.. Dorset sparsely populated in mid-19th century, with around 65 000 souls
across the entire county.
.. Until 1956 part of West Parley parish: W.Moors mentioned in Domesday.
.. West Parley was a Royal Manor as part of the Duchy of York for nearly a
century - until approximately 1540. After the death of Sir Richard Weston in
that year the Manor seems to have ceased to be a single estate and to have been
broken up into farms. The land known as Priory Common was sold to Robert Freke;
then passed to the Cecil family. It remained in the possession of the
Marquesses of Salisbury until 1924 when it was sold to Harry and Job Brewer for
development.
.. By 1633, certain parts of West Moors were divided among several freeholders.
This area was known as "The Waste" showing how poor was the majority
of land in West Moors. However, this area proved useful as it was subsequently
used for the railway and most of the village now covers this land. .. Part of
West Moors included a substantial area of land variously known as Priory
Common, St. Leonard's Common or Cranborne Common - until Henry
VIII/dissolution, owned by Cranborne Priory. Associated with Benedictine Abbey
at Tewkesbury.
.. During the 16th and 17th Centuries, Sturt's Farm (north of current village)
and WOOLSLOPE FARM (south of current village) were built. Sturt's Farm was
demolished in 1968 but the name still exists today - it is a centre
(agricultural) for disabled adult learning. WOOLSLOPE FARM was the last local
farm to disappear - Heron Pines Estate currently (though that name doesn't seem
to have survived!) - presumably around early 1980s (report written in 1983).
.. Before railways - area bleak - rough heathland draining (acid) into Moors
River; Uddens water rather less acid as it has its origin in the more fertile
area to NW of village. From the map of 1633: effectively land either side of
the Uddens was split into small fields, each being farmed by such as Woolslope
Fm, Dolman's Fm, West Moors Fm (down from current Chemist/Farm Road etc.),
Gulliver's Fm (north of village, on Station Road) & Sturt's Fm (see above)
& these would have formed the 'locus' for what population 'centres' there
were up until the middle of the 19th century.
BUT, the land immediately adjacent to the present-day Station Road, and all the
land up to and straddling the Moors River, was open moorland, being divided
between West Moors Common & St. Leonard's Common. It is arguable that there
was no 'West Moors' village as such until the coming of the railway caused a
community to coalesce around the location of the halt (later junction station).
The 1891 OS map (this is the publication date, so survey may have been several
years prior to that date).
This shows West Moors Junction labelled as such - there is a "Railway
Inn" some way to the north of the station, on the eastern side of
what is now Station Road - this lies at the intersection of Ashurst Road &
Station Road. The census return for 1871 shows this as 'number 5' and as
'Blacksmith/Innkeeper'.
No buildings are shown south of the railway (at this date) - moorland to the
east of the road (where are now plenty of shops, houses etc.) and on the
western side, fields, presumably attached to West Moors Farm.
A School and Church are shown, which I believe was built in 1896 (which is
after the date of this map, which is puzzling - however, looking at the local
web site for the parish, it says that there was a school-room [built 1843]
& school-chapel, so perhaps the map is indicating these?).
In 1869, amongst major landowners, were: - Sir E. Greathed KCB of Uddens House
(and I believe this to be the ownership at the time of the arrival of the
railway), Frederick William Fryer esq. of Clarence House, East Cowes Park, Isle
of Wight (hence the 'Fryer' links locally, including our housing complex), to
the Marquis of Salisbury [ a major 'reforming' landowner of the time ], and Sir
William Hanham.
At the time of the building of the current church and associated school (on
Station Road, north of the railway/1897 onwards), the population of West Moors
was about 200 souls. It was apparently (unless you lived in one of the big
houses, or were one of the local tenant farmers) a fairly poor community - the
villagers earning a living by working on the farms (seasonal work), and in
connection with the maintenance of the various plantations of trees that had
sprung up after the Enclosure Acts at the beginning of the 19th century.
The railway enabled/promoted a steady increase in population, particularly as
wealthier folk from Bournemouth, Poole etc., wanted to move away from those
growing centres to something a little more 'rural'. The railway provided the
means to do this.
