Poole
Encyclopedia
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset
, on the south coast of England. The town is 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth
adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough
of Poole was made a unitary authority
in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council
. The town had a population of 138,288 according to the 2001 census
, making it the second largest settlement in Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch
, the town forms the South East Dorset conurbation
with a total population of over 400,000.
Human settlement in the area dates back to before the Iron Age
. The earliest recorded use of the town’s name was in the 12th century when the town began to emerge as an important port, prospering with the introduction of the wool trade. In later centuries the town had important trade links with North America and at its peak in the 18th century it was one of the busiest ports in Britain. During the Second World War
the town was one of the main departing points for the D-Day landings of the Normandy Invasion.
Poole is a tourist
resort, attracting visitors with its large natural harbour
, history, the Lighthouse
arts centre and Blue Flag beach
es. The town has a busy commercial port with cross-Channel
freight and passenger ferry services. The headquarters of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
(RNLI) are located in Poole, and the Royal Marines
have a base in the town's harbour. Despite their names, Poole is the home of The Arts University College at Bournemouth, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
and a significant part of Bournemouth University
.
The town's name derives from a corruption of the Celtic
word bol and the Old English
word pool meaning a place near a pool or creek. Variants include Pool, Pole, Poles, Poll, Polle, Polman, and Poolman. The area around modern Poole has been inhabited for the past 2,500 years. During the 3rd century BC, Celts known as the Durotriges
moved from hilltop settlements at Maiden Castle
and Badbury Rings
to heathland around the River Frome
and Poole Harbour
. The Romans
landed at Poole during their conquest of Britain
in the 1st century and took over an Iron Age
settlement at Hamworthy
, an area just west of the modern town centre. In Anglo-Saxon
times, Poole was included in the Kingdom of Wessex
. The settlement was used as a base for fishing and the harbour a place for ships to anchor on their way to the River Frome and the important Anglo-Saxon town of Wareham
. Poole experienced two large-scale Viking
invasions during this era: in 876, Guthrum
sailed his fleet through the harbour to attack Wareham, and in 1015, Canute
began his conquest of England in Poole Harbour, using it as a base to raid and pillage Wessex.
Following the Norman conquest of England
, Poole rapidly grew into a busy port as the importance of Wareham declined. The town was part of the manor
of Canford, but does not exist as an identifiable entry in the Domesday Book
. The earliest written mention of Poole occurred on a document from 1196 describing the newly built St James's Chapel in "La Pole". The Lord of the Manor
, Sir William Longspée
, sold a charter
of liberties to the burgesses of Poole in 1248 to raise funds for his participation in the Seventh Crusade
. Consequently, Poole gained a small measure of freedom from feudal rule
and acquired the right to appoint a mayor and hold a court within town. Poole's growing importance was recognised in 1433 when it was awarded staple port status by King Henry VI
, enabling the port to begin exporting wool and in turn granting a license for the construction of a town wall. In 1568, Poole gained further autonomy when it was granted legal independence from Dorset and made a county corporate
by the Great Charter of Elizabeth I
. During the English Civil War
, Poole's puritan
stance and its merchants' opposition to the ship money
tax introduced by King Charles I
led to the town declaring for Parliament
. Poole escaped any large-scale attack and with the Royalists
on the brink of defeat in 1646, the Parliamentary garrison from Poole laid siege to and captured the nearby Royalist stronghold at Corfe Castle
.
Poole established successful commerce with the North American colonies in the 16th century, including the important fisheries of Newfoundland
. The trade with Newfoundland grew steadily to meet the demand for fish from the Catholic countries of Europe. Poole's share of this trade varied but the most prosperous period started in the early 18th century and lasted until the early 19th century. The trade was a three-cornered route; ships sailed to Newfoundland with salt and provisions, then carried dried and salted fish to Europe before returning to Poole with wine, olive oil, and salt. By the early 18th century Poole had more ships trading with North America than any other English port and vast wealth was brought to Poole's merchants. This prosperity supported much of the development which now characterises the Old Town where many of the medieval buildings were replaced with Georgian
mansions and terraced housing
. The end of the Napoleonic Wars
and the conclusion of the War of 1812
ended Britain's monopoly over the Newfoundland fisheries and other nations took over services provided by Poole's merchants at a lower cost. Poole's Newfoundland trade rapidly declined and within a decade most merchants had ceased trading.
The town grew rapidly during the industrial revolution
as urbanisation took place and the town became an area of mercantile
prosperity and overcrowded poverty. At the turn of the 19th century, nine out of ten workers were engaged in harbour activities, but as the century progressed ships became too large for the shallow harbour and the port lost business to the deep water ports at Liverpool, Southampton and Plymouth. Poole's first railway station opened in Hamworthy
in 1847 and later extended to the centre of Poole in 1872, effectively ending the port's busy coastal shipping trade. The beaches and landscape of southern Dorset and south-west Hampshire
began to attract tourists during the 19th century and the villages to the east of Poole began to grow and merge until the seaside resort
of Bournemouth
emerged. Although Poole did not become a resort like many of its neighbours, it continued to prosper as the rapid expansion of Bournemouth created a large demand for goods manufactured in Poole.
During World War II
, Poole was the third largest embarkation point for D-Day
landings of Operation Overlord
and afterwards served as a base for supplies to the allied forces
in Europe. Eighty-one landing craft containing American troops from the 29th Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Rangers
departed Poole Harbour for Omaha Beach
. Poole was also an important centre for the development of Combined Operations and the base for a U.S. Coast Guard
rescue flotilla
of 60 cutters
. Much of the town suffered from German bombing during the war and years of neglect in the post-war economic decline. Major redevelopment
projects began in the 1950s and 1960s and large areas of slum
properties were demolished and replaced with modern public housing
and facilities. Many of Poole's historic buildings were demolished during this period, particularly in the Old Town area of Poole. Consequently, a 6 hectares (14.8 acre) Conservation Area
was created in the town centre in 1975 to preserve Poole's most notable buildings.
following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992)
, and became once again administratively independent from Dorset. The borough reverted to its previous title of the Borough and County of the Town of Poole, which recalled its status as a county corporate
before the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888
. For local elections, 42 councillor
s are elected across 16 wards
and elections take place every four years. The last election took place in May 2011, resulting in no overall control
. The Council is made up of 21 Conservative
, 18 Liberal Democrat and three Poole People councillors. Poole's council leader is Elaine Atkinson (Conservative) and the Mayor is Graham Wilson (Liberal Democrat). Poole's Sheriff
, a position created by the town's charter of 1568 and just one of 15 Sheriffs in the country, is Carol Evans (Conservative). The Audit Commission
's 2009 Comprehensive Area Assessment described the Borough of Poole as "performing well overall" and rated its services as "good when compared with other councils". Poole has been twinned
with the town of Cherbourg
in France since 1977.
in the House of Commons; Poole and Mid Dorset and North Poole. The borough constituency of Poole has existed since 1950. Previously the town had been a parliamentary borough
, electing two Members of Parliament from 1455 until 1865 when representation was reduced to one member. In 1885 the constituency was abolished altogether and absorbed into the East Dorset constituency
until its reintroduction in 1950. Robert Syms
(Conservative)
has been the Member of Parliament since 1997. At the 2010 general election, the Conservatives won a majority of 7,541 and 47.5% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats won 31.6% of the vote, Labour
12.7%, the UK Independence Party
5.3% and the British National Party
2.5%.
The county constituency of Mid Dorset and North Poole was created in 1997 and includes the north east of Poole, Wimborne Minster
, Wareham
and extends into rural Dorset. Annette Brooke
(Liberal Democrat) has been the Member of Parliament since 2001. . At the 2010 general election, the Liberal Democrats won with a majority of 269 and 45.1% of the vote in Mid Dorset and North Poole. The Conservatives
won 44.5% of the vote, Labour
5.9% and the UK Independence Party
4.15%. Poole is included in the South West England constituency
for elections to the European Parliament
.
The design of the coat of arms
originated in a seal
from the late 14th century and were recorded by Clarenceux King of Arms
during the heraldic visitation
of Dorset in 1563. The wavy bars of black and gold represent the sea and the dolphin is sign of Poole's maritime interests. The scallop shells are the emblem of Saint James and are associated with his shrine
at Santiago de Compostela
– a popular destination for Christian pilgrims departing from Poole Harbour in the Middle Ages
.
The arms were confirmed by the College of Arms
on 19 June 1948, and at the same time the crest (a mermaid
supporting an anchor and holding a cannon ball) was granted. Following local government reorganisation
in 1974, the 1948 arms were transferred to Poole Borough Council. In 1976, the council received the grant of supporters
for the coat of arms. The supporters refer to important charters given to the town; to the left is a gold lion holding a long sword representing William Longespee
who in 1248 granted the town's first charter; on the right is a dragon
derived from the Royal Arms
of Elizabeth I
who granted Poole county corporate
status in 1568. The Latin
motto
– Ad Morem Villae De Poole, means: According to the Custom of the Town of Poole, and derives from the Great Charter of 1568.
and lies on the northern and eastern edges of Poole Harbour
, 179 kilometres (111.2 mi) west-southwest of London, at 50.72°N 1.98°W. The oldest part of the town (including the historic Old Town, Poole Quay and the Dolphin Shopping Centre) lies to the south-east of Holes Bay on a peninsula jutting into the harbour, although much of the land to the east of the peninsula has been reclaimed from the harbour since the mid 20th century. To the west is Upton
and Corfe Mullen
and across the northern border at the River Stour
lies Wimborne Minster
. At the eastern edge of Poole, the town abuts Bournemouth and the settlements of Kinson
, Winton
and Westbourne
. To the south of Poole along the coast lies Poole Bay
, featuring 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) of sandy beaches from Sandbanks
in the west to Bournemouth in the east.
Urban areas and districts of the town
Poole is made up of numerous suburbs and neighbourhoods, many of which developed from villages or hamlets
that were absorbed into Poole as the town grew.
Alderney
- Bearwood - Branksome
- Branksome Park
- Broadstone
- Canford Cliffs
- Canford Heath
- Creekmoor
- Fleetsbridge
- Hamworthy
- Lilliput
- Longfleet
- Merley
- Newtown
- Oakdale
- Parkstone
- Penn Hill
- Sandbanks
- Sterte
- Talbot Village
- Wallisdown
- Waterloo
The natural environment of Poole is characterised by lowland heathland to the north and wooded chine
s and coastline to the south. The heathland habitat supports the six native British reptile species and provides a home for a range of dragonflies
and rare birds. Development has destroyed much of the heath but scattered fragments remain to the north of Poole and have been designated Special Protection Area
s. The town lies on unresistant Tertiary
beds of Eocene
clays (mainly London Clay
and Gault Clay
), sands and gravels. The River Frome
runs through this weak rock, and its many tributaries
have carved out a wide estuary
. At the mouth of the estuary sand spits
have been deposited, enclosing the estuary to create Poole Harbour.
The harbour is the largest natural harbour in Europe and the claimant of the title of second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney Harbour
. It is an area of international importance for nature conservation and is noted for its ecology, supporting salt marsh
es, mudflat
s and an internationally important habitat for several species of migrating bird. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
, a Special Protection Area and a Ramsar site
as well as falling within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
. The harbour covers an area of 38 square kilometres (14.7 sq mi) and is extremely shallow: although the main shipping channels are 7.5 metres (24.6 ft) deep the average depth of the harbour is 48 centimetres (1.6 ft). It contains several small islands, the largest is Brownsea Island
, a nature reserve owned by the National Trust
and the birthplace of the Scouting movement and location of the first Scout Camp
. Britain's largest onshore oil field
operates from Wytch Farm
on the south shore of the harbour. The oil reservoirs extend under the harbour and eastwards from Sandbanks and Studland
for 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) under the sea to the south of Bournemouth.
Situated directly to the east of the Jurassic Coast
, Poole is a gateway town to the UNESCO
World Heritage Site
, which includes 153 kilometres (95.1 mi) of the Dorset and east Devon coast important for its geology, landforms and rich fossil record. The South West Coast Path
stretches for 1014 kilometres (630.1 mi) from Minehead
in Somerset
, along the coast of Devon
and Cornwall
and on to Poole. The path is the United Kingdom's longest national trail at 1014 kilometres (630 mi).
climate with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The average annual mean
temperature from 1971 to 2000 was 10.2 to 12 °C
(50.4 to 53.6 °F
). The warmest months in Poole are July and August, which have an average temperature range
of 12 to 22 °C (53.6 to 71.6 F), and the coolest months are January and February, which have a range of 2 to 8.3 °C (35.6 to 46.9 F). Mean sea surface temperatures range from 6.9 °C (44.4 °F) in February to 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) in August. The average annual rainfall of 592.6 millimetres (23.3 in) is well below the UK average of 1126 millimetres (44.3 in).
Poole merges with several other towns to form the South East Dorset conurbation
which has a combined population of 445,000, forming one of the South Coast's major urban areas. The population of Poole according to the 2001 UK Census was 138,288. The town has a built-up area of 65 square kilometres (25.1 sq mi), giving an approximate population density
of 2,128 residents per square kilometre (5,532 per sq mi) in 60,512 dwellings. The population has grown steadily since the 1960s, inward migration has accounted for most of the town’s growth and a significant part of this has been for retirement. Housing stock has increased by over 100% in the past 40 years from 30,000 in 1961 to approximately 62,700 in 2004. Compared to the rest of England and Wales
, Poole has an above average number of residents aged 65+ (20.3%), but this is less than the Dorset average of 22.2%. The largest proportion of the population (24.8%) is between the ages of 45 to 64, slightly above the national average of 23.8%. Population projections have predicted a continual growth; a population of 151,481 is estimated by 2016.
The district is overwhelmingly populated by people of a white ethnic background, 95.98% of residents are of White British
ethnicity, well above the rest of England at 86.99%. Minority ethnic groups (including those in white ethnic groups who did not classify themselves as British) represent 4.0% of Poole’s population. The largest religion in Poole is Christianity
, at almost 74.34%, slightly above the United Kingdom average of 71.6%. The next-largest sector is those with no religion, at almost 16.23%, also above the UK average of 15.5%.
The average house price in Poole is high compared to the rest of the UK and the surrounding south west region
. The average price of a property in Poole in 2008 was £274,011; detached houses were on average £374,150, semi-detached
and terraced house
s were cheaper at £226,465 and £217,128 respectively. An apartment
or flat costs on average £216,097, more than any other part of Dorset. The average house prices in Poole are boosted by those in Sandbanks
which had the fourth most expensive house prices in the world in 2000; in 2007 the average house price was £488,761. A study in 2006 by the National Housing Federation
reported that Poole was the most unaffordable town in which to live in the UK.
Poole’s economy
is more balanced than the rest of Dorset. In the 1960s prosperity was fuelled by growth in the manufacturing sector, whereas the 1980s and 1990s saw expansion in the service sector as office based employers relocated to the area. The importance of manufacturing has declined since the 1960s but still employed approximately 17% of the workforce in 2002 and remains more prominent than in the economy of Great Britain as a whole. Sunseeker
, the world's largest privately-owned builder of motor yachts
and the UK's largest manufacturer, is based in Poole and employs over 1,800 people in its Poole shipyard
s. It was estimated in 2004 that Sunseeker generates £160 million for the local economy. Other major employers in the local manufacturing industry include Sealed Air
, Hamworthy Heating, Hamworthy Combustion, Lush
, Mathmos
, Penske Cars Ltd (who build racing cars for Penske Racing
), Kerry Foods, Precision Disc Casting, Siemens
, Southernprint and Ryvita
. Poole has the largest number of industrial estates in South East Dorset
, including the Nuffield Industrial estate, Mannings Heath, Arena Business Park, Poole Trade Park and the Branksome Business Centre.
The service sector is the principal economy of Poole; a large number of employees work for the service economy of local residents or for the tourist economy. During the 1970s, Poole’s less restrictive regional planning
policies attracted businesses wishing to relocate from London. These included employers in the banking and financial sector, such as Barclays Bank (who operate a regional headquarters in Poole), American Express Bank and the corporate trust
division of Bank of New York Mellon
. Other important service sector employers include Link House Publications, the national headquarters and Lifeboat College of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
, the UK headquarters of Fitness First
, Bournemouth University
and Poole NHS Primary Care Trust
. Poole is also the headquarters for clothing company Animal
, and Merlin Entertainments
, the world's second-largest theme park operator after Disney. The Dolphin Shopping Centre is Poole's main retail
area, and the largest indoor shopping centre
in Dorset. It opened in 1969 as an Arndale Centre, and underwent three major refurbishments in 1980, 1989 and 2004. The centre provides 47000 square metres (505,903.8 sq ft) of retail space with 110 stores and two multi-storey car park
s with 1,400 parking spaces. A pedestrianised high street
containing shops, bars, public house
s and restaurants connects the Dolphin Centre with the historic Old Town area and Poole Quay. Tourism is important to the Poole’s economy and was worth an estimated £158 million in 2002. Poole's Harbour, Quay, Poole Pottery
and the beaches are some of the main attractions for visitors. Visitor accommodation consists of hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast
rooms located around the town, particularly in Sandbanks and the town centre. Rockley Park, a large caravan site
in Hamworthy
, is owned and operated by Haven and British Holidays.
