Torbay:
Bournemouth:
Themes:
Description of Bournemouth
Bournemouth today is one of Britain's leading holiday towns but 200 years ago it was a very different place. Until the 19th century, the town as we know did not exist, even as a village. People have lived in area for thousands years, this is known because prehistoric tools, pottery and human skull have been found by archaeologists in parts of Bournemouth.
In 1800 the area was heathland with a few sandy tracks (see Bournemouth 1819). The deserted beach was popular with smugglers because they could land their cargo in safety without being caught.
The town originated in 1810 when retired army officer Lewis Tregonwell
decided to build a house on this pretty stretch of the Dorset coast.
He then began to plant pine trees in the deep valleys, known as "chines",
that are characteristic of the area. (The word 'chine' means a 'deep,
narrow ravine cut through soft rocks by a water course descending steeply
to the sea'. The word is peculiar to Dorset and the Isle of Wight,
chines being very much a feature of this part of the British coast)
At the time it was believed that the scent of pine trees could relieve
the symptoms of tuberculosis, and so people soon began to visit the area
in an attempt to improve their health.
As a result a town quickly grew up around Tregonwell's estate in order
to cater for the visitors, and by the beginning of the 20th century over
50,000 people had settled here.
| National Keydates 1800 – 1836 | |
| 1802 Christchurch Inclosure Act paves the way for sale of land at Bournemouth 1805 The first land at Bournemouth is divided up and sold 1809 The Tapps Arms pub (later the Tregonwell Arms) opens 1810 Lewis Tregonwell begins building work on his seaside mansion 1836 Building work starts on the Westover Villas |
1801 First national census held. Population of Britain nearly 11 million. 1815 Defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo 1825 First railway line opened – Stockton to Darlington 1833 Abolition of slavery |
| Local Keydates 1837 – 1870 | National Keydates 1837 – 1870 |
| 1838 Bath Hotel and Belle Vue Boarding House open 1841 Second edition of The Spas of England published with a chapter on Bournemouth 1845 St Peter's Church consecrated 1847 The railway network makes access to Bournemouth easier. 1849 A bridge built over the Bourne Stream provides the beginning of The Square. 1849 Sir Percy Shelley buys Boscombe Manor 1855 A mobile jetty provides Bournemouth with its first pier 1855 National Sanatorium for people with chest complaints opens 1856 Bournemouth Improvement Act gives the town its own local governing authority 1858 Central walk through Westover Gardens completed 1858 Bournemouth's first newspaper the Bournemouth Visitors' Directory launched 1861 Wooden Pier completed 1862 Railway reaches Christchurch 1868 First steamboat excursion sails from Pier 1870 Railway reaches Bournemouth |
1837 Queen Victoria comes to the throne 1855 Florence Nightingale nurses in the Crimea 1870 Forster’s Education Act |
| LOCAL KEYDATES 1871 – 1901 | NATIONAL KEYDATES 1871 – 1901 |
| 1874 Bournemouth West railway station opens 1875 First Town Hall opens 1879 St Peter's Church completed 1880 Iron Pier opens 1887 Royal Victoria Hospital, Boscombe, opens 1889 Boscombe Pier opens 1890 First meeting of Bournemouth Borough Council 1892 First performance of Bournemouth Corporation Band 1900 First motor cars in Bournemouth 1901 Bournemouth becomes a County Borough 1901 Poole tramway to borough boundary opens |
1887 Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee 1899 Start of the Boer War 1901 Death of Queen Victoria 1901 National census taken. Population of over 32 million. |
As the threat of tuberculosis began to fade by the late 19th century
the town began to be less of a convalescent resort for sick people.
Nevertheless Bournemouth still attracted visitors, and as the Victorians
indulged their passion for seaside resorts it became one of the most popular
resorts in the UK.
