POOLE HARBOUR
  POOLE HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS
PORT OF POOLE
BROWNSEA ISLAND
BOURNEMOUTH
WAREHAM

Recommend a Book for this Page

The Story of Poole, Old Town, Port & Harbour
Joan Sutton ©1988   ISBN 0 906596 04 1