Since the 1970s, Poole has become one of Britain’s busiest ports. Investment in new port facilities in Hamworthy, and the deepening of shipping channels allowed considerable growth in cross-channel
freight and passenger traffic. The port is a destination for bulk cargo
imports such as steel, timber, bricks, fertiliser, grain, aggregates and palletised traffic. Export cargoes include clay, sand, fragmented steel and grain. Commercial ferry operators run regular passenger and freight services from Poole to Cherbourg, St Malo and the Channel Islands
. The Royal Marines
operate out of the harbour at Royal Marines Poole
, established in Hamworthy in 1954. The base is home to 1 Assault Group Royal Marines
(responsible for landing craft
and small boat training), a detachment of the Royal Marines Reserve
and special forces
unit the Special Boat Service
. In 2008, 105 fishing boats were registered and licensed to the port and held a permit issued by the Southern Sea Fisheries District Committee (SSFDC) to fish commercially. It is the largest port in terms of licences in the SSFDC district which covers the coastline of Dorset, Hampshire
and the Isle of Wight
, and one of the largest registered fishing fleets in the UK. However, the fleet is gradually declining because of rising fuel costs and restrictive fishing quotas
introduced by the European Union
. A large number of unlicensed boats also operate charted or private angling excursions.
Poole Quay is a visitor attraction to the south of the town centre lined with a mixture of traditional public houses, redeveloped warehouses, modern apartment blocks and historic listed buildings. Once the busy centre of Poole's maritime industry
, all port activities moved to Hamworthy
in the 1970s as the Quay became increasingly popular with tourists. The Grade II* listed Customs House on the quay-front was built in 1814 and now functions as a restaurant and bar. Nearby the Grade I listed Town Cellars, a medieval warehouse built in the 15th century on the foundations of a 14th century stone building, houses a local history
centre. Scaplen's Court, another Grade I listed building, also dates from the medieval era. The Poole Pottery
production factory once stood on the eastern end of the Quay but the site was redeveloped into a luxury apartment block
and marina
in 2001, although an outlet store
remains on the site. Boats regularly depart from the quay during the summer and provide cruises around the harbour and to Brownsea Island
, the River Frome
and Swanage
. Public artworks along the Quay include Sea Music – a large metal sculpture designed by Sir Anthony Caro, and a life-size bronze sculpture of Robert Baden-Powell created to celebrate the founding of the Scout Movement
on Brownsea Island. At the western end of the quay near the mouth of Holes Bay is Poole Bridge
. Built in 1927, it is the third bridge to be located on the site since 1834.
Poole's Guildhall has played a varied part in the history of the town. A Grade II* listed building, the Guildhall was built in 1761 at a cost of £2,250. The new building included an open market house
on the ground floor and a courtroom and offices for the town council on the first floor and has also been used as a Court of Record
, Magistrates' Court
, Court of Admiralty
and a venue for Quarter Sessions
. Between 1819 and 1821 the building was consecrated as a Parish Church
while the old St. James Church
was pulled down and replaced with the present church. During the Second World War the building was used as a canteen and meeting room for American soldiers prior to the invasion of France
. The showers and washing facilities installed at this time were later converted into public baths
which were used until the 1960s. The building was converted for use as the town museum between 1971 and 1991 but stood empty for the next 16 years. After a renovation project funded by Poole Borough Council, the restored Guildhall opened in June 2007 as a Register Office
for weddings, civil partnerships and other civic ceremonies.
Poole has several urban park
s – the largest is Poole Park
adjacent to Poole Harbour
and the town centre. It opened in 1890 and is one of two Victorian
parks in Poole. Designated a Conservation Area
in 1995 and awarded a Green Flag
in 2008, the park comprises 44.3 hectares (109.5 acre) of which 24 hectares (59.3 acre) include the park's man-made lake and ponds. The park contains two children's play areas, a miniature railway
, tennis courts, a bowling green
, a miniature golf
course, an Italian restaurant and an indoor ice rink for children. A cricket field
and pavilion at the eastern end are home to Poole Town Cricket Club and water sport activities such as sailing, windsurfing, kayaking and rowing take place on the large lake. A war memorial
stands in the centre of the park as a monument to Poole citizens killed during the First and Second World Wars. The park hosts several road races
such as the Race for Life
and the annual Poole Festival of Running.
Poole's sandy beach
es are a popular tourist destination extending 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) along Poole Bay
from the Sandbanks
peninsular to Branksome Dene Chine at the border with Bournemouth
. The beaches are divided into four areas: Sandbanks, Shore Road, Canford Cliffs Chine and Branksome Chine. Poole's beaches have been awarded the European Blue Flag
for cleanliness and safety 21 times since 1987, more than any other British seaside resort and in 2000 the Tidy Britain Group
resort survey rated Poole's beaches among the top five in the country. Along the seafront there are seaside cafés, restaurants, beach huts and numerous water-sports facilities. Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Beach Rescue lifeguards patrol the coastline in the busy summer season between May and September.
Poole falls within the Church of England
Diocese of Salisbury
and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth. Poole has many sites of Christian worship
including five Grade II* and five Grade II listed churches, but no notable sites of worship for any other major religious groups
. The Grade II* St James' Church
is a simplified Gothic Revival
style Church of England parish church
in the Old Town which was rebuilt in 1820. The previous church on the site was first mentioned in documents from 1142 and had been extensively rebuilt in the 16th century, but in 1819 it was deemed structurally unsafe by a surveyors report. The United Reformed Church
hall, also in the town centre, is a Grade II* building built in 1777. The other Grade II* churches are: St. Peters Parish Church in Parkstone
which was first built in 1833 and replaced in 1876; St. Osmunds Church, also in Parkstone, is a Byzantine
style building, formerly an Anglican
church it became a Romanian Orthodox Church
in 2005; and the Parish Church
of St. Aldhelm in Branksome
, built by the architects Bodley
and Garner
in 1892 in the Gothic Revival style.
and Poole Bay
are popular areas for a number of recreational pursuits, including sailing
, windsurfing
, surfing
, kitesurfing
and water skiing
. The harbour's large areas of sheltered waters attract windsurfers, particularly around the northern and eastern shores. Water skiing takes place in the harbour in a special designated area known as the Wareham Channel. The waters around the harbour, Poole Bay and Studland Bay are also popular for recreational angling and diving.
Poole's wide and sandy beaches are used for swimming, sunbathing, water sports and sailing. The beaches at Sandbanks
are often used for sporting events such as the Sandbanks Beach Volleyball
Festival, and the annual British Beach Polo
Championship.
Poole Harbour is one of the largest centres for sailing in the UK with yacht clubs including Lilliput Sailing Club, Parkstone Yacht Club and Poole Yacht Club. Parkstone Yacht Club hosted the OK Dinghy
World Championships in 2004, the J/24
National Championships in 2006 and the J/24 European Championships in 2007, and are the organisers of Youth Week and Poole Week – two of the largest annual dinghy regatta
s of their type in the country.
Poole's oldest football team is Poole Town F.C.
, a semi-professional
team who play in the Southern Football League
Division One South & West – the eighth tier of the English football league system
. Established in 1880, the team has had erratic success at their level; they have never risen above non-League
levels but once reached the third round of the FA Cup
. They played at Poole Stadium
until 1994 and have since settled at Tatnam Farm, sharing the school playing field with Oakdale South Road Middle School
. Poole's other football teams are Hamworthy United, who formed in 1970 and also play in the Wessex Premier League, and amateur
team Poole Borough F.C. who play in the Dorset Premier League. Poole is one of the largest towns in England without a professional football team.
Poole's motorcycle speedway
team, the Poole Pirates
, were established and began racing at Poole Stadium in 1948 in the National League Division Three
. The team now races in the top tier of league racing (the Elite League
) which they last won in 2008
. Poole Stadium is also a venue for greyhound racing
; race nights occur three days a week throughout the year.
of Winchelsea
in 1364. The Admiral of the Port of Poole (the mayor) and other dignitaries, and members of the public sail from the mouth of the River Frome
to Old Harry Rocks
to confirm the Mayor's authority over the water boundaries of the harbour and check for any encroachments. As there are no physical landmarks that can be beaten at sea, traditionally children from Poole were encouraged to remember the bounds of their town by taking part in the 'Pins and Points' ceremony involving the beating of a boy and pricking of a girl's hand with a needle. In modern times, the acts have been symbolically carried out.
The Animal Windfest is an annual three day long festival of water-sports held at Sandbanks
. The event features the UK windsurfing freestyle final, the second round of the British kiteboarding
championships and other amateur competitions and demonstration events. First held in 1998, the festival attracts approximately 10,000 people each year. Poole's Summertime in the South is an annual programme providing various events on Poole Quay and Sandbanks from May until September. During June and July, live music, street entertainment and a large firework display take place on Poole Quay every Thursday evening. In August, the entertainment moves to the beaches at Sandbanks.
Poole's Lighthouse
is the largest arts centre
complex in the United Kingdom outside London. Built in 1978, the centre contains a cinema
, concert hall, studio
, theatre
, image lab and media suite and galleries featuring exhibitions of contemporary photography and modern digital art
. The venue underwent an £8.5 million refurbishment in 2002, paid for by the Arts Council England
, the Borough of Poole and private donations. The centre's concert hall has been the residence of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
's main concert series since their former base at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens closed in 1985. Situated in the centre of the Old Town, Poole Museum
illustrates the story of the area and its people and the collections reflect the cultural, social and industrial history of Poole. Displays include the Poole Logboat
and a detailed history of Poole from the Iron Age
to the present day. The museum has a floor devoted to the history of Poole Pottery
and some of the company's products are on display. Entrance to the museum is free.
The A350 road is Poole town centre's main artery, running north from Poole Bridge
along Holes Bay and on to the A35
, and as a single carriageway
to Bath and Bristol
. To the east, the A337 road leads to Lymington
and the New Forest
. The A35 trunk road
runs from Devon
to Southampton
and connects to the A31
on the outskirts of the town. The A31, the major trunk road in central southern England, connects to the M27 motorway
at Southampton. From here the M3 motorway leads to London, and fast access may also be gained via the A34 to the M4
north of Newbury
. A second bridge is being built to connect Poole and Hamworthy as the existing bridge
is unsuitable for the traffic flow. The £34 million project was given approval by the Department for Transport
in 2006 but construction was initially held up due to a stalemate between the council and the land owners and delays by the Department for Transport in approving a £14 million grant. After negotiations between the council and the land owners were settled in August 2009 and the government grant was provided in March 2010, construction began in May 2010 with completion due by early 2012. A road link to Studland
and the Isle of Purbeck
across the narrow entrance of Poole Harbour is provided by the Sandbanks Ferry
.
Local bus services are run by Wilts & Dorset
who are based at the town’s bus station and have served Poole since 1983. Wilts & Dorset operate networks across Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Salisbury
, in addition to operations on the Isle of Purbeck
and the New Forest
. Other services are run by Bournemouth based Transdev Yellow Buses
, Roadliner, Shamrock Buses
and Damory Coaches
. Poole is connected to towns and villages along the Jurassic Coast
by the First X53 service, which runs along a route of 142 kilometres (88.2 mi) to Weymouth, Bridport
, Lyme Regis
, Seaton
and Exeter
. Poole bus station is the terminus of National Express Coaches which have frequent departures to London Victoria Coach Station
. There are also direct services to the West Country
, the Sussex
coast, Bristol, Birmingham, the Midlands
, the North West
, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The National Express Flightlink service serves Heathrow Airport and connects to Gatwick and Stansted Airport
.
Poole has four railway stations on the South Western Main Line
from London Waterloo to Weymouth. These are – from east to west – Branksome
near the border with Bournemouth, Parkstone
, Poole railway station
in the town centre and Hamworthy
. Services to Waterloo are operated by South West Trains
and depart from Poole station every half an hour, express services depart every hour. Plans for a £50 million redevelopment of Poole railway station have stalled since 2006 due to contractual issues between land owners Network Rail
and developers the Kier Group
.
Poole is a cross-Channel
port for passengers and freight with up to seven sailings a day in the summer season. Ferry services from Poole Harbour
to Cherbourg are provided by Brittany Ferries
who operate two ferries from Poole: the Normandie Vitesse and the Cotentin
. The Normandie Vitesse provides a high-speed daily passenger service to Cherbourg between May and September; the Cotentin freight ship covers the Poole-Cherbourg route year-round and runs a weekend service between Poole and Santander
, Spain. The Condor Ferries
catamarans Condor Express
and Condor Vitesse
run seasonal services to Guernsey
, Jersey
and St. Malo, Brittany
. Bournemouth International Airport
in Hurn
, on the periphery of Bournemouth, is the nearest airport to Poole – 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Poole town centre. Ryanair
, easyJet
, Thomson Airways
and Palmair
operate from the airport and provide scheduled services to destinations in the UK and Europe.
s, eight middle schools, seven combined school
s, eight secondary
and grammar schools, five special schools, two independent schools
and one college of further education
. Canford School
is an independent boarding school
administered by Poole local education authority
. Poole’s two grammar schools maintain a selective education system, assessed by the Twelve plus exam. Poole High School
is the largest secondary school in Poole with 1,660 pupils. The Bournemouth and Poole College
attracts over 16,000 students a year and is one of the largest further education colleges in the country and the leading provider of academic and vocational education in Dorset. It has two centrally located main campus
es in Poole and Bournemouth. In 2008, the college announced plans to refurbish and redevelop its campuses at an estimated cost of £120 million. However, the project stalled in 2009 when the Learning and Skills Council
, which had promised to provide 80% of the money, ran out of funds.
From the 2007 General Certificate of Secondary Education
(GCSE) results, Poole was ranked 18th out of 148 local authorities in England based on the percentage of pupils attaining at least five A* to C grades at GCSE level including maths and English (54.5% compared with the national average of 46.8%). Parkstone Grammar School
was the most successful secondary school in Poole for GCSE results in 2007: 100% of pupils gained five or more GCSEs at A* to C grade including maths and English. Canford School also achieved 100% and Poole Grammar School
was the next best performing school with 98%. Poole High School achieved 39% and the worst performing school was Rossmore Community College
where only 19% of students achieved five or more A* to C grade results. Poole’s grammar schools were also the best performing for A-level results. Poole Grammar School was the 60th most successful school/sixth form in the country in 2007: each student achieved on average 1071.4 points compared to the national average of 731.2. Parkstone Grammar School students averaged 1017.9 points.
Bournemouth University
was designated as a university in 1992 and despite its name, the university’s main campus
(the Talbot Campus) and buildings are in Poole and smaller campus is situated in Bournemouth. Media courses are the university's strength, and recent teaching quality assessments have resulted in ratings of 'excellent' for courses in the areas of communication and media, business and management, catering and hospitality, archaeology and nursing and midwifery. The Arts University College at Bournemouth is a university-sector institution in Poole at Wallisdown
. The AUCB offers undergraduate
, foundation degree
, postgraduate
and further education
courses in contemporary arts, design and media.
policing in Poole is provided by the Poole and Bournemouth Division of Dorset Police
which has two police stations in Poole: on Wimborne Road in the town centre, and on Gravel Hill in Canford Heath
. Dorset Fire and Rescue Service
provides statutory emergency fire and rescue services
for Poole and are based at Poole Fire Station in Creekmoor
which opened in 2008. The former fire station on Wimborne Road was demolished in 2008 and was replaced with a new joint fire and police divisional headquarters which opened in 2009.
Poole Hospital
is a large NHS Foundation Trust
hospital in Longfleet
with 789 beds. It opened in 1969 as Poole General Hospital, replacing Poole's Cornelia Hospital which had stood on the site since 1907. The hospital is the major trauma center
for East Dorset and provides core services such as child health and maternity for a catchment area including Bournemouth and Christchurch. Specialist services such as neurological care and cancer treatment are also provided for the rest of Dorset. The South Western Ambulance Service
provides emergency patient transport.
Waste management
and recycling are co-ordinated by Poole Borough Council in partnership with Viridor Waste Management
. Locally produced inert waste
is sent to landfill
for disposal. Recycle waste is taken to the recycling plant at the Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility
in Kent for processing. Poole's Distribution Network Operator
for electricity is Scottish and Southern Energy. Drinking
and waste water is managed by Wessex Water
; groundwater
sources in Wiltshire and Dorset provide 80% of drinking water, the rest comes from reservoir
s fed by rivers and streams.