[Chronology]
> 1841: According to Hunt & Co. directory, population of the
WHOLE of West Parley parish (which included West Moors) was 254. From my
counting of the 1841 census, and trying to pick out all those associated with
'West Moors', then the population for this area was something like 80-90 people
distributed through 16 (or so) dwellings. By far the greater number were
associated with the 6 farms across the 'West Moors' part of the parish (4 to 8
people per farmhouse / quite typical for the time), accounting for almost half
the total: the remaining households, also reasonably large, were associated
with the land - e.g., often listed as 'Agricultural labourer' or some-such.
> 1842 (late): land owned by Fryer family conveyed to National
Society for a school.
> 1843: schoolroom built, with chapel.
> 1844 (2nd February): Castleman proposes railway between Dorchester
& Southampton (by whatever route) to L & SWR board. Landowners along
the route were keen as it would enhance the value of their rather impoverished
holdings. Farmers wanted the railway to get good prices for foodstuffs. N.B:
both Edward & Charles are named on the various notices posted to advertise
the proposed railway, though the former apparently had no hand in the various
negotiations etc. The Engineer's report [ Moorsom ] considered that the
building of the railway would be an 'easy' prospect. Broad outline of the route
was given as:- Southampton - Brockenhurst - Burley - Ringwood - Wimborne -
Poole - Wareham - Dorchester. One of the important sources of 'goods' traffic
was thought to be wood for the Portsmouth dockyards where of course the Royal
Navy was still building wooden-hulled ships. The change to iron cladding, then
iron ships, did not take place until later in the century, but this all but
ruined this scheme to make use of the woods of southern England.
> 1845 (July 21st): An act authorising the Southampton &
Dorchester railway was passed and gained the Royal Assent. This was only 15
years after the opening of the Liverpool & Manchester Railway - so our part
of the country was very much in the forefront of railway development, for good
or ill! The line had to avoid running through the wooded parts of the New
Forest (Forest Commissioners). At this time therefore, the exact alignment
wasn't decided upon through the Forest.
> 1845-47: surveying & subsequent construction of the Southampton
& Dorchester Railway.
> 1847 [1st June]: Southampton & Dorchester Railway (single-line,
but with ability to be doubled-up) opens through West Moors - halt (? needs
more info.) only. A new centre of population (apart from the scattered farms,
'Cob' cottages adjacent to the moor etc.) clustered around the railway. They
probably lived in what were known as "black cottages", so named
because they had mud and tarred walls (as opposed to wattle & daub/furze
walls of the earlier cottagers).
> 1854: The "Iron Room" hut built - on site of present-day
(2009) St. Mary's Church.
> (by) 1857: line doubled through West Moors [ traffic having reached
levels to require this as laid down in the enabling Act of Parliament ],
remaining so until closure of passenger services in the 1960s.
> 1859: school rebuilt - accommodate 100 children. This is a large
number for this sort of community, though proably drawing children from a large
area across both sexes (West Moors, Ameysford, Three Legged Cross & other
outlying villages/hamlets/farms etc., including Fern Down, which at this time
was a scattered collection of 'Cob' cottages) together with residence for
Schoolmistress.
> 1866 [20th December]: The Salisbury & Dorset Junction Railway
(to link Salisbury with Wimborne & the south coast through West Moors)
opened. With the opening of the station (1867, 1st August) & associated
goods yard, track maintenance etc., the population increased again with more
pupils for the schools. West Moors then became an important centre for the
distribution of goods and services.
> 1867 [1st August]: Junction station opened.
> 1870-1875: railway profitable, and probably remained so until the
opening of the 'direct' line from Brockenhurst through Christchurch to
Bournemouth & Poole in the 1890s. This means that the 'profitable' part of
the line's life lasted for less than 50 years if that.
> 1871: First PH opened (by this time - could have been running for
some time) - corner of Ashurst Road (with Station Road) - possibly a private
house converted/extended. The 'Railway Inn' - this appears on some of maps I've
seen.
> 1879: plans for link Salisbury - Bournemouth via. West Moors: there
was already a line (from Ringwood Junction) down the Avon via Hurn to
Christchurch, and this was extended to Bournemouth (East); in the event,
railway developments meant that Bournemouth was connected from east (ex.
