Victoria Square
Victoria Square is a public square of mid-19th century origin at the entrance to Underhill, close to Chesil Beach, Osprey Quay and Chiswell.
History
Establishment of Victoria Square
Victoria Square's development in the early 1860s came as a result of the Portland Branch Railway, which extended the existing line from Weymouth to Portland. Prior to the arrival of the railway, the site which became Victoria Square was largely undeveloped common land at the entrance of Chiswell. The first building on the site was a poorhouse, opened in 1781 as the second such facility on the island. It was erected and maintained by the Portland parish and later rebuilt in 1810-13, which saw the house provided with a substantial garden. With the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, Portland's two poorhouses were closed and soon replaced by a workhouse in Weymouth, operated by the Weymouth Poor Law Union. The poorhouse at the entrance of Underhill was sold in 1840, while Captain Charles Augustus Manning of Portland Castle became the tenant of the former poorhouse garden in 1838.
Construction of a railway line to Portland commenced in 1862 and opened on 16 October 1865, terminating at a station which was erected at the entrance to Underhill. In the effort to develop the area around the station, Captain Manning acquired the land and transformed it into Victoria Square at his sole expense. The original development included the Royal Victoria Lodge Hotel and a terrace opposite known as Victoria Buildings, all built by Mr Richard Reynolds of Weymouth. The hotel, which was erected on the site of the poorhouse, was primarily built to address the perceived lack of nearby accommodation available to railway passengers.
The square also became the site of the Portland Gas Works, designed by Mr. Robert Bennett of Weymouth and built by Mr. John Patten of Portland in 1863-64. A facility of considerable size, the works' original features included a gas holder, tank and retort house, along with various stores, offices and workshops. Reporting of the works' construction in 1863, the Dorset County Chronicle commented: "These works is an epoch in the history of Portland, and are almost as great as the far-famed Breakwater, as they will serve to enlighten the darkness which has existed for ages in the Island."
Late 19th century and early 20th century expansion and development
Victoria Square expanded further over the course of the 19th century. The Terminus Hotel opened near Victoria Buildings in 1867 and was renamed the Little Ship in 1972. A sawmill built by the Portland Stone Company was erected at "great expense" next to the railway station around 1872, and later purchased by F. J. Barnes in 1891. In 1878-79, Portland's original Masonic Hall, designed by Mr. R. Bennett, was built in the square by Mr. J. Patten, with carvings by Mr E. H. Grassby of Dorchester. During the late 19th century, an observatory was also established near the gas works by Rev. William Robert Morris Waugh.
During 1898-99, a new, larger masonic hall, designed by Portland Urban District Council's engineer Mr. E. Elford, was constructed within the square by Mr. Whettam of Weymouth, opposite the original. The MP Colonel Brymer laid the foundation stone on 16 June and it opened on 20 April 1899. The Western Gazette described the building as having been "constructed more with a view to its utility than with regard to its external appearance". With the establishment of the Easton and Church Hope Railway, which opened to passengers in 1902, the decision was made to build a new station to replace the original one in front of the square. A temporary platform was used until the new station was completed and opened in 1905, with the original station then becoming a goods depot.
During the 1910s, two cinemas were opened on Portland; the Easton Palace in Easton and the Palace at Victoria Square, located on the ground floor of the 1898 masonic hall. Both were established by the pioneering English theatre proprietor and cinema developer Albany Ward, who owned a number of cinemas in the West Country and the Channel Islands. The one at the masonic hall later closed in 1934. During the 1920s, a recreation ground was laid north of the 1898 masonic hall, while the sawmill site by the railway closed in 1935.