, which is owned by Newsquest
. Published since 1900, the newspaper features news from Poole, Bournemouth
and the surrounding area. Issues appear Monday through Saturday with a daily circulation
of 32,441. For local television, Poole is served by the BBC South
studios based in Southampton
, and by Meridian Broadcasting
(formerly Television South
) with studios in Fareham
. Radio stations broadcasting to the town include BBC Radio Solent
, Wave 105
, Heart Dorset & New Forest
(formerly 2CR FM), Fire 107.6
and The Bay 102.8
.
, the artist Augustus John
, John Lennon
's aunt and parental guardian Mimi Smith
, and The Lord of the Rings
author J. R. R. Tolkien
who lived in Poole for four years during his retirement. Alfred Russel Wallace
, the 19th century explorer, naturalist and co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection, moved to Poole in 1902 when he was 78 years old and is buried in Broadstone cemetery. Notable people born in Poole include Greg Lake
of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer
, the author John le Carré
, the writer and actor David Croft, and James Stephen, the principal lawyer associated with the British abolitionist
movement. Edgar Wright
, the director of films such as Shaun of the Dead
and Hot Fuzz
was born in Poole and out of the five previous British winners of the Miss World
title, two have hailed from Poole: Ann Sydney
and Sarah-Jane Hutt
. Harry Redknapp
, the Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
manager, and his son Jamie Redknapp
, a former England national football team
player, have owned homes in Sandbanks
.
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
, on the south coast of England. The town is 32 kilometres (19.9 mi) east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Poole was made a unitary authority
Unitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council
Dorset County Council
Dorset County Council is the county council of the Dorset in England. It provides the upper tier of local government, below which are district councils, and town and parish councils...
. The town had a population of 138,288 according to the 2001 census
United Kingdom Census 2001
A nationwide census, known as Census 2001, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday, 29 April 2001. This was the 20th UK Census and recorded a resident population of 58,789,194....
, making it the second largest settlement in Dorset. Together with Bournemouth and Christchurch
Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in...
, the town forms the South East Dorset conurbation
South East Dorset conurbation
The South east Dorset conurbation is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. The area is rapidly becoming an amalgamation with the area of South West Hampshire immediately on the fringe of the newly formed New Forest National Park...
with a total population of over 400,000.
Human settlement in the area dates back to before the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. The earliest recorded use of the town’s name was in the 12th century when the town began to emerge as an important port, prospering with the introduction of the wool trade. In later centuries the town had important trade links with North America and at its peak in the 18th century it was one of the busiest ports in Britain. During the Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the town was one of the main departing points for the D-Day landings of the Normandy Invasion.
Poole is a tourist
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
resort, attracting visitors with its large natural harbour
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
, history, the Lighthouse
The Lighthouse (Poole)
The Lighthouse is an arts centre in Poole, Dorset, England. According to the Arts council of England it is the largest arts centre in the United Kingdom outside London....
arts centre and Blue Flag beach
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...
es. The town has a busy commercial port with cross-Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
freight and passenger ferry services. The headquarters of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
(RNLI) are located in Poole, and the Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
have a base in the town's harbour. Despite their names, Poole is the home of The Arts University College at Bournemouth, the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
and a significant part of Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...
.
History
Celtic languages
The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...
word bol and the Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
word pool meaning a place near a pool or creek. Variants include Pool, Pole, Poles, Poll, Polle, Polman, and Poolman. The area around modern Poole has been inhabited for the past 2,500 years. During the 3rd century BC, Celts known as the Durotriges
Durotriges
The Durotriges were one of the Celtic tribes living in Britain prior to the Roman invasion. The tribe lived in modern Dorset, south Wiltshire and south Somerset...
moved from hilltop settlements at Maiden Castle
Maiden Castle, Dorset
Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hill fort south west of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age...
and Badbury Rings
Badbury Rings
Badbury Rings is an Iron Age hill fort in east Dorset, England, dating from 800 BC and in use until the Roman occupation of 43 AD.-Iron Age:...
to heathland around the River Frome
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
and Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
. The Romans
Roman Britain
Roman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
landed at Poole during their conquest of Britain
Roman conquest of Britain
The Roman conquest of Britain was a gradual process, beginning effectively in AD 43 under Emperor Claudius, whose general Aulus Plautius served as first governor of Britannia. Great Britain had already frequently been the target of invasions, planned and actual, by forces of the Roman Republic and...
in the 1st century and took over an Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
settlement at Hamworthy
Hamworthy
Hamworthy is a parish and inner suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. Hamworthy lies on a peninsula of approximately and is bounded by Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre...
, an area just west of the modern town centre. In Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon
Anglo-Saxon may refer to:* Anglo-Saxons, a group that invaded Britain** Old English, their language** Anglo-Saxon England, their history, one of various ships* White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, an ethnicity* Anglo-Saxon economy, modern macroeconomic term...
times, Poole was included in the Kingdom of Wessex
Wessex
The Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
. The settlement was used as a base for fishing and the harbour a place for ships to anchor on their way to the River Frome and the important Anglo-Saxon town of Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
. Poole experienced two large-scale Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
invasions during this era: in 876, Guthrum
Guthrum
The name Guthrum corresponds to Norwegian Guttom and to Danish Gorm.The name Guthrum may refer to these kings:* Guthrum, who fought against Alfred the Great* Gorm the Old of Denmark and Norway* Guthrum II, a king of doubtful historicity...
sailed his fleet through the harbour to attack Wareham, and in 1015, Canute
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
began his conquest of England in Poole Harbour, using it as a base to raid and pillage Wessex.
Following the Norman conquest of England
Norman conquest of England
The Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
, Poole rapidly grew into a busy port as the importance of Wareham declined. The town was part of the manor
Manorialism
Manorialism, an essential element of feudal society, was the organizing principle of rural economy that originated in the villa system of the Late Roman Empire, was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, and was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market...
of Canford, but does not exist as an identifiable entry in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
. The earliest written mention of Poole occurred on a document from 1196 describing the newly built St James's Chapel in "La Pole". The Lord of the Manor
Lord of the Manor
The Lordship of a Manor is recognised today in England and Wales as a form of property and one of three elements of a manor that may exist separately or be combined and may be held in moieties...
, Sir William Longspée
William II Longespee
Sir William II Longespée, long sword in French, was the son of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, and Ela, 3rd Countess of Salisbury...
, sold a charter
Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified...
of liberties to the burgesses of Poole in 1248 to raise funds for his participation in the Seventh Crusade
Seventh Crusade
The Seventh Crusade was a crusade led by Louis IX of France from 1248 to 1254. Approximately 800,000 bezants were paid in ransom for King Louis who, along with thousands of his troops, was captured and defeated by the Egyptian army led by the Ayyubid Sultan Turanshah supported by the Bahariyya...
. Consequently, Poole gained a small measure of freedom from feudal rule
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
and acquired the right to appoint a mayor and hold a court within town. Poole's growing importance was recognised in 1433 when it was awarded staple port status by King Henry VI
Henry VI of England
Henry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
, enabling the port to begin exporting wool and in turn granting a license for the construction of a town wall. In 1568, Poole gained further autonomy when it was granted legal independence from Dorset and made a county corporate
County corporate
A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland and Wales.Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties...
by the Great Charter of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
. During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
, Poole's puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
stance and its merchants' opposition to the ship money
Ship money
Ship money refers to a tax that Charles I of England tried to levy without the consent of Parliament. This tax, which was only applied to coastal towns during a time of war, was intended to offset the cost of defending that part of the coast, and could be paid in actual ships or the equivalent value...
tax introduced by King Charles I
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
led to the town declaring for Parliament
Roundhead
"Roundhead" was the nickname given to the supporters of the Parliament during the English Civil War. Also known as Parliamentarians, they fought against King Charles I and his supporters, the Cavaliers , who claimed absolute power and the divine right of kings...
. Poole escaped any large-scale attack and with the Royalists
Cavalier
Cavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
on the brink of defeat in 1646, the Parliamentary garrison from Poole laid siege to and captured the nearby Royalist stronghold at Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle
Corfe Castle is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It is the site of a ruined castle of the same name. The village and castle stand over a gap in the Purbeck Hills on the route between Wareham and Swanage. The village lies in the gap below the castle, and is some eight...
.
Newfoundland and Labrador
Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada. Situated in the country's Atlantic region, it incorporates the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador with a combined area of . As of April 2011, the province's estimated population is 508,400...
. The trade with Newfoundland grew steadily to meet the demand for fish from the Catholic countries of Europe. Poole's share of this trade varied but the most prosperous period started in the early 18th century and lasted until the early 19th century. The trade was a three-cornered route; ships sailed to Newfoundland with salt and provisions, then carried dried and salted fish to Europe before returning to Poole with wine, olive oil, and salt. By the early 18th century Poole had more ships trading with North America than any other English port and vast wealth was brought to Poole's merchants. This prosperity supported much of the development which now characterises the Old Town where many of the medieval buildings were replaced with Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
mansions and terraced housing
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
. The end of the Napoleonic Wars
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars were a series of wars declared against Napoleon's French Empire by opposing coalitions that ran from 1803 to 1815. As a continuation of the wars sparked by the French Revolution of 1789, they revolutionised European armies and played out on an unprecedented scale, mainly due to...
and the conclusion of the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
ended Britain's monopoly over the Newfoundland fisheries and other nations took over services provided by Poole's merchants at a lower cost. Poole's Newfoundland trade rapidly declined and within a decade most merchants had ceased trading.
The town grew rapidly during the industrial revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
as urbanisation took place and the town became an area of mercantile
Mercantilism
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine in which government control of foreign trade is of paramount importance for ensuring the prosperity and security of the state. In particular, it demands a positive balance of trade. Mercantilism dominated Western European economic policy and discourse from...
prosperity and overcrowded poverty. At the turn of the 19th century, nine out of ten workers were engaged in harbour activities, but as the century progressed ships became too large for the shallow harbour and the port lost business to the deep water ports at Liverpool, Southampton and Plymouth. Poole's first railway station opened in Hamworthy
Hamworthy railway station
Hamworthy railway station serves Hamworthy, an area of Poole in Dorset.-History:The station opened with the Southampton & Dorchester Railway, which later became part of the London and South Western Railway , in 1847 as Poole Junction...
in 1847 and later extended to the centre of Poole in 1872, effectively ending the port's busy coastal shipping trade. The beaches and landscape of southern Dorset and south-west Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
began to attract tourists during the 19th century and the villages to the east of Poole began to grow and merge until the seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
of Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
emerged. Although Poole did not become a resort like many of its neighbours, it continued to prosper as the rapid expansion of Bournemouth created a large demand for goods manufactured in Poole.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Poole was the third largest embarkation point for D-Day
D-Day
D-Day is a term often used in military parlance to denote the day on which a combat attack or operation is to be initiated. "D-Day" often represents a variable, designating the day upon which some significant event will occur or has occurred; see Military designation of days and hours for similar...
landings of Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
and afterwards served as a base for supplies to the allied forces
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
in Europe. Eighty-one landing craft containing American troops from the 29th Infantry Division and the U.S. Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers
United States Army Rangers are elite members of the United States Army. Rangers have served in recognized U.S. Army Ranger units or have graduated from the U.S. Army's Ranger School...
departed Poole Harbour for Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
. Poole was also an important centre for the development of Combined Operations and the base for a U.S. Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
rescue flotilla
Flotilla
A flotilla , or naval flotilla, is a formation of small warships that may be part of a larger fleet. A flotilla is usually composed of a homogeneous group of the same class of warship, such as frigates, destroyers, torpedo boats, submarines, gunboats, or minesweepers...
of 60 cutters
United States Coast Guard Cutter
Cutter is the term used by the United States Coast Guard for its commissioned vessels. A Cutter is or greater in length, has a permanently assigned crew, and has accommodations for the crew to live aboard...
. Much of the town suffered from German bombing during the war and years of neglect in the post-war economic decline. Major redevelopment
Urban renewal
Urban renewal is a program of land redevelopment in areas of moderate to high density urban land use. Renewal has had both successes and failures. Its modern incarnation began in the late 19th century in developed nations and experienced an intense phase in the late 1940s – under the rubric of...
projects began in the 1950s and 1960s and large areas of slum
Slum
A slum, as defined by United Nations agency UN-HABITAT, is a run-down area of a city characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security. According to the United Nations, the percentage of urban dwellers living in slums decreased from 47 percent to 37 percent in the...
properties were demolished and replaced with modern public housing
Public housing
Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is owned by a government authority, which may be central or local. Social housing is an umbrella term referring to rental housing which may be owned and managed by the state, by non-profit organizations, or by a combination of the...
and facilities. Many of Poole's historic buildings were demolished during this period, particularly in the Old Town area of Poole. Consequently, a 6 hectares (14.8 acre) Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
was created in the town centre in 1975 to preserve Poole's most notable buildings.
Council
On 1 April 1997, the town was made a unitary authorityUnitary authority
A unitary authority is a type of local authority that has a single tier and is responsible for all local government functions within its area or performs additional functions which elsewhere in the relevant country are usually performed by national government or a higher level of sub-national...
following a review by the Local Government Commission for England (1992)
Local Government Commission for England (1992)
The Local Government Commission for England was the body responsible for reviewing the structure of local government in England from 1992 to 2002. It was established under the Local Government Act 1992, replacing the Local Government Boundary Commission for England...
, and became once again administratively independent from Dorset. The borough reverted to its previous title of the Borough and County of the Town of Poole, which recalled its status as a county corporate
County corporate
A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland and Wales.Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties...
before the implementation of the Local Government Act 1888
Local Government Act 1888
The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
. For local elections, 42 councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
s are elected across 16 wards
Wards of the United Kingdom
A ward in the United Kingdom is an electoral district at sub-national level represented by one or more councillors. It is the primary unit of British administrative and electoral geography .-England:...
and elections take place every four years. The last election took place in May 2011, resulting in no overall control
No overall control
Within the context of local councils of the United Kingdom, the term No Overall Control refers to a situation in which no single party achieves a majority of seats and is analogous to a hung parliament...
. The Council is made up of 21 Conservative
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
, 18 Liberal Democrat and three Poole People councillors. Poole's council leader is Elaine Atkinson (Conservative) and the Mayor is Graham Wilson (Liberal Democrat). Poole's Sheriff
Sheriff
A sheriff is in principle a legal official with responsibility for a county. In practice, the specific combination of legal, political, and ceremonial duties of a sheriff varies greatly from country to country....
, a position created by the town's charter of 1568 and just one of 15 Sheriffs in the country, is Carol Evans (Conservative). The Audit Commission
Audit Commission
The Audit Commission is a public corporation in the United Kingdom.The Commission’s primary objective is to improve economy, efficiency and effectiveness in local government, housing and the health service, directly through the audit and inspection process and also through value for money...
's 2009 Comprehensive Area Assessment described the Borough of Poole as "performing well overall" and rated its services as "good when compared with other councils". Poole has been twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the town of Cherbourg
Cherbourg-Octeville
-Main sights:* La Glacerie has a race track.* The Cité de la Mer is a large museum devoted to scientific and historical aspects of maritime subjects.* Cherbourg Basilica* Jardin botanique de la Roche Fauconnière, a private botanical garden.* Le Trident theatre...
in France since 1977.
Parliamentary representation
Poole is represented by two parliamentary constituenciesUnited Kingdom constituencies
In the United Kingdom , each of the electoral areas or divisions called constituencies elects one or more members to a parliament or assembly.Within the United Kingdom there are now five bodies with members elected by constituencies:...
in the House of Commons; Poole and Mid Dorset and North Poole. The borough constituency of Poole has existed since 1950. Previously the town had been a parliamentary borough
Parliamentary borough
Parliamentary boroughs are a type of administrative division, usually covering urban areas, that are entitled to representation in a Parliament...
, electing two Members of Parliament from 1455 until 1865 when representation was reduced to one member. In 1885 the constituency was abolished altogether and absorbed into the East Dorset constituency
East Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)
East Dorset is a former United Kingdom Parliamentary constituency. It was formally known as the Eastern Division of Dorset. It was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom...
until its reintroduction in 1950. Robert Syms
Robert Syms
Robert Andrew Raymond Syms is a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He has been the Member of Parliament for Poole in Dorset since 1997.-Early life:...
(Conservative)
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
has been the Member of Parliament since 1997. At the 2010 general election, the Conservatives won a majority of 7,541 and 47.5% of the vote. The Liberal Democrats won 31.6% of the vote, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
12.7%, the UK Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
5.3% and the British National Party
British National Party
The British National Party is a British far-right political party formed as a splinter group from the National Front by John Tyndall in 1982...
2.5%.
The county constituency of Mid Dorset and North Poole was created in 1997 and includes the north east of Poole, Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster is a market town in the East Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town...
, Wareham
Wareham, Dorset
Wareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
and extends into rural Dorset. Annette Brooke
Annette Brooke
Annette Lesley Brooke is a British Liberal Democrat politician. She has been the Member of Parliament for Mid Dorset and North Poole since 2001.-Early life:...
