Southwell
Southwell is a village in Tophill, south of Easton and Weston, and north-east of Portland Bill. It is both Portland and Dorset's southern-most village, and is the only village on the island not to be a designated conservation area.
The Great Southwell Landslip, named after the village, remains Britain's second largest recorded landslide, which occurred in 1734 between Durdle Pier and Freshwater Bay, at a distance of one and a half miles.
History
Southwell's origins as a settlement likely dates back to the Roman or early medieval period. With the area's natural springs providing a water supply, a pond and various wells were most likely created during the time of Roman Britain. Southwell's name derived from the South Well found alongside the settlement's pond, which were located on its western edge, and today at the southernmost point of Avalanche Road. The surrounding area has seen many archaeological discoveries made, including remains of Iron Age earth defences and Roman stone sarcophagi.
Southwell's traditional industry was agriculture, with the hamlet being surrounded by lawnsheds, a form of strip farming which saw fields partitioned into long, narrow strips. Some quarrying was located to the east on the clifftops above Freshwater Bay. Southwell retained its original character and remained a small hamlet for many centuries. By 1782, it only held 27 of the island's 280 houses, and these were concentrated around the road leading to Portland Bill. In order to serve the growing Methodist following on Portland, a small Wesleyan Methodist chapel was later erected to serve the hamlet in 1849, while the Avalanche Memorial Church, also known as the Church of St Andrew, was also built there in 1878-79 to serve the residents of both Southwell and Weston.
During the 1890s, the area west of Southwell, known as Sweet Hill, was the location of a failed attempt to provide Portland with its own sufficient water supply to serve the growing population. The Local Board of Health, established in 1867, were committed to finding a "pure and adequate water supply" and they settled on a scheme to excavate a 206 feet deep shaft at Sweet Hill, which was carried out in 1891-95 and still survives today. Once completed, however, it was discovered that the freshwater had traces of seawater and sewerage, resulting in the £7,500 scheme to be abandoned in favour of sourcing water from the mainland. A piped water supply for Portland arrived in 1899, resulting in Southwell's original pond being filled in soon afterwards.
With quarrying on the island moving inland from the traditional clifftop sites, the early 20th century saw some of Southwell's surrounding fields begin to be encroached. Sheat Quarries began to move inland towards the village from the south, while the far larger Coombefield Quarries continued to expand in the north-east. Meanwhile, the first half of the 20th century saw some new housing added to the village, most notably along Avalanche Road.
During World War II, the presence of HM Naval Base Portland saw the island a target of German air raids, with 48 attacks taking place over the course of the war. In the attempt to defend the island, a number of heavy anti-aircraft batteries were constructed within the Weymouth and Portland area, one of which was built to the west of Southwell at Barrow Hill. It was retained after the war, but was demolished when work began on the site in 1948 for the construction of Portland's Admiralty Gunnery Establishment, completed in 1952 and opened in 1954. It later became part of the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) from 1959, and was responsible for the design, development and testing of underwater weapons until its closure in the mid-1990s. It was then transformed into the successful Southwell Business Park in 1997.
Southwell's character was significantly altered from the mid-20th century as development began on a larger, unprecedented scale. During the 1950s, some housing was built at Sweet Hill, but the following decade saw much greater expansion, particularly to the north-west. The 1970s-80s saw further housing added and the construction of Southwell County Primary School (opened in 1979), while Coombefield Quarry continued to be worked towards the village. Further housing was built off Sweethill Lane in the 2000s, despite the wishes of residents for a community space to be retained. Today, the expansion of the village to the west ranges half a mile. Although much of the original fields surrounding Southwell have been lost to quarrying and housing, the fields to the south between the village and Portland Bill survive undeveloped.
Features
Like many of the other villages on Portland, Southwell has commercial businesses, but namely within the Southwell Business Park. The Eight Kings pub remains the only commercial business within the village, although a post office was once located there until the 1990s.
Close to Southwell's heavy-anti aircraft battery was the Weston VHF Fixer Station. It was one of a network of 57 stations built in England around 1951 as part of the ROTOR programme, an air defence radar system developed to counter potential nuclear attack by Soviet bombers. Operated by the Royal Air Force, the station's role was to use directional finding equipment to inform fighter aircraft crews of enemy positions. It was demolished in the 1960s.
The Southwell Business Park is located to the south-west of the village. Transformed into the successful Southwell Business Park in 1997, it is still used for commercial purposes. In 2016, part of the site opened as the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy's new campus, while a hotel, the Maritime Hotel, is also located there.
Grade listed features
The surrounding fields between Portland Bill and Southwell are an example of a strip field farming system, dating from Saxon times, and once common across Tophill before quarrying and housing destroyed them. These particular fields, which have escaped modern development, make up the open landscape surrounding the single road to Portland Bill. Each field has an ancient name, such as Harplands, Shoals Meadow and Sturt Corner, and some are still bordered by drystone walls and earth lynchets.