Brockenhurst) and west (ex. Poole). It's interesting to speculate what would
have happened if the WM - Bournemouth line had gone ahead - would the later
'Sway' line have been built?
> 1885: Schoolmistress is named as Miss Eliza Matilda Blandford.
> (by) 1885: Telegraph office (co-located with Post Office I assume)
in West Moors - whether it was there before I don't know.
> 1896/7(?): Iron Room moved to other (west) side of Station Road in
preparation for building of Church. The Iron Room was then used as the Church
Hall, and later as a council meeting hall.
> 1897: St. Mary the Virgin Parish Church started together with
parsonage, a bigger school and school house. [ The church, with a burial
ground, was completed and consecrated in 1908 (and further extended in 1927)].
> 1898: a small waiting room constructed on the 'down' platform -
more like a waiting 'cabin' to judge from the pictures I've seen!
> 1902: re-inforced concrete (German) footbridge erected adjacent to
the level crossing to allow pedestrians to cross when the crossing gates were
closed. (There must have been considerable demand for to-ing and fro-ing for
the L&SWR to fork out for this - especially as this wasn't, by this time,
the 'main' line in the area.)
> early 1900s: PH opened on western side of Station Road called the
Railway Hotel (temporarily the 'Mariner's Rest' after the railway closed, now
Tap and Railway).
> 1902: Harry and Job Brewer, builders and brick manufacturers from
Verwood, began buying parcels of land in West Moors and the first
"villa" type houses were erected in the 'Edwardian' years leading up
to the Great War (1914). They were built in the roads nearest the railway (so
that the men could go to their offices etc., in Bournemouth, Poole, Ringwood,
Wimborne etc.) and the wives could go shopping! The principal centres of
development were in and around: Ashurst Road, The Avenue, Denewood &
Woodside Roads (all north of the railway) and Moorlands, Glenwood and Moorside
Roads to the south. These areas then formed the nucleus of the present village
(though it has subsequently oozed out along Pinehurst Road and towards the
Plantation. The villas stood in plots of land from half to one acre (to
accommodate the pony for the 'trap & pony' and also to have the
cess-pit/similar well away from the house). Thus, these were owned by well-off
people - many for retired state servants, such as returnees from the Indian
Civil Service and army / navy / administrators of the British & Indian
Empires. They would in turn have employed a small number of servants - either
living-in, or coming in on a daily basis.
> 1904: first reference to the gypsies coming to West Moors. Camped
on that part of Priory Common where the cemetery is now situated (off Priory
Road). This was of course close to the Ringwood-Wimborne highway which was
presumably important for a still moile community. [ See late 1920s entry ]
> 1907: the Brewer brothers (see 1902) moved to West Moors and
continued to buy more land over the next 20 years or so (i.e. up to the 1930s).
In 1920 they opened an Estate Agent's office on the corner of Farm Road. (still
there). Large houses continued to be built through the '20s, and in the '30s,
smaller houses and bungalows began to appear along Pinehurst Road. [NB: these
were individual developments - not large clusters or estates - these came along
in the 1960s and later.]
> ~1907: piped water (as opposed to being supplied by numerous wells)
arrives in West Moors.
> 1908: Church of England church (St. Mary's) consecrated [
construction had begun in 1897 ]; at the same time, a 'Congregational Church'
was built - at the corner of Station Road & Moorlands Road (opp. Library).
[Became United Reform Church in 1972].
> ~1910: Fern Down (later Ferndown) at this time a small collection
of cottages strung out along the two roads leading to Wimborne, Ringwood &
Poole / Bournemouth, with no real focal point. West Moors was the major centre
in this district, after West Parley & even Hampreston / Longham carried
more status. Children from Ferndown had had to go to West Moors to school up to
around 1900, but around that time a 'church' school was opened for young
children in Ferndown.
> 1911: Gas came to West Moors (but from where? How generated? There
is no record of a gasworks in association with the railway as is often the
case.)