(Liberal Democrat) has been the Member of Parliament since 2001. . At the 2010 general election, the Liberal Democrats won with a majority of 269 and 45.1% of the vote in Mid Dorset and North Poole. The Conservatives
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...
won 44.5% of the vote, Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
5.9% and the UK Independence Party
United Kingdom Independence Party
The United Kingdom Independence Party is a eurosceptic and right-wing populist political party in the United Kingdom. Whilst its primary goal is the UK's withdrawal from the European Union, the party has expanded beyond its single-issue image to develop a more comprehensive party platform.UKIP...
4.15%. Poole is included in the South West England constituency
South West England (European Parliament constituency)
South West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:...
for elections to the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
.
Coat of arms
Coat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
originated in a seal
Seal (device)
A seal can be a figure impressed in wax, clay, or some other medium, or embossed on paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document ; but the term can also mean the device for making such impressions, being essentially a mould with the mirror image of the design carved in sunken- relief or...
from the late 14th century and were recorded by Clarenceux King of Arms
Clarenceux King of Arms
Clarenceux King of Arms is an officer of arms at the College of Arms in London. Clarenceux is the senior of the two provincial kings of arms and his jurisdiction is that part of England south of the River Trent. The office almost certainly existed in 1420, and there is a fair degree of...
during the heraldic visitation
Heraldic visitation
Heraldic Visitations were tours of inspection undertaken by Kings of Arms in England, Wales and Ireland in order to regulate and register the coats of arms of nobility and gentry and boroughs, and to record pedigrees...
of Dorset in 1563. The wavy bars of black and gold represent the sea and the dolphin is sign of Poole's maritime interests. The scallop shells are the emblem of Saint James and are associated with his shrine
Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela Cathedral is a Roman Catholic cathedral of the archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. The cathedral is the reputed burial-place of Saint James the Greater, one of the apostles of Jesus Christ. It is the destination of the Way of St...
at Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
– a popular destination for Christian pilgrims departing from Poole Harbour in the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
.
The arms were confirmed by the College of Arms
College of Arms
The College of Arms, or Heralds’ College, is an office regulating heraldry and granting new armorial bearings for England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
on 19 June 1948, and at the same time the crest (a mermaid
Mermaid
A mermaid is a mythological aquatic creature with a female human head, arms, and torso and the tail of a fish. A male version of a mermaid is known as a "merman" and in general both males and females are known as "merfolk"...
supporting an anchor and holding a cannon ball) was granted. Following local government reorganisation
Local Government Act 1972
The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
in 1974, the 1948 arms were transferred to Poole Borough Council. In 1976, the council received the grant of supporters
Supporters
In heraldry, supporters are figures usually placed on either side of the shield and depicted holding it up. These figures may be real or imaginary animals, human figures, and in rare cases plants or inanimate objects...
for the coat of arms. The supporters refer to important charters given to the town; to the left is a gold lion holding a long sword representing William Longespee
William II Longespee
Sir William II Longespée, long sword in French, was the son of William Longespée, 3rd Earl of Salisbury, and Ela, 3rd Countess of Salisbury...
who in 1248 granted the town's first charter; on the right is a dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
derived from the Royal Arms
Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom
The Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom is the official coat of arms of the British monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II. These arms are used by the Queen in her official capacity as monarch of the United Kingdom, and are officially known as her Arms of Dominion...
of Elizabeth I
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
who granted Poole county corporate
County corporate
A county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland and Wales.Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties...
status in 1568. The Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
motto
Motto
A motto is a phrase meant to formally summarize the general motivation or intention of a social group or organization. A motto may be in any language, but Latin is the most used. The local language is usual in the mottoes of governments...
– Ad Morem Villae De Poole, means: According to the Custom of the Town of Poole, and derives from the Great Charter of 1568.
Geography
Poole is located on the shore of the English ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
and lies on the northern and eastern edges of Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
, 179 kilometres (111.2 mi) west-southwest of London, at 50.72°N 1.98°W. The oldest part of the town (including the historic Old Town, Poole Quay and the Dolphin Shopping Centre) lies to the south-east of Holes Bay on a peninsula jutting into the harbour, although much of the land to the east of the peninsula has been reclaimed from the harbour since the mid 20th century. To the west is Upton
Upton, Dorset
Upton is a village in south east Dorset, England. It is the second largest village in Purbeck-Geography:The village is built around a road junction where the Blandford to Hamworthy road crosses the main Poole to Dorchester road. The Poole suburbs of Hamworthy and Turlin Moor adjoin the village to...
and Corfe Mullen
Corfe Mullen
Corfe Mullen is a village in Dorset, England, on the north-western urban fringe of the South East Dorset conurbation and is part of the rural district of East Dorset. The population is 10,147 ....
and across the northern border at the River Stour
River Stour, Dorset
The River Stour is a 60.5 mile long river which flows through Wiltshire and Dorset in southern England, and drains into the English Channel. It is sometimes called the Dorset Stour to distinguish it from rivers of the same name...
lies Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster
Wimborne Minster is a market town in the East Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town...
. At the eastern edge of Poole, the town abuts Bournemouth and the settlements of Kinson
Kinson
Kinson is a former village which has been absorbed by the town of Bournemouth in the county of Dorset in England. The area became part of Bournemouth on 1 April 1931....
, Winton
Winton, Dorset
Winton is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. It lies approximately north of Bournemouth town centre, along Wimborne Road .-History:...
and Westbourne
Westbourne, Dorset
Westbourne is an affluent residential and shopping area of Bournemouth, Dorset. It is located in between Branksome, Poole and the centre of Bournemouth, just off the main A338. Poole Road, mainly full of specialised shops and small cafes, runs though the centre Westbourne with Seamoor Road curving...
. To the south of Poole along the coast lies Poole Bay
Poole Bay
Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, off the coast of Dorset in southern England, which runs from the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west to Hengistbury Head in the east. It consists of steep sandstone cliffs and several 'chines' that allow easy access to the sandy beaches below...
, featuring 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) of sandy beaches from Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
in the west to Bournemouth in the east.
Urban areas and districts of the town
Poole is made up of numerous suburbs and neighbourhoods, many of which developed from villages or hamlets
Hamlet (place)
A hamlet is usually a rural settlement which is too small to be considered a village, though sometimes the word is used for a different sort of community. Historically, when a hamlet became large enough to justify building a church, it was then classified as a village...
that were absorbed into Poole as the town grew.
Alderney
Alderney, Dorset
Alderney is a suburb and electoral ward in the town of Poole in Dorset, England with a population of 11,196. It is Poole's second most densely populated area with 31 people to each hectare and suffers much higher than average levels of poverty, illiteracy and crime.-External links:...
- Bearwood - Branksome
Branksome, Dorset
Branksome is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. The area consists of mainly residential properties but also has a small commercial area. It borders Parkstone, another small Poole suburb, to the west and north, Branksome Park to the south and Westbourne to the east.Until the early part of the...
- Branksome Park
Branksome Park
Branksome Park is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, which adjoins Branksome, Dorset. The area covers approximately , mostly occupied by housing, and includes Branksome Chine which leads to the award-winning blue-flagged beaches of Poole.-Description:...
- Broadstone
Broadstone, Dorset
Broadstone is a town and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. It is located from Hamworthy railway station and from Bournemouth International Airport. The town has a population of 10,256 according to the 2001 Census....
- Canford Cliffs
Canford Cliffs
Canford Cliffs is an affluent suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. The neighbourhood lies on the English Channel coast midway between Poole and Bournemouth...
- Canford Heath
Canford Heath
Canford Heath is a suburb and area of heathland in Poole, Dorset with a population of just under 14,500.-Geography:Canford Heath has also given its name to a housing development built on the heathland during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s...
- Creekmoor
Creekmoor
Creekmoor is a large village and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, with a population of 9,257. Bordered by the Upton Heath nature reserve and Upton Country Park, the area is mainly populated by families.-Facilities:...
- Fleetsbridge
Fleetsbridge
Fleetsbridge is a small area of Poole, Dorset, centred on a busy gyratory and flyover. It lies north of Poole town centre and borders the neighbouring suburbs of Waterloo, Creekmoor, Oakdale and Canford Heath. The use of land varies between residential, retail and some light industry. The area...
- Hamworthy
Hamworthy
Hamworthy is a parish and inner suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. Hamworthy lies on a peninsula of approximately and is bounded by Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre...
- Lilliput
Lilliput, Poole
Lilliput is a district of Poole, Dorset. It borders on Lower Parkstone, Whitecliff, Canford Cliffs, and Sandbanks, and has a shoreline within Poole Harbour. Lilliput also has a sub area called Salterns Marina, which has views of Sandbanks, Brownsea Island, and in the distance, Whitecliff...
- Longfleet
Longfleet
Longfleet is a small district of Poole, Dorset centred on Longfleet Road. It is situated directly north of the town centre and lies to the east of Oakdale and to the south and west of Parkstone.-History:...
- Merley
Merley
Merley is a large housing estate in the borough of Poole, a mile south of Wimborne Minster. Originally called Myrle, Merley was a manor in the tithing of Great Canford...
- Newtown
Newtown, Dorset
Newtown is a suburb and electoral ward in the town of Poole in Dorset, England with a population of 11,132.-References:...
- Oakdale
Oakdale, Dorset
Oakdale is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England with a population of 10,949. It is adjacent to Fleetsbridge, Poole town centre, Sterte, Longfleet and Parkstone....
- Parkstone
Parkstone
Parkstone is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of the lower-lying area of Lower Parkstone - "The Village" -...
- Penn Hill
Penn Hill
Penn Hill is an electoral ward of Poole in Dorset, England, bordering on Branksome Park, Canford Cliffs, Sandbanks, Lilliput and Parkstone. It is effectively part of Parkstone.-Overview:* 10,293 people live in Penn Hill....
- Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
- Sterte
Sterte
Sterte is a part of Poole in Dorset, England. It is directly next to Poole Stadium and Holes Bay. It is near to the areas of Oakdale, Upton and Hamworthy....
- Talbot Village
Talbot Village
Talbot Village is located on the boundary of Bournemouth and Poole in Dorset, England.The old Talbot Village was built between 1850 and 1862 because of the generosity of two sisters, Georgina and Mary Talbot...
- Wallisdown
Wallisdown
Wallisdown is a residential and commercial area situated partly in Bournemouth and partly in Poole, in southern England.- Geography :Wallisdown is situated on the border between Bournemouth and Poole...
- Waterloo
Waterloo, Dorset
Waterloo is a suburb of Poole, Dorset, England.Once a small village near Broadstone, Waterloo is now a large housing estate. The estate was built in the early 1950s and covers an area of .-References:...
Chine
A chine is a steep-sided river valley where the river flows through coastal cliffs to the sea. Typically these are soft eroding cliffs such as sandstone or clays. The word chine originates from the Saxon "Cinan" meaning a gap or yawn....
s and coastline to the south. The heathland habitat supports the six native British reptile species and provides a home for a range of dragonflies
Dragonfly
A dragonfly is a winged insect belonging to the order Odonata, the suborder Epiprocta or, in the strict sense, the infraorder Anisoptera . It is characterized by large multifaceted eyes, two pairs of strong transparent wings, and an elongated body...
and rare birds. Development has destroyed much of the heath but scattered fragments remain to the north of Poole and have been designated Special Protection Area
Special Protection Area
A Special Protection Area or SPA is a designation under the European Union Directive on the Conservation of Wild Birds.Under the Directive, Member States of the European Union have a duty to safeguard the habitats of migratory birds and certain particularly threatened birds.Together with Special...
s. The town lies on unresistant Tertiary
Tertiary
The Tertiary is a deprecated term for a geologic period 65 million to 2.6 million years ago. The Tertiary covered the time span between the superseded Secondary period and the Quaternary...
beds of Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
clays (mainly London Clay
London Clay
The London Clay Formation is a marine geological formation of Ypresian age which crops out in the southeast of England. The London Clay is well known for the fossils it contains. The fossils from the Lower Eocene indicate a moderately warm climate, the flora being tropical or subtropical...
and Gault Clay
Gault Clay
Gault is a clay formation of stiff blue clay deposited in a calm, fairly deep water marine environment during the Lower Cretaceous Period...
), sands and gravels. The River Frome
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
runs through this weak rock, and its many tributaries
Tributary
A tributary or affluent is a stream or river that flows into a main stem river or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean...
have carved out a wide estuary
Estuary
An estuary is a partly enclosed coastal body of water with one or more rivers or streams flowing into it, and with a free connection to the open sea....
. At the mouth of the estuary sand spits
Spit (landform)
A spit or sandspit is a deposition landform found off coasts. At one end, spits connect to land, and extend into the sea. A spit is a type of bar or beach that develops where a re-entrant occurs, such as at cove's headlands, by the process of longshore drift...
have been deposited, enclosing the estuary to create Poole Harbour.
The harbour is the largest natural harbour in Europe and the claimant of the title of second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney Harbour
Port Jackson
Port Jackson, containing Sydney Harbour, is the natural harbour of Sydney, Australia. It is known for its beauty, and in particular, as the location of the Sydney Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge...
. It is an area of international importance for nature conservation and is noted for its ecology, supporting salt marsh
Salt marsh
A salt marsh is an environment in the upper coastal intertidal zone between land and salt water or brackish water, it is dominated by dense stands of halophytic plants such as herbs, grasses, or low shrubs. These plants are terrestrial in origin and are essential to the stability of the salt marsh...
es, mudflat
Mudflat
Mudflats or mud flats, also known as tidal flats, are coastal wetlands that form when mud is deposited by tides or rivers. They are found in sheltered areas such as bays, bayous, lagoons, and estuaries. Mudflats may be viewed geologically as exposed layers of bay mud, resulting from deposition of...
s and an internationally important habitat for several species of migrating bird. It has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
, a Special Protection Area and a Ramsar site
Ramsar Convention
The Ramsar Convention is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable utilization of wetlands, i.e., to stem the progressive encroachment on and loss of wetlands now and in the future, recognizing the fundamental ecological functions of wetlands and their economic, cultural,...
as well as falling within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...
. The harbour covers an area of 38 square kilometres (14.7 sq mi) and is extremely shallow: although the main shipping channels are 7.5 metres (24.6 ft) deep the average depth of the harbour is 48 centimetres (1.6 ft). It contains several small islands, the largest is Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole...
, a nature reserve owned by the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
and the birthplace of the Scouting movement and location of the first Scout Camp
Brownsea Island Scout camp
The Brownsea Island Scout camp was a boys camping event on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, southern England, organised by Lieutenant-General Baden-Powell to test his ideas for the book Scouting for Boys. Boys from different social backgrounds participated from 1 August to 8 August 1907 in...
. Britain's largest onshore oil field
Oil field
An oil field is a region with an abundance of oil wells extracting petroleum from below ground. Because the oil reservoirs typically extend over a large area, possibly several hundred kilometres across, full exploitation entails multiple wells scattered across the area...
operates from Wytch Farm
Wytch Farm
Wytch Farm is an oil field and processing facility in the Purbeck district of Dorset, England. It is the largest onshore oil field in western Europe. The facility, operated by BP, is hidden in a coniferous forest on Wytch Heath on the southern shore of Poole Harbour, two miles north of Corfe Castle...
on the south shore of the harbour. The oil reservoirs extend under the harbour and eastwards from Sandbanks and Studland
Studland
Studland is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is famous for its beaches and nature reserve. In 2001 Studland had a population of 480, the lowest in 50 years...
for 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) under the sea to the south of Bournemouth.
Situated directly to the east of the Jurassic Coast
Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
, Poole is a gateway town to the UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
, which includes 153 kilometres (95.1 mi) of the Dorset and east Devon coast important for its geology, landforms and rich fossil record. The South West Coast Path
South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Since it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more...
stretches for 1014 kilometres (630.1 mi) from Minehead
Minehead
Minehead is a coastal town and civil parish in Somerset, England. It lies on the south bank of the Bristol Channel, north-west of the county town of Taunton, from the border with the county of Devon and in proximity of the Exmoor National Park...
in Somerset
Somerset
The ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, along the coast of Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
and on to Poole. The path is the United Kingdom's longest national trail at 1014 kilometres (630 mi).
Climate
Due to its location on the south coast of England, Poole has a temperateTemperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
climate with a small variation in daily and annual temperatures. The average annual mean
Arithmetic mean
In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean, often referred to as simply the mean or average when the context is clear, is a method to derive the central tendency of a sample space...
temperature from 1971 to 2000 was 10.2 to 12 °C
Celsius
Celsius is a scale and unit of measurement for temperature. It is named after the Swedish astronomer Anders Celsius , who developed a similar temperature scale two years before his death...
(50.4 to 53.6 °F
Fahrenheit
Fahrenheit is the temperature scale proposed in 1724 by, and named after, the German physicist Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit . Within this scale, the freezing of water into ice is defined at 32 degrees, while the boiling point of water is defined to be 212 degrees...