The nearby Culverwell Mesolithic Site is an active archaeological site and former Mesolithic settlement, located along Portland Bill Road. The site, which is approximately 7500-8500 years old, has become a scheduled monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. This scheduled status includes open fields to the south, spanning from Cave Hole area to the Lower Lighthouse. Another two areas of open fields have become scheduled under a separate entry too; one spans east from the Higher Lighthouse, while the other runs north-east of the Culverwell site, alongside Portland Bill Road.
Other notable buildings
Public houses (past and present)
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Methodist Chapel, Southwell - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Dorset for You - Appraisal of the Conservation Areas of Portland - PDF document
3) Dorset Life - The Dorset Magazine - A Portland Success Story - John Newth - website page
4) Exploring Portland - Cheyne Tunnel and Freshwater Bay - Geoff Kirby - website page
5) Exploring Portland - Southwell Business Park Area - Geoff Kirby - website page
6) Exploring Portland - Southwell Village - Geoff Kirby - website page
7) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - various entries for Portland - website page
8) Ordnance Survey - various maps from the 19th and 20th centuries
9) Pastscape - various entries on database - website page
10) Portland Encyclopaedia - Rodney Legg - Dorset Publishing Company - 1999 - ISBN: 978-0948699566 - page 5, 138 - book
11) Portland Year Book 1905 - Chronology of the Island of Portland 700 - 1905 AD - Paul Benyon - website page
12) Portland Year Book 1905 - Portland's Population - Paul Benyon - website page
13) Portland Year Book 1905 - The Island's Water Supply - Paul Benyon - website page
14) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 1985 - ISBN: 978-0946159345 - page 88 - book
15) Proceedings of the Corporated Association of Minicipal and County Engineers: Volume XXVI 1899-1900 - 1900 - report
16) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
The Great Southwell Landslip, named after the village, remains Britain's second largest recorded landslide, which occurred in 1734 between Durdle Pier and Freshwater Bay, at a distance of one and a half miles.
History
Southwell's origins as a settlement likely dates back to the Roman or early medieval period. With the area's natural springs providing a water supply, a pond and various wells were most likely created during the time of Roman Britain. Southwell's name derived from the South Well found alongside the settlement's pond, which were located on its western edge, and today at the southernmost point of Avalanche Road. The surrounding area has seen many archaeological discoveries made, including remains of Iron Age earth defences and Roman stone sarcophagi.
Southwell's traditional industry was agriculture, with the hamlet being surrounded by lawnsheds, a form of strip farming which saw fields partitioned into long, narrow strips. Some quarrying was located to the east on the clifftops above Freshwater Bay. Southwell retained its original character and remained a small hamlet for many centuries. By 1782, it only held 27 of the island's 280 houses, and these were concentrated around the road leading to Portland Bill. In order to serve the growing Methodist following on Portland, a small Wesleyan Methodist chapel was later erected to serve the hamlet in 1849, while the Avalanche Memorial Church, also known as the Church of St Andrew, was also built there in 1878-79 to serve the residents of both Southwell and Weston.
During the 1890s, the area west of Southwell, known as Sweet Hill, was the location of a failed attempt to provide Portland with its own sufficient water supply to serve the growing population. The Local Board of Health, established in 1867, were committed to finding a "pure and adequate water supply" and they settled on a scheme to excavate a 206 feet deep shaft at Sweet Hill, which was carried out in 1891-95 and still survives today. Once completed, however, it was discovered that the freshwater had traces of seawater and sewerage, resulting in the £7,500 scheme to be abandoned in favour of sourcing water from the mainland. A piped water supply for Portland arrived in 1899, resulting in Southwell's original pond being filled in soon afterwards.
With quarrying on the island moving inland from the traditional clifftop sites, the early 20th century saw some of Southwell's surrounding fields begin to be encroached. Sheat Quarries began to move inland towards the village from the south, while the far larger Coombefield Quarries continued to expand in the north-east. Meanwhile, the first half of the 20th century saw some new housing added to the village, most notably along Avalanche Road.
During World War II, the presence of HM Naval Base Portland saw the island a target of German air raids, with 48 attacks taking place over the course of the war. In the attempt to defend the island, a number of heavy anti-aircraft batteries were constructed within the Weymouth and Portland area, one of which was built to the west of Southwell at Barrow Hill. It was retained after the war, but was demolished when work began on the site in 1948 for the construction of Portland's Admiralty Gunnery Establishment, completed in 1952 and opened in 1954. It later became part of the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment (AUWE) from 1959, and was responsible for the design, development and testing of underwater weapons until its closure in the mid-1990s. It was then transformed into the successful Southwell Business Park in 1997.
Southwell's character was significantly altered from the mid-20th century as development began on a larger, unprecedented scale. During the 1950s, some housing was built at Sweet Hill, but the following decade saw much greater expansion, particularly to the north-west. The 1970s-80s saw further housing added and the construction of Southwell County Primary School (opened in 1979), while Coombefield Quarry continued to be worked towards the village. Further housing was built off Sweethill Lane in the 2000s, despite the wishes of residents for a community space to be retained. Today, the expansion of the village to the west ranges half a mile. Although much of the original fields surrounding Southwell have been lost to quarrying and housing, the fields to the south between the village and Portland Bill survive undeveloped.
