Poole
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For people with Poole as surname, see Poole (disambiguation)
| Borough of Poole | |
|---|---|
| |
| Geography | |
| Status: | Unitary district, Borough |
| Region: | South West England |
| Ceremonial County: | Dorset |
| Area: - Total | Ranked 285th 64.88 km² |
| Admin. HQ: | Poole |
| Grid reference: | SZ009906 |
| ONS code: | 00HP |
| Demographics | |
| Population: - Total (2005 est.) - Density | Ranked 134th 137,100 2,113 / km² |
| Ethnicity: | 98.2% White |
| Politics | |
| Borough of Poole http://www.poole.gov.uk/ | |
| Leadership: | Leader & Cabinet |
| Executive: | Conservative |
| MPs: | Annette Brooke, Robert Syms |
| Post Office and Telephone | |
| Post Code: | BH |
| Post Town: | POOLE |
| Dialling Code: | 01202 |
Poole is a coastal town, port and tourist destination, situated on the shores of the English Channel, in the ceremonial county of Dorset in southern England. The town has a population of 141,128 and is famed for its large natural harbour.
The town's name derives from the Old English pol which was given to people who lived near a small body of water such as a pool or pond. Variants include Pool, Pole, Poles, Poll, Polle, Polman, and Poolman
Prominent employers in Poole include Barclays Bank, Hamworthy Engineering, Poole Packaging, and Ryvita. The town is home to the headquarters of Sunseeker, Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) and the clothing company, Animal.
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[edit] Geography
Poole is positioned on a popular stretch of coastline, with the resort of Bournemouth to the east, Studland and the Jurassic coast to the south-west. Poole is part of a built-up area known as the South East Dorset conurbation which includes Bournemouth and Christchurch and has a combined population of 383,713, [1] the whole area being sufficiently populous to be one of the major retail and commercial centres in the south of England.
Poole lies on the northern and eastern sides of Poole Harbour. The oldest part of the town (including the historic quarter of Poole, the Dolphin Shopping center, and the Civic Centre Park) lies to the south of the Holes Bay and the north of Poole Harbour. To the west of Poole is Hamworthy and Upton. At the northern edge of Poole are the settlements of Broadstone, Merley, Wimborne, Canford Heath and Tower Park. At the eastern edge of Poole, the town merges with Bournemouth and the settlements of Kinson, Winton and Westbourne. The administrative boundary of Poole also includes the mainly residential areas of Parkstone and Branksome. The Poole areas of Wallisdown, and Talbot Village houses students who attend Bournemouth University (the administrative area and main campus of which is in fact located in Poole itself).
Sandbanks, a small sand peninsula across part of the harbour mouth (to the east of the main town centre), is so popular that it has the fourth highest land value, by area, in the world. There are exclusive homes both on Sandbanks and the area stretching east from the Harbour to The Avenue (the eastern boundary of Poole).
[edit] Harbour
- Main article: Poole Harbour.
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Poole Harbour (said to be the second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney) has been a working port for many hundreds of years, though the port has declined somewhat as the shallow water cannot take the largest ships. The harbour is noted for its ecology: supporting saltmarsh, mudflats and an internationally important population of wintering waterfowl, as well as the Brownsea Island nature reserve, where the Scouting movement began. Today the port is amongst other things the home of Sunseeker, manufacturers of luxury yachts, and the departure point for ferries (Brittany Ferries and Condor Ferries) to France and the Channel Islands. The quayside and harbour was the place from which some ships departed for the D-Day landings of World War II.
[edit] History
The Poole Harbour area has been inhabited for well over 2,000 years. The local tribe were the Celtic Durotriges who lived in Dorset in the Iron Age, particularly around Wareham, five miles to the west. The earliest significant archaeological find in the harbour itself is the Poole Longboat, a 10 metre boat made from a single oak tree and dating to 295 BC. At the time the harbour was probably shallower and any settlement would now be under water. During the last few centuries before the Roman invasion the Celtic people were moving from the hilltop settlements, such as Maiden Castle and Badbury Rings on the chalk downs to the north, and onto the lower vales and heathland around the River Frome. It may be this marshy area which gave the Durotriges, "water dwellers", their name. The Durotriges probably engaged in cross-channel trading at Poole with the Veneti, a seafaring tribe from Brittany.
In the Roman invasion of Britain in the 1st century, Poole was one of a number of harbouring sites along the south coast where the Romans landed. The Romans founded Hamworthy, an area just west of the modern town centre, and continued to use the harbour during the occupation.
Poole was a small fishing village at the time of the Norman Conquest, but grew rapidly into an important port exporting wool and in 1433 was made Port of the Staple. By then the town had trade links from the Baltic to Spain. However, in 1405 the Spanish burnt Poole to the ground because local pirate Harry Paye was attacking Spanish vessels. The town continued to grow in importance despite the effects of piracy and, in 1571, was made a county corporate. In the 17th century transatlantic trade and travel developed and at the start of the 18th century Poole was beating rival Bristol as the busiest port in England. The town grew rapidly during the industrial revolution as urbanisation took place, and the merchants put up tenement buildings, most of which were demolished during the ill-advised slum clearance activities in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Poole was granted exclusive rights to fish off Newfoundland by Queen Victoria, which improved the importance and wealth of the town.
