Having left the Red Lion pub/hotel (old coaching inn), all sorts of other interesting-looking buildings started to greet me. Have just read that the Victorian Town Hall (above) stands on the site of the medieval church of St. Peter.
Of course, the town's old Almhouse was always going to catch my eye:
As I headed towards the quayside, I came across the Church of Lady St. Mary:
Have just read that this church is of Anglo-Saxon origin and may be the burial place of the late 8th/ early 9th century King of Wessex, Beorhtric; may've been founded by the Bishop of Sherborne, St. Aldhelm; and may be where the body of King Edward the Martyr was brought to after he was murdered at Corfe Castle in 978:
After looking at the Church of Lady St. Mary, I strolled towards the quayside:
About the quayside, Margaret Marande informs that Wareham was a port until the 14th century, "after which, because of larger ships and river silting, it was gradually superseded by Poole" ('The Hardy Way' page 51):
On my way back from the quayside, I randomly took a shot of the Conservative Club below, and have just discovered that it used to be a Unitarian church:
Like the way the pub/hotel/restaurant below has the name 'Anglebury', Thomas Hardy's fictional name for Wareham in 'The Hand of Ethelberta':
About Hardy's 'Anglebury', Marande explains that in 'Desperate Remedies', "Owen Graye walks on to Anglebury from Corvsgate Castle to try to catch a late train back to Budmouth", and the "steward, Manston, meets a postman near Anglebury station who, over the age of forty-five, walks twenty-two miles a day to deliver the post" ('The Hardy Way' page 52).
Would really have loved to have had time for a pint of Real Ale in the Kings Arms below:
About the buildings in Wareham, Margaret Marande reveals that a "bad fire in 1762 destroyed much of the town; only two thatched cottages remain", with many of the current houses dating from the late 18th and early 19th centuries ('The Hardy Way' page 51).
No comments:
Post a Comment