Mid-20th century development and flooding
In 1940, as part of anti-invasion measures during World War II, a minefield was laid alongside the main A354 road and as far as behind and alongside the masonic hall. In addition to this, an anti-tank trap, made up of concrete blocks, was set-up nearby on the pebble bank of Chesil Beach, along with beach scaffolding. Victoria Square and Chiswell suffered from extensive flooding in December 1942, which was described as the worst seen in the area in over a century. Later in 1944, Portland and Weymouth became major D-Day embarkation points for Allied Forces and the Royal Victoria Lodge was used as a makeshift hospital. Portland's Gas Works, which had been taken over by the Portland Urban District Council in 1900, closed in 1959 and was subsequently demolished and replaced with a contractors yard.
Portland's railway operated for goods trains until 1965, having closed to passengers in 1952. By the end of the 1950s, the 1905 station's buildings had been removed though the platforms were still in existence, while the original station was demolished in 1969 and replaced with a roundabout. All surviving platforms of the 1905 station, along with the track, were removed by the early 1970s. In 1977, the bus operator Smiths of Portland had outgrown its base in Easton and moved to the former Southern National garage in Victoria Square, where they remained until the end of the 20th century. Meanwhile, 1970s expansion of the neighbouring RNAS Portland (HMS Osprey) saw much of the grassland to the north of the square enclosed. The Victoria Gate Guardroom was located on the southern edge of the station, facing Victoria Square. Following the station's closure in 1999, the perimeter fencing was removed soon afterwards.
Despite the construction of a sea wall at Chesil Cove between 1958-65, major flooding of both Chiswell and Victoria Square was seen in December 1978 and February 1979. Further flood prevention measures were added between 1981 and 1988. Owing to the two floods, the Chesil Beach Motors' showroom and filling station, next door to the Little Ship, went on to relocate to new premises in Easton and the showroom in the square was demolished in the early 1990s. By the mid-1970s, a large section of the recreation ground to the north of the square had been turned into an extension of the adjacent car park.
In 1985, work commenced on the construction of a £2 million pumping station at the former gas works site, as part of a £33 million modernisation scheme for Weymouth and Portland's sewerage system. The station at Victoria Square was built as Portland's primary one, with smaller stations at Southwell and Portland Bill. It was constructed by Lilley Construction Ltd of Glasgow and opened by the Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Councillor D. J. Hall, on 6 March 1987. The sewerage scheme, including Victoria Square's station, was designed by J. R. Kemble, engineer for Weymouth & Portland Borough Council and agent for the Wessex Water Authority. The station remains active and collects all of the island's sewage before it is transported to Wyke Regis for treatment and then discharged into West Bay.
Recent developments at Victoria Square
In 1995, a refurbishment scheme, under the Portland Single Regeneration Programme, was carried out in the square. A commemorative stone was unveiled on 6 September 1996 by the Duke of York to commemorate the project. Later in 2004, two ornamental Portland stone pillars, known as the Golden Jubilee Gateway, were placed on the grassland north of the square. Unveiled in June by Portland mayor Steve Flew and the borough mayor Doug Hollings, the pillars were designed to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 and act as a "gateway to Portland". It was originally intended for them to be sited in Ferry Bridge area.
Near the site of the demolished Chesil Beach Motors showroom is now the premises of the Portline Taxi company. During the beginning of the 21st century, the Royal Victoria Hotel was refurbished and reopened as the Masons and Mariners. It closed in 2009 and re-opened under its original name two years later, before closing again in 2013. The building was subsequently sold and in 2020 the building was refurbished and converted into five apartments with retail/office space on the ground floor.
Grade listed buildings
Portland Skate Park
The surviving section of the nearby recreation ground not to be transformed into a car park would later become a Skate Park, known simply as Portland Skate Park. Portland has the distinction of being home to the UK's first skate park, Skateboard Escape, which was located at Tophill near Portland Heights. It had been built in 1977-78 by Lorne Edwards, a local businessman. However, the park was later removed after Edwards and the local council had disagreements over the planning application process and taxation.