At the turn of the 19th century, nine out of 10 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 at Liverpool, Southampton and Plymouth.
In 1897, the Haven Hotel in Poole was the site of some of Marconi's wireless experiments. Marconi was able to receive radio signals in Poole sent from Alum Bay, Isle of Wight, 20 miles away.
In the 19th century the beaches and landscape of south-west Hampshire, as well as the Isle of Purbeck district of Dorset, began to attract large numbers of tourists and the villages to the east of Poole began to grow and merge until the holiday town of Bournemouth emerged. Growth accelerated and Poole and Bournemouth (along with Christchurch to the east) have become a large built-up area. Although the three towns are well known as popular holiday destinations, each has its own individual character.
Despite the growth in leisure activities, Poole retains a considerable part of its industrial heritage. The Town Centre retains a few of the old buildings put up by the wealthy merchants, such as the 1761 market house and Sir Peter Thompson's 1746 town house designed by John Bastard. The 18th and 20th century buildings hide earlier buildings, such as the mediaeval Wool house, Scaplen's Court and the Tudor almshouses. However, the town suffered from bombing in World War II and the utilitarian town planning of the economically drained post-war Britain, and consequently has lost many old buildings. In recent years some regeneration has taken place, with the demolition of Hamworthy (Poole) power station and the redevelopment of the old town gas gas-works.
On April 1, 1997 the town was made a unitary authority, once again administratively independent from Dorset, after a review of the Local Government Commission for England. The Borough's name was officially changed at this date to Borough and County of the Town of Poole, which recalled its status as a county of itself prior to the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888.
[edit] Economy
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Bournemouth and Poole at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
| Year | Regional Gross Value Added | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 2,740 | 4 | 665 | 2,071 |
| 2000 | 4,142 | 2 | 890 | 3,250 |
| 2003 | 4,705 | 2 | 898 | 3,804 |
↑ includes hunting and forestry
↑ includes energy and construction
↑ includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured
↑ Components may not sum to totals due to rounding
[edit] Culture, recreation, and entertainment
Poole Harbour is a popular location for watersports because it is sheltered and calm. Poole Harbour is also one of the largest centres for sailing in the UK with many yacht clubs including Lilliput Sailing Club, Parkstone Yacht Club and Poole Yacht Club. Parkstone Yacht Club has recently been hosts of the OK World Championships, numerous large National Championships as well as being organisers of Youth Week and Poole Week, two of the largest dinghy regattas of their type in the country. In 2006 they will be hosts of the J24 European Championship Regatta.
Poole's best known sports team is its motorcycle speedway team, the Poole Pirates.
Poole's oldest football team is Poole Town FC which plays in the Wessex League Premier Division.
Poole has a variety of entertainment sites, such as the out-of-town development Tower Park, the refurbished arts centre now known as The Lighthouse, Poole town centre itself and Bournemouth's many clubs, bars and restaurants.
[edit] Places of interest
[edit] Twin Towns
Image:Flag of France.svg Cherbourg, France
[edit] Transport
The majority of local bus services in Poole are provided by Wilts and Dorset who are based at the town’s bus station. Other services are run by Transdev Yellow Buses and Roadliner. There are limited services provided by First. Coach services to London and other destinations are operated by National Express.
Poole has four railway stations on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth within the Borough. These are, from east to west, Branksome near the border with Bournemouth, Parkstone, Poole in the town centre and Hamworthy serving Hamworthy and Upton. Poole railway station has the most frequent service and is served by express and semi-fast services to and from London Waterloo and also a local stopping service between Wareham and Brockenhurst.
Poole is a cross channel port for passengers and freight with up to seven sailings a day in the peak summer season. Services to Cherbourg in France are operated by Brittany Ferries who provide a year round service. A seasonal service to the Channel Islands and St Malo, France, is run by Condor Ferries.
Poole is close to Bournemouth International Airport which is actually in the Borough of Christchurch.
[edit] Schools
- Ashdown Technology College
- Carter Community Sports College
- Corfe Hills School
- Poole High School
- Poole Grammar School
- Parkstone Grammar School
- St Edward's RC CE VC School
- The College
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Bournemouth and Poole Tourist Information Site
- Borough of Poole Council
- Map of poole
- Welcome to Poole
[edit] References
- Cochrane, C, 1970. Poole Bay and Purbeck, 300BC to AD1660. Dorchester, Longmans.
- Pitt-Rivers, Michael, 1968. Dorset. London: Faber & Faber
- Poole Harbour Commission, The history of Poole Harbour (accessed 9 November 2004)
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