). The warmest months in Poole are July and August, which have an average temperature range
Temperature range
Atmospheric temperature range is the numerical difference between the minimum and maximum values of temperature observed in a given location....
of 12 to 22 °C (53.6 to 71.6 F), and the coolest months are January and February, which have a range of 2 to 8.3 °C (35.6 to 46.9 F). Mean sea surface temperatures range from 6.9 °C (44.4 °F) in February to 18.5 °C (65.3 °F) in August. The average annual rainfall of 592.6 millimetres (23.3 in) is well below the UK average of 1126 millimetres (44.3 in).
Demography
| Religion | % |
|---|---|
| Buddhist Buddhism Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th... |
0.16 |
| Christian Christianity Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings... |
74.34 |
| Hindu Hinduism Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions... |
0.15 |
| Jewish Judaism Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people... |
0.32 |
| Muslim Islam Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~... |
0.41 |
| No religion Irreligion Irreligion is defined as an absence of religion or an indifference towards religion. Sometimes it may also be defined more narrowly as hostility towards religion. When characterized as hostility to religion, it includes antitheism, anticlericalism and antireligion. When characterized as... |
16.23 |
| Other | 0.32 |
| Sikh Sikhism Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing... |
0.03 |
| Not stated | 8.03 |
| Age | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0–4 | 5.2 |
| 5–14 | 12.2 |
| 15–29 | 16.0 |
| 30–44 | 21.5 |
| 45–64 | 24.8 |
| 65+ | 20.3 |
Poole merges with several other towns to form the South East Dorset conurbation
South East Dorset conurbation
The South east Dorset conurbation is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. The area is rapidly becoming an amalgamation with the area of South West Hampshire immediately on the fringe of the newly formed New Forest National Park...
which has a combined population of 445,000, forming one of the South Coast's major urban areas. The population of Poole according to the 2001 UK Census was 138,288. The town has a built-up area of 65 square kilometres (25.1 sq mi), giving an approximate population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
of 2,128 residents per square kilometre (5,532 per sq mi) in 60,512 dwellings. The population has grown steadily since the 1960s, inward migration has accounted for most of the town’s growth and a significant part of this has been for retirement. Housing stock has increased by over 100% in the past 40 years from 30,000 in 1961 to approximately 62,700 in 2004. Compared to the rest of England and Wales
England and Wales
England and Wales is a jurisdiction within the United Kingdom. It consists of England and Wales, two of the four countries of the United Kingdom...
, Poole has an above average number of residents aged 65+ (20.3%), but this is less than the Dorset average of 22.2%. The largest proportion of the population (24.8%) is between the ages of 45 to 64, slightly above the national average of 23.8%. Population projections have predicted a continual growth; a population of 151,481 is estimated by 2016.
The district is overwhelmingly populated by people of a white ethnic background, 95.98% of residents are of White British
White British
White British was an ethnicity classification used in the 2001 United Kingdom Census. As a result of the census, 50,366,497 people in the United Kingdom were classified as White British. In Scotland the classification was broken down into two different categories: White Scottish and Other White...
ethnicity, well above the rest of England at 86.99%. Minority ethnic groups (including those in white ethnic groups who did not classify themselves as British) represent 4.0% of Poole’s population. The largest religion in Poole is Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
, at almost 74.34%, slightly above the United Kingdom average of 71.6%. The next-largest sector is those with no religion, at almost 16.23%, also above the UK average of 15.5%.
The average house price in Poole is high compared to the rest of the UK and the surrounding south west region
South West England
South West England is one of the regions of England defined by the Government of the United Kingdom for statistical and other purposes. It is the largest such region in area, covering and comprising Bristol, Gloucestershire, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Devon, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. ...
. The average price of a property in Poole in 2008 was £274,011; detached houses were on average £374,150, semi-detached
Semi-detached
Semi-detached housing consists of pairs of houses built side by side as units sharing a party wall and usually in such a way that each house's layout is a mirror image of its twin...
and terraced house
Terraced house
In architecture and city planning, a terrace house, terrace, row house, linked house or townhouse is a style of medium-density housing that originated in Great Britain in the late 17th century, where a row of identical or mirror-image houses share side walls...
s were cheaper at £226,465 and £217,128 respectively. An apartment
Apartment
An apartment or flat is a self-contained housing unit that occupies only part of a building...
or flat costs on average £216,097, more than any other part of Dorset. The average house prices in Poole are boosted by those in Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
which had the fourth most expensive house prices in the world in 2000; in 2007 the average house price was £488,761. A study in 2006 by the National Housing Federation
National Housing Federation
The National Housing Federation is the umbrella organisation for social housing providers in the UK.-Function:The National Housing Federation is the voice of affordable housing in England....
reported that Poole was the most unaffordable town in which to live in the UK.
| Population growth Population growth Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement.... in Poole since 1801 |
|||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1801 | 1811 | 1821 | 1831 | 1841 | 1851 | 1861 | 1871 | 1881 | 1891 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 |
| Population | 6,682 | 6,752 | 9,021 | 9,401 | 9,901 | 10,595 | 12,152 | 13,710 | 15,267 | 20,446 | 29,068 | 41,344 | 50,024 | 60,527 | 71,089 | 83,494 | 94,598 | 107,204 | 117,133 | 135,066 | 138,299 |
| % change | – | +1.1 | +33.6 | +4.2 | +5.3 | +7 | +14.7 | +12.8 | +11.4 | +33.9 | +42.2 | +42.2 | +30 | +30 | +17.5 | +17.5 | +13.3 | +13.3 | +9.3 | +15.3 | +2.4 |
| Source: A Vision of Britain through Time |
|||||||||||||||||||||
Economy
| Poole's employment structure | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Sector | Poole | Dorset Dorset Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974... |
Great Britain Great Britain Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles... |
| Agriculture | 0.1% | 0.4% | 0.9% |
| Energy and Water | 1.1% | 0.6% | 0.8% |
| Manufacturing | 16.8% | 13.4% | 13.4% |
| Construction | 3.3% | 4.0% | 4.5% |
| Services | 78.7% | 81.7% | 80.5% |
Poole’s economy
Economy
An economy consists of the economic system of a country or other area; the labor, capital and land resources; and the manufacturing, trade, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area...
is more balanced than the rest of Dorset. In the 1960s prosperity was fuelled by growth in the manufacturing sector, whereas the 1980s and 1990s saw expansion in the service sector as office based employers relocated to the area. The importance of manufacturing has declined since the 1960s but still employed approximately 17% of the workforce in 2002 and remains more prominent than in the economy of Great Britain as a whole. Sunseeker
Sunseeker
Sunseeker International, is a UK luxury motor yacht manufacturer. Their headquarters and assembly factory is in Poole Harbour, at Poole in Dorset, England. The company has been making motor boats since 1979.-Profile:...
, the world's largest privately-owned builder of motor yachts
Luxury yacht
The term luxury yacht, “Superyacht” and "Large Yacht" refers to very expensive, privately owned yachts which are professionally crewed. Also known as a Super Yacht, a luxury yacht may be either a sailing or motor yacht.-History:...
and the UK's largest manufacturer, is based in Poole and employs over 1,800 people in its Poole shipyard
Shipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
s. It was estimated in 2004 that Sunseeker generates £160 million for the local economy. Other major employers in the local manufacturing industry include Sealed Air
Sealed Air
Sealed Air Corporation is a company that makes a variety of packaging materials, systems and equipment. Its brands include Bubble Wrap, Cryovac, Instapak, Shanklin.They have recently moved headquarters to Elmwood Park, New Jersey....
, Hamworthy Heating, Hamworthy Combustion, Lush
Lush (store)
Lush is a handmade cosmetics company headquartered in Poole, Dorset in the UK. In 1994, husband and wife Mark and Mo Constantine opened the first Lush store in Poole under the name Cosmetic House Limited. Lush adopted its current name on 10 April 1995. There are now more than 600 stores in 43...
, Mathmos
Mathmos
Mathmos is a British company that sells lighting products, most famously the lava lamp invented by its founder Edward Craven Walker. It is headquartered in its factory in Poole, Dorset.-Company History:...
, Penske Cars Ltd (who build racing cars for Penske Racing
Penske Racing
Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
), Kerry Foods, Precision Disc Casting, Siemens
Siemens
Siemens may refer toSiemens, a German family name carried by generations of telecommunications industrialists, including:* Werner von Siemens , inventor, founder of Siemens AG...
, Southernprint and Ryvita
Ryvita
Ryvita is a rye-based crispbread which up until 2009 was manufactured by The Ryvita Company. The company was founded in Birmingham, England, in 1930 and is today a subsidiary of Associated British Foods. Ryvita crackers are popular with dieters...
. Poole has the largest number of industrial estates in South East Dorset
South East Dorset conurbation
The South east Dorset conurbation is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. The area is rapidly becoming an amalgamation with the area of South West Hampshire immediately on the fringe of the newly formed New Forest National Park...
, including the Nuffield Industrial estate, Mannings Heath, Arena Business Park, Poole Trade Park and the Branksome Business Centre.
Regional planning
Regional planning deals with the efficient placement of land use activities, infrastructure, and settlement growth across a larger area of land than an individual city or town. The related field of urban planning deals with the specific issues of city planning...
policies attracted businesses wishing to relocate from London. These included employers in the banking and financial sector, such as Barclays Bank (who operate a regional headquarters in Poole), American Express Bank and the corporate trust
Corporate trust
In the most basic sense of the term, A corporate trust is a trust created by a corporation.However, the term in the United States is most often used to describe the business activities of many financial services companies and banks that involve acting in a fiduciary capacity for investors in a...
division of Bank of New York Mellon
Bank of New York Mellon
The Bank of New York Mellon Corporation is a global financial services company formed on July 1, 2007 as result of the merger of The Bank of New York and Mellon Financial Corporation...
. Other important service sector employers include Link House Publications, the national headquarters and Lifeboat College of the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI)
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
, the UK headquarters of Fitness First
Fitness First
Fitness First is the largest privately owned health club group in the world with over 540 Fitness First clubs worldwide reaching over 1.7 million members in 21 countries...
, Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...
and Poole NHS Primary Care Trust
NHS Primary Care Trust
An NHS primary care trust is a type of NHS trust, part of the National Health Service in England. PCTs commission primary, community and secondary care from providers. Until 31 may2011 they also provided community services directly. Collectively PCT are responsible for spending around 80% of the...
. Poole is also the headquarters for clothing company Animal
Animal (clothing)
Animal is a clothing retailer and brand based in Poole, England. The company was created in 1987, manufacturing and selling unbreakable webbing and Velcro watchstraps....
, and Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments
Merlin Entertainments Group Ltd is a British operator of amusement parks and other attractions. It is the largest such company in Europe, and globally the second largest after Walt Disney Parks and Resorts....
, the world's second-largest theme park operator after Disney. The Dolphin Shopping Centre is Poole's main retail
Retailing
Retail consists of the sale of physical goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be...
area, and the largest indoor shopping centre
Shopping mall
A shopping mall, shopping centre, shopping arcade, shopping precinct or simply mall is one or more buildings forming a complex of shops representing merchandisers, with interconnecting walkways enabling visitors to easily walk from unit to unit, along with a parking area — a modern, indoor version...
in Dorset. It opened in 1969 as an Arndale Centre, and underwent three major refurbishments in 1980, 1989 and 2004. The centre provides 47000 square metres (505,903.8 sq ft) of retail space with 110 stores and two multi-storey car park
Multi-storey car park
A multi-storey car-park is a building designed specifically to be for car parking and where there are a number of floors or levels on which parking takes place...
s with 1,400 parking spaces. A pedestrianised high street
High Street
High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing...
containing shops, bars, public house
Public house
A public house, informally known as a pub, is a drinking establishment fundamental to the culture of Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand. There are approximately 53,500 public houses in the United Kingdom. This number has been declining every year, so that nearly half of the smaller...
s and restaurants connects the Dolphin Centre with the historic Old Town area and Poole Quay. Tourism is important to the Poole’s economy and was worth an estimated £158 million in 2002. Poole's Harbour, Quay, Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery is a pottery manufacturer, originally based in Poole, Dorset, England. The company was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations away from the quay in 1999. Production continued at the new site in Sopers Lane...
and the beaches are some of the main attractions for visitors. Visitor accommodation consists of hotels, guest houses and bed and breakfast
Bed and breakfast
A bed and breakfast is a small lodging establishment that offers overnight accommodation and breakfast, but usually does not offer other meals. Since the 1980s, the meaning of the term has also extended to include accommodations that are also known as "self-catering" establishments...
rooms located around the town, particularly in Sandbanks and the town centre. Rockley Park, a large caravan site
RV park
A recreational vehicle park or caravan park is a place where people with recreational vehicles can stay overnight, or longer, in alloted spaces known as "pitches"...
in Hamworthy
Hamworthy
Hamworthy is a parish and inner suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. Hamworthy lies on a peninsula of approximately and is bounded by Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre...
, is owned and operated by Haven and British Holidays.
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
freight and passenger traffic. The port is a destination for bulk cargo
Bulk cargo
Bulk cargo is commodity cargo that is transported unpackaged in large quantities. This cargo is usually dropped or poured, with a spout or shovel bucket, as a liquid or as a mass of relatively small solids , into a bulk carrier ship's hold, railroad car, or tanker truck/trailer/semi-trailer body...
imports such as steel, timber, bricks, fertiliser, grain, aggregates and palletised traffic. Export cargoes include clay, sand, fragmented steel and grain. Commercial ferry operators run regular passenger and freight services from Poole to Cherbourg, St Malo and the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
. The Royal Marines
Royal Marines
The Corps of Her Majesty's Royal Marines, commonly just referred to as the Royal Marines , are the marine corps and amphibious infantry of the United Kingdom and, along with the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary, form the Naval Service...
operate out of the harbour at Royal Marines Poole
Royal Marines Poole
Royal Marines Poole is a British naval base in Poole, England and is the centre for the Royal Marines and Royal Navy amphibious and riverine activities.-History:...
, established in Hamworthy in 1954. The base is home to 1 Assault Group Royal Marines
1 Assault Group Royal Marines
1 Assault Group Royal Marines provides the Royal Marines expertise and training in small boat operations both amphibious and riverine. In addition it trains and parents the Assault Squadrons of the Royal Marines and their Landing Craft detachments...
(responsible for landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
and small boat training), a detachment of the Royal Marines Reserve
Royal Marines Reserve
The role of the Royal Marines Reserve of the United Kingdom is to support the regular Royal Marines in times of war or national crisis. The RMR consists of some 600-1000 trained ranks distributed among the five RMR Centres within the UK...
and special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
unit the Special Boat Service
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
. In 2008, 105 fishing boats were registered and licensed to the port and held a permit issued by the Southern Sea Fisheries District Committee (SSFDC) to fish commercially. It is the largest port in terms of licences in the SSFDC district which covers the coastline of Dorset, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
and the Isle of Wight
Isle of Wight
The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...
, and one of the largest registered fishing fleets in the UK. However, the fleet is gradually declining because of rising fuel costs and restrictive fishing quotas
Common Fisheries Policy
The Common Fisheries Policy is the fisheries policy of the European Union . It sets quotas for which member states are allowed to catch what amounts of each type of fish, as well as encouraging the fishing industry by various market interventions...
introduced by the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. A large number of unlicensed boats also operate charted or private angling excursions.
Landmarks
Shipping
Shipping has multiple meanings. It can be a physical process of transporting commodities and merchandise goods and cargo, by land, air, and sea. It also can describe the movement of objects by ship.Land or "ground" shipping can be by train or by truck...
, all port activities moved to Hamworthy
Hamworthy
Hamworthy is a parish and inner suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. Hamworthy lies on a peninsula of approximately and is bounded by Upton to the north, Poole Harbour to the west and Holes Bay to the east. Poole Bridge, the southern terminus of the A350 road, connects the suburb with the town centre...
in the 1970s as the Quay became increasingly popular with tourists. The Grade II* listed Customs House on the quay-front was built in 1814 and now functions as a restaurant and bar. Nearby the Grade I listed Town Cellars, a medieval warehouse built in the 15th century on the foundations of a 14th century stone building, houses a local history
Local history
Local history is the study of history in a geographically local context and it often concentrates on the local community. It incorporates cultural and social aspects of history...
centre. Scaplen's Court, another Grade I listed building, also dates from the medieval era. The Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery is a pottery manufacturer, originally based in Poole, Dorset, England. The company was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations away from the quay in 1999. Production continued at the new site in Sopers Lane...
production factory once stood on the eastern end of the Quay but the site was redeveloped into a luxury apartment block
Tower block
A tower block, high-rise, apartment tower, office tower, apartment block, or block of flats, is a tall building or structure used as a residential and/or office building...
and marina
Marina
A marina is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats.A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships or cargo from freighters....
in 2001, although an outlet store
Outlet store
An outlet store or factory outlet is a brick and mortar or online retail store in which manufacturers sell their stock directly to the public. Traditionally, a factory outlet was a store attached to a factory or warehouse, sometimes allowing customers to watch the production process like in the...
remains on the site. Boats regularly depart from the quay during the summer and provide cruises around the harbour and to Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole...