The Portland Skate Park at Victoria Square was established around 2005 at a cost of £20,000. However, by 2009, the park's equipment had suffered from extensive rusting and other structural issues, despite having a life expectancy of a decade. Weymouth & Portland Borough Council attempted to get the manufacturers to refurbish the equipment, but they refused to do it. However, the park, set to be removed, was given a new lease of life when work commenced on a new skate park at the same site. The £200,000 project was funded as part of the South West Regional Development Agency's sale agreement on the nearby Officers Field. The Portland Skate Park Users Group worked alongside local skaters to design the park, with the developers Freestyle assisting in the construction of the park. It was officially opened on 13 November 2010, with 150 young people from across Dorset attending the event.
Commemorative stones
In 1978, the square's roundabout was chosen for the placing of the 'Tower Stone' memorial. Designed and sculptured by Cecil Arthur 'Skylark' Durston M.B.E., it was unveiled by Major General W.D.M Raeburn C.B., D.S.O, M.B.E., M.A., Governor of the Tower of London, on 27 May 1978. The event commemorated 900 years of local government (1078-1978) and that the earliest known national building to use Portland stone was the Tower of London.
Overlooking the square is a stone memorial containing a bronze plaque which commemorates and provides a brief history of the Weymouth and Portland Railway. The plaque, which has a 1903 boundary marker embedded into it, was produced in 1977 by the Department of the Environment's Property Services Agency. It was originally installed into the stonework of RNAS Portland's Victoria Gate Guardroom in 1978. With the closure of the base and the subsequent demolition of the guardroom, the plaque was retained and moved to its present position during the 2000s by the South West Regional Development Agency.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Masonic Lodge, Victoria Square, Underhill - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Portland Gas Works - Paul Benyon - website page
3) BBC News - 'Rusty' skate park set to close - June 2009 - website page
4) Countrybus.co.uk - Smiths of Portland - website page
5) Discover Dorset: Portland - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 1998 - ISBN: 978-1874336495 - page 13 - book
6) Disused Stations Site Record - Portland 1st Site - Nick Catford - website page
7) Disused Stations Site Record - Portland 2nd Site - Nick Catford - website page
8) Dorset Echo - Former pub the Royal Victoria Lodge to be transformed into shop and five apartments - George Smith - January 2016 - website page
9) Dorset Echo - Mayors unite at the opening of island gateway - June 2004 - website page
10) Dorset Echo - Portland Skate Park officially open - Laura Kitching - November 2010 - website page
11) Dorset Echo - Royal Victoria Lodge re-opens on Portland - Arron Hendy - March 2011 - website page
12) Dorset for You - Appraisal of the Conservation Areas of Portland - PDF document
13) Dorset for You - Storms and Coastal Defences at Chiswell - Dorset Coast Forum - PDF document
14) Exploring Portland - Northern Chiswell and Northern Fortuneswell - Geoff Kirby - website page
15) Free Portland News - Portland 40 Years Ago: 1978 (Taken from the late George Davey's diary) - February 2018 - Issue No. 472
16) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - Little Ship, Victoria Square - website page
17) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - Royal Victoria Hotel, Victoria Square - website page
18) Isle of Portland Official Guide - Portland Urban District Council - Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd, Chelternham and London - circa 1955 - page 23 - book
19) Little Book of Dorset - David Hilliam - The History Press - 2010 - ISBN: 978-0752457048 - page 83 - book
20) Mocavo UK - Film Year Book 1922-23 (The 1922-23 Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures), Volume 1922-23, Page 248 - website page
21) Official 1996 stone plaque, commemorating Victoria Square refurbishment scheme
22) Official 1978 'Tower Stone' monument plaque at Victoria Square
23) Online Parish Clerks - Portland: 1881 Cenus RG11/2107 - website page
24) Opening of the Chesil Sea Defence and Victoria Square Pumping Station - 1987 - booklet
25) Ordnance Survey - various maps, including 1864, 1891, 1903, 1929 and 1974 + Tithe map of 1841
26) Pastscape - Monument No. 1420321 - website page