Features
Like many of the other villages on Portland, Southwell has commercial businesses, but namely within the Southwell Business Park. The Eight Kings pub remains the only commercial business within the village, although a post office was once located there until the 1990s.
Close to Southwell's heavy-anti aircraft battery was the Weston VHF Fixer Station. It was one of a network of 57 stations built in England around 1951 as part of the ROTOR programme, an air defence radar system developed to counter potential nuclear attack by Soviet bombers. Operated by the Royal Air Force, the station's role was to use directional finding equipment to inform fighter aircraft crews of enemy positions. It was demolished in the 1960s.
The Southwell Business Park is located to the south-west of the village. Transformed into the successful Southwell Business Park in 1997, it is still used for commercial purposes. In 2016, part of the site opened as the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy's new campus, while a hotel, the Maritime Hotel, is also located there.
Grade listed features
- Avalanche Memorial Church, including its boundary wall - Grade II listed since September 1978. A church, dedicated to St Andrew's, opened in 1879 as a memorial to the maritime tragedy of the SS Avalanche and SS Forest, who collided off Portland Bill during a storm in September 1877, with the loss of over a hundred lives.
- 23 Southwell Street - Grade II listed since June 1973. Dated 1736 on the porch, substantially modified around 1900 and for a time was used for agricultural-related storage.
- Garden wall attached to the west of 47 Southwell Street - Grade II listed since September 1978. The wall was originally part of a 17th century cottage that fell into disuse in the early 20th century. The surviving wall is now used as a garden wall and is a notable survival showing the high construction quality of Southwell residences from before extensive rebuilding during the 19th and 20th centuries.
- Southwell Methodist Chapel - Grade II listed since May 1993. A small Methodist chapel established in 1849 and closed in 1997. It is described by Historic England as a "modest but complete manifestation of the importance which Methodism played in Portland's social history".
The surrounding fields between Portland Bill and Southwell are an example of a strip field farming system, dating from Saxon times, and once common across Tophill before quarrying and housing destroyed them. These particular fields, which have escaped modern development, make up the open landscape surrounding the single road to Portland Bill. Each field has an ancient name, such as Harplands, Shoals Meadow and Sturt Corner, and some are still bordered by drystone walls and earth lynchets.
The nearby Culverwell Mesolithic Site is an active archaeological site and former Mesolithic settlement, located along Portland Bill Road. The site, which is approximately 7500-8500 years old, has become a scheduled monument under the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Areas Act 1979. This scheduled status includes open fields to the south, spanning from Cave Hole area to the Lower Lighthouse. Another two areas of open fields have become scheduled under a separate entry too; one spans east from the Higher Lighthouse, while the other runs north-east of the Culverwell site, alongside Portland Bill Road.
Other notable buildings
- Southwell County Primary School - constructed in 1978-79 and opened in 1979. The school closed in 2016, following the opening of the new Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy campus at Southwell Business Park.
Public houses (past and present)
- The Eight Kings - established in the centre of the village in about 1874 by Edward Stone. The inn underwent alteration and enlargement in about 1900. The name is believed to be unique in the UK.
- The Quarrymen's Arms - active from the 1850s and closed in c. 1872.
- The Ragged Louse - active during the 19th century and closed by the 20th century.
- The Wonder - located along Avalanche Road, the pub was active during the 19th century, but closed by the 20th century.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Methodist Chapel, Southwell - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Dorset for You - Appraisal of the Conservation Areas of Portland - PDF document
3) Dorset Life - The Dorset Magazine - A Portland Success Story - John Newth - website page
4) Exploring Portland - Cheyne Tunnel and Freshwater Bay - Geoff Kirby - website page
5) Exploring Portland - Southwell Business Park Area - Geoff Kirby - website page
6) Exploring Portland - Southwell Village - Geoff Kirby - website page
7) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - various entries for Portland - website page
8) Ordnance Survey - various maps from the 19th and 20th centuries
9) Pastscape - various entries on database - website page
10) Portland Encyclopaedia - Rodney Legg - Dorset Publishing Company - 1999 - ISBN: 978-0948699566 - page 5, 138 - book
11) Portland Year Book 1905 - Chronology of the Island of Portland 700 - 1905 AD - Paul Benyon - website page
12) Portland Year Book 1905 - Portland's Population - Paul Benyon - website page
13) Portland Year Book 1905 - The Island's Water Supply - Paul Benyon - website page
14) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 1985 - ISBN: 978-0946159345 - page 88 - book
15) Proceedings of the Corporated Association of Minicipal and County Engineers: Volume XXVI 1899-1900 - 1900 - report
16) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
Gallery
These images can be enlarged by clicking on them. Some images have information attached to them, and to view this you can either enlarge the image or hover the mouse over each thumbnail.
On the map below the pointer is aligned to the centre point of Southwell village.