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The period from 830 AD saw the area attracting the ever-increasing attention of the Norsemen whose raiding parties visited the harbour and pillaged the Saxon settlements. In 876 AD, Wareham was not only attacked but occupied by the Vikings although Alfred the Great's fleet drove the Danish ships to flee into the English Channel. In 1015, the Danish Cnut or Canute, yet to become King of England, brought his fleet into the harbour to over-winter and the Vikings laid waste to the whole area including Wareham Priory. |
The great earth ramparts ordered by King Alfred the Great, reminders of the town's turbulent past in Saxon times, still surround the town paths atop them give excellent views of the two rivers and surrounding landscape as well as linking it to the 'Bowling Green' - a large open space adjacent to the River Piddle.
The Saxon 'burgh' was also once the chief port of Poole Harbour until the silting up of the river Frome - Wareham Channel, between here and the harbour - made access to it difficult and trade was disrupted by the Norman Conquest and, later, the Civil War between Stephen and Matilda - Wareham's loss as a port was Poole's gain in helping it achieve dominance of the harbour which it retains today.
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Prior to the end of Last Ice Age Poole Harbour did not exist as the land stretched out to a chalk ridge linking the Old Harry Rocks in Poole bay with the Needles on the Isle of Wight. The area was drained by the Great Solent River which flowed eastwards and depositted gravels, sands and clays carried from the West Country. The melting of the glaciers as the ice-age drew to an end raised sea-levels and the waves broke through the chalk ridge to flood the estuary which is now Poole Harbour |
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The thriving 10th century port had its own mint and marshes at the time stretched far upstream of the town along the course of the River Frome causing the 'Isle of Purbeck' to be more isolated and more rightly carry the prefix 'Isle' which it retains into modern times.
MEDIEVAL WAREHAM see also: MEDIEVAL DORSET
The livlihoods of most townsfolk was tied up with agriculture. One occupation of townsfolk regularly mentioned in the Survey is "moneyers" - Wareham and Dorchester had two each, Bridport one and no less than three in Sherborne.
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About half the houses of Wareham belonged to a Norman Abbey or other feudal lords. |
In the general upheaval during and in the years which followed the Norman Conquest, Dorset's Towns lost a considerable number of houses; in Wareham, 150 out of 285 (53%).
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Wareham, Dorchester and Bridport had also to pay, each year, the "One-Day Farm" - the £100 or so in cash which was the cost of maintaining the Royal Household for a day as it moved about the country. |
Wareham and Dorchester were assessed at ten hides each (Bridport at five, Shaftesbury at twenty). In practice, however, the towns paid one mark (13/4) per year for each ten hides they were rated at, in place of the geld.
The former royal borough was the gateway to the 'Isle of Purbeck' but now the narrow streets are spared the through traffic by a by-pass. The cottages and townhouses are huddled against each other with the occassional lane in between - and the back lanes are a delight handed down through the centuries.
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During the Civil War when Lady Bankes made her valiant defence of Corfe Castle for the Royalist cause and refused to hand over four of the castle's cannon to sailors sent from Poole by the parliamentary commander, Sir Walter Earl, he proclaimed it an offence for any citizen of Wareham to sell any supplies to the beleaguered royalist castle. |
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A fire in 1762 caused great destruction in the town and many of its building were rebuilt in fine georgian style which fit pleasingly with the ancient back lanes. |
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Ferguson and Muschamp, formed in 1855, took over the oil shale workings of the Bituminous Shale Company at Kimmeridge and produced fertilizer at their works in nearby Sandford to the north-east of the town. the company failed after only three years, in 1858, the workings and Sandford works being taken over by Wanostrocht and Company producing, among other products, shale-oil gas for street lighting in Paris. Finincial problems led to Wanostrocht and Company being bought by the Wareham Oil and Candle Company which, working on a smaller, scale survived until 1872 when the Sandford works were destroyed by fire and the Company was forced to wind up. |
Below the bridge over the Frome where, in times gone by, all manner of bundles, baskets, bales and barrels would stand awaiting their destination, the flag-stones of the quay carry a bustle of visitors as well as parked cars. Most times the quayside is quiete, bereft of the activity of this ancient port but some boats, working boats or pleasure craft, may usually be found berthed along side. It is from here that the visitor can take a peaceful boat trip along the river.
The original Wareham station was opened in 1847. A larger station with two bays was built in 1886 following the opening of the Swanage branch the previous year.
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