27) Pastscape - Monument No. 1420418 - website page
28) Pastscape - Monument No. 1420494 - website page
29) Portland Picture Archive - Chiswell - Geoff Kirby - website page
30) Portland Picture Archive - Public Houses - Geoff Kirby - website page
31) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 1985 - ISBN: 978-0946159345 - pages 102, 121, 124 - book
32) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
33) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland 1750-1851 - J. H. Bettey - University of Bristol - 1970 - ISBN: 978-0901047052 - pages 71-73 - book
34) View from Online - Portland: Skaters flock back to new park - Paul Crompton - April 2011 - website page
35) Vintage Skateboard Magazines - Skateboard! (UK) Issue 1 (Premier Issue - August 1977) - website page
36) Weymouth and Portland Borough Council - Draft Appraisal of the Conservation Areas of Portland - Appendix B - PDF document
History
Establishment of Victoria Square
Victoria Square's development in the early 1860s came as a result of the Portland Branch Railway, which extended the existing line from Weymouth to Portland. Prior to the arrival of the railway, the site which became Victoria Square was largely undeveloped common land at the entrance of Chiswell. The first building on the site was a poorhouse, opened in 1781 as the second such facility on the island. It was erected and maintained by the Portland parish and later rebuilt in 1810-13, which saw the house provided with a substantial garden. With the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, Portland's two poorhouses were closed and soon replaced by a workhouse in Weymouth, operated by the Weymouth Poor Law Union. The poorhouse at the entrance of Underhill was sold in 1840, while Captain Charles Augustus Manning of Portland Castle became the tenant of the former poorhouse garden in 1838.
Construction of a railway line to Portland commenced in 1862 and opened on 16 October 1865, terminating at a station which was erected at the entrance to Underhill. In the effort to develop the area around the station, Captain Manning acquired the land and transformed it into Victoria Square at his sole expense. The original development included the Royal Victoria Lodge Hotel and a terrace opposite known as Victoria Buildings, all built by Mr Richard Reynolds of Weymouth. The hotel, which was erected on the site of the poorhouse, was primarily built to address the perceived lack of nearby accommodation available to railway passengers.
The square also became the site of the Portland Gas Works, designed by Mr. Robert Bennett of Weymouth and built by Mr. John Patten of Portland in 1863-64. A facility of considerable size, the works' original features included a gas holder, tank and retort house, along with various stores, offices and workshops. Reporting of the works' construction in 1863, the Dorset County Chronicle commented: "These works is an epoch in the history of Portland, and are almost as great as the far-famed Breakwater, as they will serve to enlighten the darkness which has existed for ages in the Island."
Late 19th century and early 20th century expansion and development
Victoria Square expanded further over the course of the 19th century. The Terminus Hotel opened near Victoria Buildings in 1867 and was renamed the Little Ship in 1972. A sawmill built by the Portland Stone Company was erected at "great expense" next to the railway station around 1872, and later purchased by F. J. Barnes in 1891. In 1878-79, Portland's original Masonic Hall, designed by Mr. R. Bennett, was built in the square by Mr. J. Patten, with carvings by Mr E. H. Grassby of Dorchester. During the late 19th century, an observatory was also established near the gas works by Rev. William Robert Morris Waugh.
During 1898-99, a new, larger masonic hall, designed by Portland Urban District Council's engineer Mr. E. Elford, was constructed within the square by Mr. Whettam of Weymouth, opposite the original. The MP Colonel Brymer laid the foundation stone on 16 June and it opened on 20 April 1899. The Western Gazette described the building as having been "constructed more with a view to its utility than with regard to its external appearance". With the establishment of the Easton and Church Hope Railway, which opened to passengers in 1902, the decision was made to build a new station to replace the original one in front of the square. A temporary platform was used until the new station was completed and opened in 1905, with the original station then becoming a goods depot.