, the River Frome
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
and Swanage
Swanage
Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is situated at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck, approximately 10 km south of Poole and 40 km east of Dorchester. The parish has a population of 10,124 . Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks,...
. Public artworks along the Quay include Sea Music – a large metal sculpture designed by Sir Anthony Caro, and a life-size bronze sculpture of Robert Baden-Powell created to celebrate the founding of the Scout Movement
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
on Brownsea Island. At the western end of the quay near the mouth of Holes Bay is Poole Bridge
Poole Bridge
Poole Bridge is a bascule bridge in Poole, Dorset, England. Constructed in 1927, the bridge provides a road link across a busy boating channel.-Location:...
. Built in 1927, it is the third bridge to be located on the site since 1834.
Poole's Guildhall has played a varied part in the history of the town. A Grade II* listed building, the Guildhall was built in 1761 at a cost of £2,250. The new building included an open market house
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
on the ground floor and a courtroom and offices for the town council on the first floor and has also been used as a Court of Record
Court of record
In common law jurisdictions, a court of record is a judicial tribunal having attributes and exercising functions independently of the person of the magistrate designated generally to hold it, and proceeding according to the course of common law, its acts and proceedings being enrolled for a...
, Magistrates' Court
Magistrates' Court
A magistrates' court or court of petty sessions, formerly known as a police court, is the lowest level of court in England and Wales and many other common law jurisdictions...
, Court of Admiralty
Admiralty court
Admiralty courts, also known as maritime courts, are courts exercising jurisdiction over all maritime contracts, torts, injuries and offences.- Admiralty Courts in England and Wales :...
and a venue for Quarter Sessions
Quarter Sessions
The Courts of Quarter Sessions or Quarter Sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the United Kingdom and other countries in the former British Empire...
. Between 1819 and 1821 the building was consecrated as a Parish Church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
while the old St. James Church
St James' Church, Poole
St James is a Church of England parish church in Poole on the south coast of England, in the ceremonial county of Dorset.The church is located in the historic quarter of the town, near Poole Quay. It is the parish church for the St James sub district of Poole. R. Mason is the current minister of...
was pulled down and replaced with the present church. During the Second World War the building was used as a canteen and meeting room for American soldiers prior to the invasion of France
Operation Overlord
Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings...
. The showers and washing facilities installed at this time were later converted into public baths
Public bathing
Public baths originated from a communal need for cleanliness. The term public may confuse some people, as some types of public baths are restricted depending on membership, gender, religious affiliation, or other reasons. As societies have changed, public baths have been replaced as private bathing...
which were used until the 1960s. The building was converted for use as the town museum between 1971 and 1991 but stood empty for the next 16 years. After a renovation project funded by Poole Borough Council, the restored Guildhall opened in June 2007 as a Register Office
Register office
A register office is a British term for a civil registry, a government office and depository where births, deaths and marriages are officially recorded and where you can get officially married, without a religious ceremony...
for weddings, civil partnerships and other civic ceremonies.
Urban park
An urban park, is also known as a municipal park or a public park, public open space or municipal gardens , is a park in cities and other incorporated places to offer recreation and green space to residents of, and visitors to, the municipality...
s – the largest is Poole Park
Poole Park
Poole Park is an urban park adjacent to Poole Harbour in Poole, Dorset, England. The park was opened during the Victorian era and has remained popular with visitors ever since. It is open all year round and hosts a number of events.-History:...
adjacent to Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
and the town centre. It opened in 1890 and is one of two Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
parks in Poole. Designated a Conservation Area
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
in 1995 and awarded a Green Flag
Green Flag Award
The Green Flag Award is the benchmark national standard for parks and green spaces in the United Kingdom. The scheme was set up in 1996 to recognise and reward green spaces in England and Wales that met the laid down high standards...
in 2008, the park comprises 44.3 hectares (109.5 acre) of which 24 hectares (59.3 acre) include the park's man-made lake and ponds. The park contains two children's play areas, a miniature railway
Ridable miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway is a ground-level, large scale model railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are models of full-sized railway locomotives .-Overview:Typically they have a rail track gauge between and , though both larger and...
, tennis courts, a bowling green
Bowling green
A bowling green is a finely-laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of lawn for playing the game of lawn bowls.Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep on them...
, a miniature golf
Miniature golf
Miniature golf, or minigolf, is a miniature version of the sport of golf. While the international sports organization World Minigolf Sport Federation prefers to use the name "minigolf", the general public in different countries has also many other names for the game: miniature golf, mini-golf,...
course, an Italian restaurant and an indoor ice rink for children. A cricket field
Cricket field
A cricket field consists of a large circular or oval-shaped grassy ground on which the game of cricket is played. There are no fixed dimensions for the field but its diameter usually varies between 450 feet to 500 feet...
and pavilion at the eastern end are home to Poole Town Cricket Club and water sport activities such as sailing, windsurfing, kayaking and rowing take place on the large lake. A war memorial
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
stands in the centre of the park as a monument to Poole citizens killed during the First and Second World Wars. The park hosts several road races
Road running
Road running is the sport of running on a measured course over an established road . These events would be classified as long distance according to athletics terminology, with distances typically ranging from 5 kilometers to 42.2 kilometers in the marathon. They may involve large numbers of runners...
such as the Race for Life
Race for Life
Race for Life is a series of fundraising events organised by the British charity, Cancer Research UK. They involve running, jogging or walking a 5-kilometre course and raising sponsorship for doing so. The money raised is donated to the charity to fund cancer research and campaigns...
and the annual Poole Festival of Running.
Poole's sandy beach
Beach
A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...
es are a popular tourist destination extending 4.8 kilometres (3 mi) along Poole Bay
Poole Bay
Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, off the coast of Dorset in southern England, which runs from the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west to Hengistbury Head in the east. It consists of steep sandstone cliffs and several 'chines' that allow easy access to the sandy beaches below...
from the Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
peninsular to Branksome Dene Chine at the border with Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
. The beaches are divided into four areas: Sandbanks, Shore Road, Canford Cliffs Chine and Branksome Chine. Poole's beaches have been awarded the European Blue Flag
Blue Flag beach
The Blue Flag is a certification by the Foundation for Environmental Education that a beach or marina meets its stringent standards.The Blue Flag is a trademark owned by FEE which is a not-for-profit, non-governmental organisation consisting of 65 organisations in 60 member countries in Europe,...
for cleanliness and safety 21 times since 1987, more than any other British seaside resort and in 2000 the Tidy Britain Group
Keep Britain Tidy
Keep Britain Tidy is a British campaign run by the Keep Britain Tidy environmental charity, which is part funded by the UK government. The majority of their campaigning is around the issue of litter. They have been using "Keep Britain Tidy" as their slogan for almost fifty years...
resort survey rated Poole's beaches among the top five in the country. Along the seafront there are seaside cafés, restaurants, beach huts and numerous water-sports facilities. Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
Beach Rescue lifeguards patrol the coastline in the busy summer season between May and September.
Religious sites
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
Diocese of Salisbury
Diocese of Salisbury
The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England. The diocese covers Dorset and most of Wiltshire and is a constituent diocese of the Province of Canterbury. The diocese is led by the Bishop of Salisbury and the diocesan synod...
and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth. Poole has many sites of Christian worship
Christian Church
The Christian Church is the assembly or association of followers of Jesus Christ. The Greek term ἐκκλησία that in its appearances in the New Testament is usually translated as "church" basically means "assembly"...
including five Grade II* and five Grade II listed churches, but no notable sites of worship for any other major religious groups
Major religious groups
The world's principal religions and spiritual traditions may be classified into a small number of major groups, although this is by no means a uniform practice...
. The Grade II* St James' Church
St James' Church, Poole
St James is a Church of England parish church in Poole on the south coast of England, in the ceremonial county of Dorset.The church is located in the historic quarter of the town, near Poole Quay. It is the parish church for the St James sub district of Poole. R. Mason is the current minister of...
is a simplified Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival architecture
The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...
style Church of England parish church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
in the Old Town which was rebuilt in 1820. The previous church on the site was first mentioned in documents from 1142 and had been extensively rebuilt in the 16th century, but in 1819 it was deemed structurally unsafe by a surveyors report. The United Reformed Church
United Reformed Church
The United Reformed Church is a Christian church in the United Kingdom. It has approximately 68,000 members in 1,500 congregations with some 700 ministers.-Origins and history:...
hall, also in the town centre, is a Grade II* building built in 1777. The other Grade II* churches are: St. Peters Parish Church in Parkstone
Parkstone
Parkstone is an area of Poole, Dorset. It is divided into 'Lower' and 'Upper' Parkstone. Upper Parkstone - "Up-on-'ill" as it used to be known in local parlance - is so-called because it is largely on higher ground slightly to the north of the lower-lying area of Lower Parkstone - "The Village" -...
which was first built in 1833 and replaced in 1876; St. Osmunds Church, also in Parkstone, is a Byzantine
Byzantine architecture
Byzantine architecture is the architecture of the Byzantine Empire. The empire gradually emerged as a distinct artistic and cultural entity from what is today referred to as the Roman Empire after AD 330, when the Roman Emperor Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire east from Rome to...
style building, formerly an Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
church it became a Romanian Orthodox Church
Romanian Orthodox Church
The Romanian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church. It is in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox churches, and is ranked seventh in order of precedence. The Primate of the church has the title of Patriarch...
in 2005; and the Parish Church
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative region, known as a parish.-Parishes in England:...
of St. Aldhelm in Branksome
Branksome, Dorset
Branksome is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, England. The area consists of mainly residential properties but also has a small commercial area. It borders Parkstone, another small Poole suburb, to the west and north, Branksome Park to the south and Westbourne to the east.Until the early part of the...
, built by the architects Bodley
George Frederick Bodley
George Frederick Bodley was an English architect working in the Gothic revival style.-Personal life:Bodley was the youngest son of William Hulme Bodley, M.D. of Edinburgh, physician at Hull Royal Infirmary, Kingston upon Hull, who in 1838 retired to his wife's home town, Brighton, Sussex, England....
and Garner
Thomas Garner
Thomas Garner was one of the leading English Gothic revival architects of the Victorian era. His name is usually mentioned in relation to his almost 30-year partnership with George Frederick Bodley...
in 1892 in the Gothic Revival style.
Sport and recreation
Poole HarbourPoole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
and Poole Bay
Poole Bay
Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, off the coast of Dorset in southern England, which runs from the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west to Hengistbury Head in the east. It consists of steep sandstone cliffs and several 'chines' that allow easy access to the sandy beaches below...
are popular areas for a number of recreational pursuits, including sailing
Sailing
Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centre board, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the boat relative to its surrounding medium and...
, windsurfing
Windsurfing
Windsurfing or sailboarding is a surface water sport that combines elements of surfing and sailing. It consists of a board usually two to four metres long, powered by the orthogonal effect of the wind on a sail. The rig is connected to the board by a free-rotating universal joint and comprises a...
, surfing
Surfing
Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...
, kitesurfing
Kitesurfing
Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...
and water skiing
Water skiing
thumb|right|A slalom skier making a turn on a slalom waterski.Waterskiing is a sport where an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation on a body of water, skimming the surface.-History:...
. The harbour's large areas of sheltered waters attract windsurfers, particularly around the northern and eastern shores. Water skiing takes place in the harbour in a special designated area known as the Wareham Channel. The waters around the harbour, Poole Bay and Studland Bay are also popular for recreational angling and diving.
Poole's wide and sandy beaches are used for swimming, sunbathing, water sports and sailing. The beaches at Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
are often used for sporting events such as the Sandbanks Beach Volleyball
Beach volleyball
Beach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
Festival, and the annual British Beach Polo
Beach polo
Beach Polo is a team sport and close variant of arena polo. A game of beach polo consists of two three-player teams as opposed to the usual four-player teams in field polo. A game consists of four seven minute periods of play, called chukkers. The game is played in an enclosed sand arena with...
Championship.
Poole Harbour is one of the largest centres for sailing in the UK with yacht clubs including Lilliput Sailing Club, Parkstone Yacht Club and Poole Yacht Club. Parkstone Yacht Club hosted the OK Dinghy
OK (dinghy)
-History:In 1957 Axel Dangaard Olsen of Seattle, U.S.A., asked the Danish yacht designer Knud Olsen to prepare drawings for a light and fast single-handed sailing dinghy based on conventional plywood construction. The resulting design was named the O.K., using Knud Olsen's initials in reverse.The...
World Championships in 2004, the J/24
J/24
The J/24 is an International One-Design keelboat class as defined by the International Sailing Federation. The J/24 is a one design class created to fulfill the diverse needs of recreational sailors such as cruising, one design racing, day sailing and handicap racing.The J/24 is the world's most...
National Championships in 2006 and the J/24 European Championships in 2007, and are the organisers of Youth Week and Poole Week – two of the largest annual dinghy regatta
Regatta
A regatta is a series of boat races. The term typically describes racing events of rowed or sailed water craft, although some powerboat race series are also called regattas...
s of their type in the country.
Poole Town F.C.
Poole Town F.C. is a football club based in Poole, England. They were established in 1890 and joined the Western League Division Two in 1930. They won the Western League title in 1957 and reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup four times in their history. They are currently members of the...
, a semi-professional
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
team who play in the Southern Football League
Southern Football League
The Southern League is an English football competition featuring semi-professional and amateur clubs from the South West, South Central and Midlands of England and South Wales...
Division One South & West – the eighth tier of the English football league system
English football league system
The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for association football clubs in England, with six teams from Wales also competing...
. Established in 1880, the team has had erratic success at their level; they have never risen above non-League
Non-league football
Non-League football is football in England played at a level below that of the Premier League and The Football League. The term non-League was commonly used well before 1992 when the top football clubs in England all belonged to The Football League; all clubs who were not a part of The Football...
levels but once reached the third round of the FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...
. They played at Poole Stadium
Poole Stadium
Poole Stadium is a greyhound racing venue and speedway track located in the town centre of Poole, Dorset in England. The stadium is owned by the Borough of Poole. It was built in the early 1930s in an attempt to provide a source of entertainment to the residents of Poole during the Great Depression...
until 1994 and have since settled at Tatnam Farm, sharing the school playing field with Oakdale South Road Middle School
Oakdale South Road Middle School
Oakdale South Road Middle School is a middle school for 8–12 year-olds in Poole, Dorset, attended by 540 pupils.The school was opened in 1997 after the amalgamation of Oakdale Middle School and South Road Combined School . It was originally intended to be named Tatnam Farm Middle School...
. Poole's other football teams are Hamworthy United, who formed in 1970 and also play in the Wessex Premier League, and amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
team Poole Borough F.C. who play in the Dorset Premier League. Poole is one of the largest towns in England without a professional football team.
Poole's motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway
Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. Speedway motorcycles use only one gear and have no brakes and racing takes place on a flat oval track usually...
team, the Poole Pirates
Poole Pirates
Poole Pirates are a motorcycle speedway team based in Poole, England, competing in the British Elite League...
, were established and began racing at Poole Stadium in 1948 in the National League Division Three
Speedway National League Division Three
The National League Division Three was the third division of Speedway in the United Kingdom. The league was created as a third tier in 1947 but ran for only 5 years. In 1952 it was replaced by more regional leagues such as the Southern League.-References:...
. The team now races in the top tier of league racing (the Elite League
Speedway Elite League
The Elite League is the top division of Speedway league competition in the United Kingdom and is governed by the Speedway Control Bureau , in conjunction with the British Speedway Promoters' Association . It is sponsored by Sky Sports...
) which they last won in 2008
2008 Speedway Elite League
The 2008 Elite League is the 12th since its establishment in 1997. The first fixtures of the season took place on 29 March and the season ended on 27 October...
. Poole Stadium is also a venue for greyhound racing
Greyhound racing
Greyhound racing is the sport of racing greyhounds. The dogs chase a lure on a track until they arrive at the finish line. The one that arrives first is the winner....
; race nights occur three days a week throughout the year.