> 1914: In this year, Sir Frederick FRYER offered the West Parley
Parish Council (the local council at the time) a piece of land as a site for a
village hall in West Moors. The Great War (1914-1918) prevented the project
going ahead straightaway, but in 1920 (q.v.) an ex-Army hut was erected on the
spot now used as the Memorial Hall car park. A fund was set up to raise money
to build a all as a memorial to those that had been killed in the war. It was
completed in 1929.
> 1919: First regular/public-service 'bus service Bournemouth -
Ringwood via. West Moors. Prior to this time, locals within the village would
not have felt the need of a bus service, as most properties were within easy
walking distance of the station. However, as the village expanded, then there
would have been sufficient traffic from further afield, plus of course Fern
Down (later Ferndown) was now expanding and was some 2 miles away from the
station - the bus would have provided a local link to/from the station as well
as connecting with Bournemouth & Ringwood. The bus initially called just
twice a week, but this increased to 2-per-day.
> 1920s: growth of West Moors: steady, but limited, to north of the
railway, but in a brisker fashion to the south, i.e., along Moorlands,
Glenwood, Moorside, lower Pinehurst & Avon Roads.
> 1920: Army hut - first 'hall' where Memorial Hall area is now.
> 1920s: pop. ~1500/2000, depending upon how you define the area:
probably includes Ameysford, Three-legged Cross & outlying hamlets.
> 1923: first banks came to West Moors (National Provincial &
Lloyds).
> 1924: Wooden RC Church built (Pinehurst Road/present location).
> 1925: Anglican Church (wooden/St. John's) built on Pinehurst Road
(was at Mannington Heath). It may have been built to encourage attendance by
the near-by Gypsy community, but in the event, it was used by villagers in the
lower Pinehurst Road area and associated 'off-shoots'. [ The church was pulled
down in May 2000: it could not be insured and the cost of an upgrade was
prohibitive. ]
> 1927: St. Mary's Church extended.
> 1928: RC Church (St. Anthony of Padua) built - replacing a wooden
church that had been on this site since 1924. [ I understood that the 1928
church was also a 'makeshift' structure, but need to find out more - it was
replaced by the preent (2009) structure in 1976 ].
> 1929: Memorial Hall built/opened - see earlier entries 1914 &
1920. At the time, this would have been centrally positioned, but the skew of
development along & off to the side of Pinehurst Road has placed this
somewhat off-centre.
> 'late 1920s': Gypsies purchased parcel of land from Lord
Shaftesbury in the Elmhurst & Oakhurst Roads area - moving from Priory
Common (needed to vacate area now the cemetery). They were essentially still a
mobile / seasonal population, living in vans and other non-permanent dwellings,
but this development marked the start of the 'settling-down' of this community.
[See mid-Sixties]
> 1931: Electricity starts to arrive in village - overhead
distribution - which is the dominant means of distribution today, to all but
the newest developments.
> 1933: Private telephone lines installed - on the Hampreston
exchange! (Hampreston is/was a very small hamlet, so perhaps the exchange was
at Longham, as part of the old Post Office?) The telephone exchange for the
area is now in Ferndown. [ The railway, especially the station & signal box
would have had their own telegraphic, later telephonic, communication system.]
> 1938: A permanent army camp was first set up in West Moors.
Ammunition storage depot. Chosen for location to convenient rail-head &
presumably also it's proximity to (a) the various army training areas in
Dorset, Hampshire & Wiltshire and (b) to the local ports. Given that it was
to become an ammunition storage facility, the sparse population in the area (at
that time) was an advantage.
> 1942-1945: During these years of the Second World War, the army
camp was used by the United States Army [the US entered the war in December
1941, post the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor] for storing ammunition and
petroleum products - played a key role in the period leading up to the Normandy
invasion in 1944 & subsequent support operations. Given the railway network
at the time, it had excellent connections to Portsmouth, Southampton, Poole and
Weymouth harbours - all key support facilities to back up the invasion
[Operation 'Overlord'] and subsequent supply of forces as they fanned out
across northern France and into the Low Countries.
> 1946: Upn the US army handing control of the depot back to the UK
Army, German PoWs were housed on the WD site.
> 1956: West Moors becomes civil parish (CP) in its own right,
distinct from West Parley.