Culture
The 'Beating of the Bounds' is an ancient annual custom first carried out in 1612, which revives the traditional checking of the sea boundaries awarded to Poole by the Cinque PortCinque Ports
The Confederation of Cinque Ports is a historic series of coastal towns in Kent and Sussex. It was originally formed for military and trade purposes, but is now entirely ceremonial. It lies at the eastern end of the English Channel, where the crossing to the continent is narrowest...
of Winchelsea
Winchelsea
Winchelsea is a small village in East Sussex, England, located between the High Weald and the Romney Marsh, approximately two miles south west of Rye and seven miles north east of Hastings...
in 1364. The Admiral of the Port of Poole (the mayor) and other dignitaries, and members of the public sail from the mouth of the River Frome
River Frome, Dorset
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham.-Geography:...
to Old Harry Rocks
Old Harry Rocks
The Old Harry Rocks are two chalk sea stacks located at Handfast Point, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, southern England.- Location :Old Harry Rocks lie directly east of Studland, about 4 kilometres northeast of Swanage, and about 10 kilometres south of the large towns of Poole and...
to confirm the Mayor's authority over the water boundaries of the harbour and check for any encroachments. As there are no physical landmarks that can be beaten at sea, traditionally children from Poole were encouraged to remember the bounds of their town by taking part in the 'Pins and Points' ceremony involving the beating of a boy and pricking of a girl's hand with a needle. In modern times, the acts have been symbolically carried out.
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
. The event features the UK windsurfing freestyle final, the second round of the British kiteboarding
Kitesurfing
Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...
championships and other amateur competitions and demonstration events. First held in 1998, the festival attracts approximately 10,000 people each year. Poole's Summertime in the South is an annual programme providing various events on Poole Quay and Sandbanks from May until September. During June and July, live music, street entertainment and a large firework display take place on Poole Quay every Thursday evening. In August, the entertainment moves to the beaches at Sandbanks.
Poole's Lighthouse
The Lighthouse (Poole)
The Lighthouse is an arts centre in Poole, Dorset, England. According to the Arts council of England it is the largest arts centre in the United Kingdom outside London....
is the largest arts centre
Arts centre
An art centre or arts center is distinct from an art gallery or art museum. An arts centre is a functional community centre with a specific remit to encourage arts practice and to provide facilities such as theatre space, gallery space, venues for musical performance, workshop areas, educational...
complex in the United Kingdom outside London. Built in 1978, the centre contains a cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
, concert hall, studio
Studio
A studio is an artist's or worker's workroom, or the catchall term for an artist and his or her employees who work within that studio. This can be for the purpose of architecture, painting, pottery , sculpture, scrapbooking, photography, graphic design, filmmaking, animation, radio or television...
, theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
, image lab and media suite and galleries featuring exhibitions of contemporary photography and modern digital art
Digital art
Digital art is a general term for a range of artistic works and practices that use digital technology as an essential part of the creative and/or presentation process...
. The venue underwent an £8.5 million refurbishment in 2002, paid for by the Arts Council England
Arts Council England
Arts Council England was formed in 1994 when the Arts Council of Great Britain was divided into three separate bodies for England, Scotland and Wales. It is a non-departmental public body of the Department of Culture, Media and Sport...
, the Borough of Poole and private donations. The centre's concert hall has been the residence of the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra
The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra is an English orchestra. Originally based in Bournemouth, the BSO moved its offices to the adjacent town of Poole in 1979....
's main concert series since their former base at the Bournemouth Winter Gardens closed in 1985. Situated in the centre of the Old Town, Poole Museum
Poole Museum
Poole Museum is a local history museum situated on the Lower High Street in the Old Town area of Poole, Dorset, and is part of the Borough of Poole Museum Service. Entrance to Poole Museum is free.-History:...
illustrates the story of the area and its people and the collections reflect the cultural, social and industrial history of Poole. Displays include the Poole Logboat
Poole Logboat
The Poole Logboat is an ancient logboat made from a single oak tree. It was excavated in the town of Poole, Dorset, England. The boat is over 2,200 years old and is estimated through carbon dating to have been constructed around 300–200 BCE. The Iron Age vessel was unearthed in 1964 during dredging...
and a detailed history of Poole from the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
to the present day. The museum has a floor devoted to the history of Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery
Poole Pottery is a pottery manufacturer, originally based in Poole, Dorset, England. The company was founded in 1873 on Poole quayside, where it continued to produce pottery by hand before moving its factory operations away from the quay in 1999. Production continued at the new site in Sopers Lane...
and some of the company's products are on display. Entrance to the museum is free.
Transport
Poole Bridge
Poole Bridge is a bascule bridge in Poole, Dorset, England. Constructed in 1927, the bridge provides a road link across a busy boating channel.-Location:...
along Holes Bay and on to the A35
A35 road
The A35 is a trunk road in southern England, running from Honiton in Devon, that then passes through Dorset and terminates in Southampton, Hampshire...
, and as a single carriageway
Single carriageway
A single carriageway is a road with 1, 2 or more lanes arranged within a single carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. Two-lane road or two-lane highway are single carriageway with one lane for each direction...
to Bath and Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
. To the east, the A337 road leads to Lymington
Lymington
Lymington is a port on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest district of Hampshire, England. It is to the east of the South East Dorset conurbation, and faces Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight which is connected to it by a car ferry, operated by Wightlink. The town...
and the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
. The A35 trunk road
Trunk road
A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, and other things.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...
runs from Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
to Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
and connects to the A31
A31 road
The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset.-Route of road:The road begins in the centre of Guildford, meeting the A3 road before running south west along the Hog's Back. It continues past Farnham, Alton and New Alresford before...
on the outskirts of the town. The A31, the major trunk road in central southern England, connects to the M27 motorway
M27 motorway
The M27 is a motorway in Hampshire, England. It is long and runs west-east from Cadnam to Portsmouth. It was opened in stages between 1975 and 1983. It is however unfinished as an extension to the east was planned...
at Southampton. From here the M3 motorway leads to London, and fast access may also be gained via the A34 to the M4
M4 motorway
The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...
north of Newbury
Newbury, Berkshire
Newbury is a civil parish and the principal town in the west of the county of Berkshire in England. It is situated on the River Kennet and the Kennet and Avon Canal, and has a town centre containing many 17th century buildings. Newbury is best known for its racecourse and the adjoining former USAF...
. A second bridge is being built to connect Poole and Hamworthy as the existing bridge
Poole Bridge
Poole Bridge is a bascule bridge in Poole, Dorset, England. Constructed in 1927, the bridge provides a road link across a busy boating channel.-Location:...
is unsuitable for the traffic flow. The £34 million project was given approval by the Department for Transport
Department for Transport
In the United Kingdom, the Department for Transport is the government department responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland which are not devolved...
in 2006 but construction was initially held up due to a stalemate between the council and the land owners and delays by the Department for Transport in approving a £14 million grant. After negotiations between the council and the land owners were settled in August 2009 and the government grant was provided in March 2010, construction began in May 2010 with completion due by early 2012. A road link to Studland
Studland
Studland is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is famous for its beaches and nature reserve. In 2001 Studland had a population of 480, the lowest in 50 years...
and the Isle of Purbeck
Isle of Purbeck
The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well...
across the narrow entrance of Poole Harbour is provided by the Sandbanks Ferry
Sandbanks Ferry
Sandbanks Ferry is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the entrance of Poole Harbour in the English county of Dorset. The route runs from Sandbanks to Studland and in doing so connects the coastal parts of the towns of Bournemouth and Poole with Swanage and the Isle of Purbeck...
.
Local bus services are run by Wilts & Dorset
Wilts & Dorset
Wilts & Dorset is a bus company in England covering Poole, Bournemouth, East Dorset, South Wiltshire and West Hampshire. Its local headquarters is in Poole, but it is owned by the Go-Ahead Group, a major UK transport group....
who are based at the town’s bus station and have served Poole since 1983. Wilts & Dorset operate networks across Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Salisbury
Salisbury
Salisbury is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England and the only city in the county. It is the second largest settlement in the county...
, in addition to operations on the Isle of Purbeck
Isle of Purbeck
The Isle of Purbeck, not a true island but a peninsula, is in the county of Dorset, England. It is bordered by the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the north. Its western boundary is less well...
and the New Forest
New Forest
The New Forest is an area of southern England which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and forest in the heavily-populated south east of England. It covers south-west Hampshire and extends into south-east Wiltshire....
. Other services are run by Bournemouth based Transdev Yellow Buses
Transdev Yellow Buses
Yellow Buses is a bus operator based in Bournemouth, on the south coast of England, owned by the RATP Group, a company owned by the government of France. Although most routes are restricted to the Bournemouth local authority area, an increasing number are expanding into the adjacent areas of...
, Roadliner, Shamrock Buses
Shamrock Buses
Shamrock Buses was a bus operator based in Poole on the south coast of England. It operated many contracted routes in Poole, Bournemouth and the surrounding area...
and Damory Coaches
Damory Coaches
Damory Coaches is a bus and coach operator based in Blandford Forum in Dorset, England. Officially registered as Hants & Dorset Motor Services Limited, Damory Coaches is a subsidiary of Wilts & Dorset, which is itself part of the much larger Go-Ahead Group...
. Poole is connected to towns and villages along the Jurassic Coast
Jurassic Coast
The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. The site stretches from Orcombe Point near Exmouth in East Devon to Old Harry Rocks near Swanage in East Dorset, a distance of ....
by the First X53 service, which runs along a route of 142 kilometres (88.2 mi) to Weymouth, Bridport
Bridport
Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
, Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis
Lyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
, Seaton
Seaton, Devon
Seaton is a seaside town in East Devon on the south coast of England. It faces onto Lyme Bay, to the west of the mouth of the River Axe with red cliffs to one side and white cliffs on the other. Axmouth and Beer are nearby...
and Exeter
Exeter
Exeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
. Poole bus station is the terminus of National Express Coaches which have frequent departures to London Victoria Coach Station
Victoria Coach Station
Victoria Coach Station is the largest and most significant coach station in London. It serves long distance coach services and is also the departure point for many countryside coach tours originating from London. It should not be confused with the nearby Green Line Coach Station serving Green Line...
. There are also direct services to the West Country
West Country
The West Country is an informal term for the area of south western England roughly corresponding to the modern South West England government region. It is often defined to encompass the historic counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset and Somerset and the City of Bristol, while the counties of...
, the Sussex
Sussex
Sussex , from the Old English Sūþsēaxe , is an historic county in South East England corresponding roughly in area to the ancient Kingdom of Sussex. It is bounded on the north by Surrey, east by Kent, south by the English Channel, and west by Hampshire, and is divided for local government into West...
coast, Bristol, Birmingham, the Midlands
English Midlands
The Midlands, or the English Midlands, is the traditional name for the area comprising central England that broadly corresponds to the early medieval Kingdom of Mercia. It borders Southern England, Northern England, East Anglia and Wales. Its largest city is Birmingham, and it was an important...
, the North West
North West England
North West England, informally known as The North West, is one of the nine official regions of England.North West England had a 2006 estimated population of 6,853,201 the third most populated region after London and the South East...
, Edinburgh and Glasgow. The National Express Flightlink service serves Heathrow Airport and connects to Gatwick and Stansted Airport
London Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
.
South Western Main Line
The South Western Main Line is a railway line between London Waterloo and Weymouth on the Dorset coast, in the south of England. It is a major railway which serves many important commuter areas, as well as the major settlements of Southampton and Bournemouth...
from London Waterloo to Weymouth. These are – from east to west – Branksome
Branksome railway station
Branksome railway station is a railway station serving the Branksome and Branksome Park areas of Poole in Dorset, England. It is located on the South Western Main Line from London Waterloo to Weymouth.-History:...
near the border with Bournemouth, Parkstone
Parkstone railway station
Parkstone railway station is a railway station serving the Parkstone area of Poole in Dorset. The platform sign used to say "Parkstone "....
, Poole railway station
Poole railway station
thumb|right|Down stopping train in 1958Poole railway station is a railway station on the South Western Main Line serving the town of Poole in Dorset, England. The station is situated in the town centre next to Holes Bay...
in the town centre and Hamworthy
Hamworthy railway station
Hamworthy railway station serves Hamworthy, an area of Poole in Dorset.-History:The station opened with the Southampton & Dorchester Railway, which later became part of the London and South Western Railway , in 1847 as Poole Junction...
. Services to Waterloo are operated by South West Trains
South West Trains
South West Trains is a British train operating company providing, under franchise, passenger rail services, mostly out of Waterloo station, to the southwest of London in the suburbs and in the counties of Surrey, Hampshire, Dorset, Devon, Somerset, Berkshire, and Wiltshire and on the Isle of Wight...
and depart from Poole station every half an hour, express services depart every hour. Plans for a £50 million redevelopment of Poole railway station have stalled since 2006 due to contractual issues between land owners Network Rail
Network Rail
Network Rail is the government-created owner and operator of most of the rail infrastructure in Great Britain .; it is not responsible for railway infrastructure in Northern Ireland...
and developers the Kier Group
Kier Group
Kier Group plc is a construction, services and property group active in building and civil engineering, support services, public and private housebuilding, land development and the Private Finance Initiative...
.
Poole is a cross-Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
port for passengers and freight with up to seven sailings a day in the summer season. Ferry services from Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour
Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being the Frome. The harbour has a long history of human settlement...
to Cherbourg are provided by Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
who operate two ferries from Poole: the Normandie Vitesse and the Cotentin
MV Cotentin
M/V Cotentin is a freight ferry operated by Brittany Ferries and built by Aker Finnyards in Finland. Cotentin is named after the Cotentin Peninsula of France of which Cherbourg is its largest town. Cotentin was also the name of one of the original Truckline vessels to sail between Poole and...
. The Normandie Vitesse provides a high-speed daily passenger service to Cherbourg between May and September; the Cotentin freight ship covers the Poole-Cherbourg route year-round and runs a weekend service between Poole and Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
, Spain. The Condor Ferries
Condor Ferries
Condor Ferries is an operator of ferry services between mainland England and the Channel Islands, between England and France, and between France and the Channel Islands.-Recent history:...
catamarans Condor Express
HSC Condor Express
The HSC Condor Express is a 86m fast catamaran ferry that runs between the UK and the Channel Islands. It is operated by Condor Ferries.-History:...
and Condor Vitesse
HSC Condor Vitesse
The HSC Condor Vitesse is a 86m fast catamaran ferry operated by Condor Ferries.-History:Condor Vitesse was built in 1997 at the Incat Yards in Tasmania, Australia as Incat 044 but was not ordered by any ferry company. She was sent to Europe and arrived in July 1997 at Portland and was later moved...
run seasonal services to Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, Jersey
Jersey
Jersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
and St. Malo, Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
. Bournemouth International Airport
Bournemouth Airport
Bournemouth Airport is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England...
in Hurn
Hurn
Hurn is a village in southeast Dorset, England, between the River Stour and River Avon in the borough of Christchurch, five miles north east of the Bournemouth town centre. As of 2001, the village has a population of 468. The village is the location of Bournemouth Airport , an important airfield...
, on the periphery of Bournemouth, is the nearest airport to Poole – 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) from Poole town centre. Ryanair
Ryanair
Ryanair is an Irish low-cost airline. Its head office is at Dublin Airport and its primary operational bases at Dublin Airport and London Stansted Airport....
, easyJet
EasyJet
EasyJet Airline Company Limited is a British airline headquartered at London Luton Airport. It carries more passengers than any other United Kingdom-based airline, operating domestic and international scheduled services on 500 routes between 118 European, North African, and West Asian airports...
, Thomson Airways
Thomson Airways
Thomson Airways is the world's largest charter airline, offering scheduled and charter flights from the UK to destinations across Europe, Africa, Asia and North America. The company commenced operations on 1 November 2008, following the merger and subsequent re-branding of Thomsonfly and First...
and Palmair
Palmair
Palmair was a British tour operator with its head office in the Space House in Bournemouth, United Kingdom. Palmair offered charter and scheduled flights on behalf of Bath Travel. Its main base was Bournemouth Airport...
operate from the airport and provide scheduled services to destinations in the UK and Europe.
Education
Poole has sixteen first schoolFirst School
First school and lower school are terms used in some areas of the United Kingdom to describe the first stage of primary education. Some English Local Education Authorities have introduced First Schools since the 1960s...
s, eight middle schools, seven combined school
Combined school
Combined School is a term used in the United Kingdom which has begun to lose its original meaning.When, in 1967, the Plowden Report recommended a change in the structure of primary education in England, it proposed an arrangement of first and middle schools, catering for pupils aged 4–8 and 8-12...
s, eight secondary
Secondary school
Secondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
and grammar schools, five special schools, two independent schools
Independent school (UK)
An independent school is a school that is not financed through the taxation system by local or national government and is instead funded by private sources, predominantly in the form of tuition charges, gifts and long-term charitable endowments, and so is not subject to the conditions imposed by...
and one college of further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
. Canford School
Canford School
Canford School is a coeducational independent school for both day and boarding pupils, in the village of Canford Magna, near to the market town of Wimborne Minster in Dorset, in South West England. The school was founded in 1923. There are approximately 600 pupils at Canford, organised into houses...
is an independent boarding school
Boarding school
A boarding school is a school where some or all pupils study and live during the school year with their fellow students and possibly teachers and/or administrators. The word 'boarding' is used in the sense of "bed and board," i.e., lodging and meals...
administered by Poole local education authority
Local Education Authority
A local education authority is a local authority in England and Wales that has responsibility for education within its jurisdiction...