> 1960s: (early) mains foul-water sewerage reaches village [pop.~
2000] - prior to this a mix of cess pits (tanker collection) & in some of
the more primitive cottages, the waste was 'soaked-away' at the end of what
would have been very long gardens! At the station, for example, in the early
days, the waste from the station-master's house & station facilities was
initially dug into the SM's garden; then, when this proved impractical
(smelly!), a large tank / soakaway was dug into the grounds into which the
deposits were emptied.
> 'mid 1960s': Gypsies remained (as above) for many years (temporary
buildings, vans, tents?) then the local Council purchased the land from them
and houses were built, thus re-housing them. Until the latter part of the
1970s, the 'King of the Gipsies' lived in a large house at the end of Oakhurst
Road with a meeting house at the rear. The Meeting House (in Glenwood Road) has
been replaced by a bungalow, but the house still stands.
> 1964 (4th May): all passenger traffic ceased on the railway through
West Moors - this was part of the 'Beeching cuts', though the lines/services
had been under threat for many years due to under-use. The line to Salisbury
closed completely, but limited goods traffic was maintained on the Ringwood -
Wimborne route.
> 1965 (20th January): all railway goods traffic ceased - but fuel
trains continued to run into the MoD fuel depot (until 1974). At some point
from this time, the line West Moors - Ringwood was abandoned (a fuel pipeline
being constructed under part of the trackbed), and the remaining line back to
Wimborne, Broadstone & Holes Bay junction singled-out.
> 1965: Library opened on current site (but perhaps not the current
building?) Prior to this time, the County Library was housed in the Memorial
Hall from the 1930s, and prior to that, there was a 'reading room' in the
"Iron Room".
> 1967: Present Pinehurst Chapel (Christian Open Brethren) opened,
replacing a small hut which had been built in 1943.
> 1971: Oakhurst Primary School opened (for children to the south;
those to the north go to St. Mary's).
> 1971: "Iron Room" demolished: had been used for church
functions.
> 1971: MoD Fuel Depot expansion, and later (1976) the Dorset Fire
Service College became co-located on the site.
> 1973: About 100 years after the opening of the first public house
(see 1871 above), the Blandford Brewery, Hall & Woodhouse Ltd., bought a
piece of land from Captain F.W.B. FRYER and the FRYER ARMS opened for business
in 1973. The brewery also constructed the road [ ?Woolslope Road? ] running off
Pinehurst Road, leading to the Heron Pines Estate - which was eventually
adopted by the County Council.
> 1976: Present RC Church completed, replacing the 1928 structure.
Given the tie-up with the dates above and the presumed development of the
'Heron Pines' estate, I wonder if the church owned a larger parcel of land
which they partially sold off to fund the building of the present church. The
church draws its congregation from a large area - as the Catholic church didn't
have a policy of having small churches in every community.
> 1976: (hot/dry summer) - The forest fires in the summer of 1976
endangered not only the plantation (Forestry Commission) but the Army Petroleum
Centre and the village itself. The worst time was the period 26/27th August,
when the fires almost surrounded the Army camp. The Married Quarters (top end
of Station Road) were evacuated and the village sealed off. Radio messages
warned people to "keep away from West Moors" and anxious husbands had
to wait outside the village until the danger passed. After the fire had been
successfully extinguished, it was said that only the design and planning of the
petrol tanks which were surrounded by concrete and stone fire breaks had
minimised the risks of a disaster.
> 1977: West Moors Middle School opened: all children 9 to 13,
including those living in Tricketts Cross & some surrounding villages.
After 13, children go to Ferndown Upper School.
> 1981: Memorial Hall extended & licensed.
> 1982 (May): main block of flats opened at Castleman Court, on the
site of the former junction railway station.
> 1982 (or 1983? November): Fire destroys Oakhurst Primary School.
> 1983: pop. ~8000
> 1984 (spring): Oakhurst school re-opens after fire (see 1982).
> 1985 onward: development of flats, small bungalows etc., in the old
station yard area.
> 1999: pop. ~8500/9000
> early 2000s: re-building/re-furbishment of the Station Road shops
area.
Ref: History of West Moors & more!: W.I. 1980s