. Poole’s two grammar schools maintain a selective education system, assessed by the Twelve plus exam. Poole High School
Poole High School
Poole High School is a mixed gender high school and sixth form for 12-18 year olds located in the centre of Poole, Dorset on the South Coast of England...
is the largest secondary school in Poole with 1,660 pupils. The Bournemouth and Poole College
Bournemouth and Poole College
The Bournemouth and Poole College is a further education establishment based in Bournemouth and Poole on the south coast of England. It is one of the larger UK colleges catering for an average of 24,000 learners each year, and it is a member of the 157 Group of high performing schools.- Courses...
attracts over 16,000 students a year and is one of the largest further education colleges in the country and the leading provider of academic and vocational education in Dorset. It has two centrally located main campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
es in Poole and Bournemouth. In 2008, the college announced plans to refurbish and redevelop its campuses at an estimated cost of £120 million. However, the project stalled in 2009 when the Learning and Skills Council
Learning and Skills Council
The Learning and Skills Council was a non-departmental public body jointly sponsored by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Department for Children, Schools and Families in England...
, which had promised to provide 80% of the money, ran out of funds.
From the 2007 General Certificate of Secondary Education
General Certificate of Secondary Education
The General Certificate of Secondary Education is an academic qualification awarded in a specified subject, generally taken in a number of subjects by students aged 14–16 in secondary education in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and is equivalent to a Level 2 and Level 1 in Key Skills...
(GCSE) results, Poole was ranked 18th out of 148 local authorities in England based on the percentage of pupils attaining at least five A* to C grades at GCSE level including maths and English (54.5% compared with the national average of 46.8%). Parkstone Grammar School
Parkstone Grammar School
Parkstone Grammar School is a selective, all girls state-school in Poole, on the southern coast of England.-Admissions:...
was the most successful secondary school in Poole for GCSE results in 2007: 100% of pupils gained five or more GCSEs at A* to C grade including maths and English. Canford School also achieved 100% and Poole Grammar School
Poole Grammar School
Poole Grammar School is a selective, all boys grammar school in Poole, on the south coast of England.-Admissions:...
was the next best performing school with 98%. Poole High School achieved 39% and the worst performing school was Rossmore Community College
Rossmore Community College
St Aldhelm's Academy is a 12–18 mixed specialist school with Sports College status serving the Rossmore, Parkstone, Newtown, Wallisdown and Alderney areas of Poole, United Kingdom...
where only 19% of students achieved five or more A* to C grade results. Poole’s grammar schools were also the best performing for A-level results. Poole Grammar School was the 60th most successful school/sixth form in the country in 2007: each student achieved on average 1071.4 points compared to the national average of 731.2. Parkstone Grammar School students averaged 1017.9 points.
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University
Bournemouth University is a university in and around the large south coast town of Bournemouth, UK...
was designated as a university in 1992 and despite its name, the university’s main campus
Campus
A campus is traditionally the land on which a college or university and related institutional buildings are situated. Usually a campus includes libraries, lecture halls, residence halls and park-like settings...
(the Talbot Campus) and buildings are in Poole and smaller campus is situated in Bournemouth. Media courses are the university's strength, and recent teaching quality assessments have resulted in ratings of 'excellent' for courses in the areas of communication and media, business and management, catering and hospitality, archaeology and nursing and midwifery. The Arts University College at Bournemouth is a university-sector institution in Poole at Wallisdown
Wallisdown
Wallisdown is a residential and commercial area situated partly in Bournemouth and partly in Poole, in southern England.- Geography :Wallisdown is situated on the border between Bournemouth and Poole...
. The AUCB offers undergraduate
Undergraduate degree
An undergraduate degree is a colloquial term for an academic degree taken by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. It is usually offered at an institution of higher education, such as a university...
, foundation degree
Foundation degree
The Foundation Degree is a vocational qualification introduced by the government of the United Kingdom in September 2001, which is available in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
, postgraduate
Postgraduate education
Postgraduate education involves learning and studying for degrees or other qualifications for which a first or Bachelor's degree generally is required, and is normally considered to be part of higher education...
and further education
Further education
Further education is a term mainly used in connection with education in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is post-compulsory education , that is distinct from the education offered in universities...
courses in contemporary arts, design and media.
Public services
Home OfficeHome Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
policing in Poole is provided by the Poole and Bournemouth Division of Dorset Police
Dorset Police
Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the English county of Dorset in the south-west of England.-History:Dorset County Constabulary was formed in 1855. On 1 October 1967 it merged with Bournemouth Borough Police to form Dorset and Bournemouth Constabulary...
which has two police stations in Poole: on Wimborne Road in the town centre, and on Gravel Hill in Canford Heath
Canford Heath
Canford Heath is a suburb and area of heathland in Poole, Dorset with a population of just under 14,500.-Geography:Canford Heath has also given its name to a housing development built on the heathland during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s...
. Dorset Fire and Rescue Service
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service
Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory Fire and Rescue Service for the area of Dorset, South West England. The Service Headquarters were located in Colliton Park, Dorchester, but as of October 2008 moved to a new purpose built location in Poundbury....
provides statutory emergency fire and rescue services
Fire service in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales...
for Poole and are based at Poole Fire Station in Creekmoor
Creekmoor
Creekmoor is a large village and suburb of Poole in Dorset, England, with a population of 9,257. Bordered by the Upton Heath nature reserve and Upton Country Park, the area is mainly populated by families.-Facilities:...
which opened in 2008. The former fire station on Wimborne Road was demolished in 2008 and was replaced with a new joint fire and police divisional headquarters which opened in 2009.
Poole Hospital
Poole Hospital
Poole Hospital is an acute general hospital in Poole, Dorset, England. Built in 1907, it has expanded from a basic 14-bed facility into a 789-bed NHS foundation trust hospital...
is a large NHS Foundation Trust
NHS Foundation Trust
An NHS foundation trust is part of the National Health Service in England and has gained a degree of independence from the Department of Health and local NHS strategic health authority.Foundation Trusts are represented by the , .-Function:...
hospital in Longfleet
Longfleet
Longfleet is a small district of Poole, Dorset centred on Longfleet Road. It is situated directly north of the town centre and lies to the east of Oakdale and to the south and west of Parkstone.-History:...
with 789 beds. It opened in 1969 as Poole General Hospital, replacing Poole's Cornelia Hospital which had stood on the site since 1907. The hospital is the major trauma center
Emergency department
An emergency department , also known as accident & emergency , emergency room , emergency ward , or casualty department is a medical treatment facility specialising in acute care of patients who present without prior appointment, either by their own means or by ambulance...
for East Dorset and provides core services such as child health and maternity for a catchment area including Bournemouth and Christchurch. Specialist services such as neurological care and cancer treatment are also provided for the rest of Dorset. The South Western Ambulance Service
South Western Ambulance Service
The South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust is the authority responsible for providing ambulance services for the National Health Service in the English counties of Devon, Cornwall, Somerset and Dorset...
provides emergency patient transport.
Waste management
Waste management
Waste management is the collection, transport, processing or disposal,managing and monitoring of waste materials. The term usually relates to materials produced by human activity, and the process is generally undertaken to reduce their effect on health, the environment or aesthetics...
and recycling are co-ordinated by Poole Borough Council in partnership with Viridor Waste Management
Viridor
Viridor is a waste management company in the United Kingdom, owned by Pennon Group, a FTSE 250 based plc focused on the water and waste management industries.Viridor was formed in 1993, by purchasing companies in the landfill market...
. Locally produced inert waste
Inert waste
Inert waste is waste which is neither chemically or biologically reactive and will not decompose. Examples of this are sand, drywall, and concrete. This has particular relevance to landfills as inert waste typically requires lower disposal fees than biodegradable waste or hazardous waste....
is sent to landfill
Landfill
A landfill site , is a site for the disposal of waste materials by burial and is the oldest form of waste treatment...
for disposal. Recycle waste is taken to the recycling plant at the Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility
Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility
The Allington Quarry Waste Management Facility is an integrated waste management centre in Allington, Kent. It is the site of the Allington Energy from Waste Incinerator. The incinerator is owned by Waste Recycling Group as Kent Enviropower...
in Kent for processing. Poole's Distribution Network Operator
Distribution Network Operator
Distribution network operators are companies licensed to distribute electricity in Great Britain by the Office of Gas and Electricity Markets....
for electricity is Scottish and Southern Energy. Drinking
Drinking water
Drinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
and waste water is managed by Wessex Water
Wessex Water
Wessex Water Services Limited, known as Wessex Water, is a water supply and sewerage utility company serving an area of the south west of England, covering 10,000 square kilometres including Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, most of Wiltshire and parts of Gloucestershire and Hampshire...
; groundwater
Groundwater
Groundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of rock formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in rock...
sources in Wiltshire and Dorset provide 80% of drinking water, the rest comes from reservoir
Reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
s fed by rivers and streams.
Media
Poole has one main local newspaper, the Daily EchoBournemouth Daily Echo
The Bournemouth Daily Echo, commonly known as the Daily Echo, is a local newspaper that covers the area of south-east Dorset, England, including the towns of Poole, Bournemouth, Christchurch...
, which is owned by Newsquest
Newsquest
Newsquest is the third largest publisher of regional and local newspapers in the United Kingdom with 300 titles in its portfolio. Newsquest is based in Weybridge, Surrey and employs a total of more than 5,500 people across the UK...
. Published since 1900, the newspaper features news from Poole, Bournemouth
Bournemouth
Bournemouth is a large coastal resort town in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. According to the 2001 Census the town has a population of 163,444, making it the largest settlement in Dorset. It is also the largest settlement between Southampton and Plymouth...
and the surrounding area. Issues appear Monday through Saturday with a daily circulation
Newspaper circulation
A newspaper's circulation is the number of copies it distributes on an average day. Circulation is one of the principal factors used to set advertising rates. Circulation is not always the same as copies sold, often called paid circulation, since some newspapers are distributed without cost to the...
of 32,441. For local television, Poole is served by the BBC South
BBC South
BBC South is the BBC English Region serving West Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, western Berkshire, Oxfordshire, south east Wiltshire and the Isle of Wight.-Television:...
studios based in Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...
, and by Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting
Meridian Broadcasting is the holder of the ITV franchise for the South and South East of England. The station is owned and operated by ITV plc, under the licensee of ITV Broadcasting Limited....
(formerly Television South
Television South
Television South was the ITV franchise holder in the south and south east of England between 1 January 1982 and 31 December 1992. The company operated under various names, initially as Television South plc and then following reorganisation in 1989 as TVS Entertainment plc, with its UK...
) with studios in Fareham
Fareham
The market town of Fareham lies in the south east of Hampshire, England, between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, roughly in the centre of the South Hampshire conurbation.It gives its name to the borough comprising the town and the surrounding area...
. Radio stations broadcasting to the town include BBC Radio Solent
BBC Radio Solent
BBC Radio Solent is the BBC Local Radio service for the Isle of Wight and the English counties of Hampshire and Dorset. Its studios are located in Southampton, in the same purpose-built office block in Havelock Road as the BBC South Today news studios, and there are district offices in Portsmouth,...
, Wave 105
Wave 105
Wave 105 is a UK regional commercial radio station broadcasting across Dorset, Hampshire, the Isle of Wight and parts of West Sussex and Wiltshire. Playing a mix of adult contemporary music, it combines presenter-led shows with local news and information, entertainment guides and competitions. The...
, Heart Dorset & New Forest
Heart Dorset & New Forest
Heart Dorset was a British Independent Local Radio station, broadcast from studios at a former carpet shop on Southcote Road in Bournemouth. Its original name was derived from the fact that its broadcast area included parts of the counties of Dorset and Hampshire...
(formerly 2CR FM), Fire 107.6
Fire 107.6
Fire Radio is a United Kingdom radio station based in Bournemouth, Dorset.The station was launched on 26 June 1999 by founding Directors James Bromley and David Harber as The NRG FM 107.6, but changed name a year later following a dispute with French radio station NRJ...
and The Bay 102.8
The Bay 102.8
The Bay 102.8 is the community radio station for Poole, Bournemouth and the surrounding areas offering music and local information. The station was awarded a community radio licence by Ofcom in 2007 and began broadcasting on 8 November 2008. Community Radio stations in the UK are required to...
.
Notable people
The town has been the birthplace and home to notable people, of national and international acclaim. Former residents include British radio disc jockey Tony BlackburnTony Blackburn
Tony Blackburn is an English disc jockey, who broadcast on the "pirate" stations Radio Caroline and Radio London in the 1960s and was the first disc jockey to broadcast on BBC Radio 1 in 1967. In 2002 he was the winner of the ITV reality TV programme I'm a Celebrity.....
, the artist Augustus John
Augustus John
Augustus Edwin John OM, RA, was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a short time around 1910, he was an important exponent of Post-Impressionism in the United Kingdom....
, John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
's aunt and parental guardian Mimi Smith
Mimi Smith
Mary Elizabeth "Mimi" Smith was the maternal aunt and parental guardian of the English musician John Lennon. Mimi was born in Liverpool, England and was the oldest of five daughters. She became a resident trainee nurse at the Woolton Convalescent Hospital, and later worked as a private secretary...
, and The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings
The Lord of the Rings is a high fantasy epic written by English philologist and University of Oxford professor J. R. R. Tolkien. The story began as a sequel to Tolkien's earlier, less complex children's fantasy novel The Hobbit , but eventually developed into a much larger work. It was written in...
author J. R. R. Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...
who lived in Poole for four years during his retirement. Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace
Alfred Russel Wallace, OM, FRS was a British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist...
, the 19th century explorer, naturalist and co-founder of the theory of evolution by natural selection, moved to Poole in 1902 when he was 78 years old and is buried in Broadstone cemetery. Notable people born in Poole include Greg Lake
Greg Lake
Gregory Stuart "Greg" Lake is an English musician, songwriter and producer, best known as a vocalist and bassist of King Crimson, and the bassist, guitarist, vocalist, and lyricist of Emerson, Lake & Palmer.-1960s: King Crimson:...
of the band Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, also known as ELP, are an English progressive rock supergroup. They found success in the 1970s and sold over forty million albums and headlined large stadium concerts. The band consists of Keith Emerson , Greg Lake and Carl Palmer...
, the author John le Carré
John le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
, the writer and actor David Croft, and James Stephen, the principal lawyer associated with the British abolitionist
Abolitionism
Abolitionism is a movement to end slavery.In western Europe and the Americas abolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and set slaves free. At the behest of Dominican priest Bartolomé de las Casas who was shocked at the treatment of natives in the New World, Spain enacted the first...
movement. Edgar Wright
Edgar Wright
Edgar Howard Wright is an English film and television director and writer. He is most famous for his work with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost on the films Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, the TV series Spaced, and for directing the film Scott Pilgrim vs...
, the director of films such as Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
and Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz
Hot Fuzz is a 2007 British action dark comedy film written by Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The three had previously worked together on the 2004 film Shaun of the Dead as well as the television series Spaced...
was born in Poole and out of the five previous British winners of the Miss World
Miss World
The Miss World pageant is the oldest surviving major international beauty pageant. It was created in the United Kingdom by Eric Morley in 1951...
title, two have hailed from Poole: Ann Sydney
Ann Sydney
Ann Sidney, a native of Poole, England, won the 1964 Miss World contest, representing the United Kingdom. She became the second woman from her country to win the title; after Rosemarie Frankland had won the title in 1961....
and Sarah-Jane Hutt
Sarah-Jane Hutt
Sarah-Jane Hutt from Poole, England, was the fifth Miss United Kingdom to win the Miss World beauty contest in 1983.She refused to admit she was the most beautiful woman and some of the unhappy contestants agreed with her....
. Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Henry James "Harry" Redknapp is a former English footballer who has enjoyed a long career in football management starting in 1983 with Bournemouth. He is the current manager of Tottenham Hotspur....
, the Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....
manager, and his son Jamie Redknapp
Jamie Redknapp
Jamie Frank Redknapp is a retired English footballer who was active from 1989 until 2005. He is now a football pundit with Sky Sports, and an editorial columnist with the Daily Mail....
, a former England national football team
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...
player, have owned homes in Sandbanks
Sandbanks
Sandbanks is a small peninsula or spit crossing the mouth of Poole Harbour on the English Channel coast at Poole in Dorset, England. It is well-known for the highly regarded Sandbanks Beach and property value; Sandbanks has, by area, the fourth highest land value in the world...
.
See also
- Compton Acres (garden)Compton Acres (garden)Compton Acres is a large privately-owned garden in Poole, Dorset, England. It was founded in 1920 by Thomas William Simpson, an entrepreneur who had become wealthy through the manufacture of margarine...
- List of Dorset Beaches
- List of places in Dorset
- UK coastlineUK coastlineThe coastline of the United Kingdom is long in comparison to the coastline of similar sized countries; it is accessible and very varied in geography and habitats....