During the 1910s, two cinemas were opened on Portland; the Easton Palace in Easton and the Palace at Victoria Square, located on the ground floor of the 1898 masonic hall. Both were established by the pioneering English theatre proprietor and cinema developer Albany Ward, who owned a number of cinemas in the West Country and the Channel Islands. The one at the masonic hall later closed in 1934. During the 1920s, a recreation ground was laid north of the 1898 masonic hall, while the sawmill site by the railway closed in 1935.
Mid-20th century development and flooding
In 1940, as part of anti-invasion measures during World War II, a minefield was laid alongside the main A354 road and as far as behind and alongside the masonic hall. In addition to this, an anti-tank trap, made up of concrete blocks, was set-up nearby on the pebble bank of Chesil Beach, along with beach scaffolding. Victoria Square and Chiswell suffered from extensive flooding in December 1942, which was described as the worst seen in the area in over a century. Later in 1944, Portland and Weymouth became major D-Day embarkation points for Allied Forces and the Royal Victoria Lodge was used as a makeshift hospital. Portland's Gas Works, which had been taken over by the Portland Urban District Council in 1900, closed in 1959 and was subsequently demolished and replaced with a contractors yard.
Portland's railway operated for goods trains until 1965, having closed to passengers in 1952. By the end of the 1950s, the 1905 station's buildings had been removed though the platforms were still in existence, while the original station was demolished in 1969 and replaced with a roundabout. All surviving platforms of the 1905 station, along with the track, were removed by the early 1970s. In 1977, the bus operator Smiths of Portland had outgrown its base in Easton and moved to the former Southern National garage in Victoria Square, where they remained until the end of the 20th century. Meanwhile, 1970s expansion of the neighbouring RNAS Portland (HMS Osprey) saw much of the grassland to the north of the square enclosed. The Victoria Gate Guardroom was located on the southern edge of the station, facing Victoria Square. Following the station's closure in 1999, the perimeter fencing was removed soon afterwards.
Despite the construction of a sea wall at Chesil Cove between 1958-65, major flooding of both Chiswell and Victoria Square was seen in December 1978 and February 1979. Further flood prevention measures were added between 1981 and 1988. Owing to the two floods, the Chesil Beach Motors' showroom and filling station, next door to the Little Ship, went on to relocate to new premises in Easton and the showroom in the square was demolished in the early 1990s. By the mid-1970s, a large section of the recreation ground to the north of the square had been turned into an extension of the adjacent car park.
In 1985, work commenced on the construction of a £2 million pumping station at the former gas works site, as part of a £33 million modernisation scheme for Weymouth and Portland's sewerage system. The station at Victoria Square was built as Portland's primary one, with smaller stations at Southwell and Portland Bill. It was constructed by Lilley Construction Ltd of Glasgow and opened by the Mayor of Weymouth and Portland, Councillor D. J. Hall, on 6 March 1987. The sewerage scheme, including Victoria Square's station, was designed by J. R. Kemble, engineer for Weymouth & Portland Borough Council and agent for the Wessex Water Authority. The station remains active and collects all of the island's sewage before it is transported to Wyke Regis for treatment and then discharged into West Bay.
Recent developments at Victoria Square
In 1995, a refurbishment scheme, under the Portland Single Regeneration Programme, was carried out in the square. A commemorative stone was unveiled on 6 September 1996 by the Duke of York to commemorate the project. Later in 2004, two ornamental Portland stone pillars, known as the Golden Jubilee Gateway, were placed on the grassland north of the square. Unveiled in June by Portland mayor Steve Flew and the borough mayor Doug Hollings, the pillars were designed to commemorate the Queen's Golden Jubilee in 2002 and act as a "gateway to Portland". It was originally intended for them to be sited in Ferry Bridge area.
Near the site of the demolished Chesil Beach Motors showroom is now the premises of the Portline Taxi company. During the beginning of the 21st century, the Royal Victoria Hotel was refurbished and reopened as the Masons and Mariners. It closed in 2009 and re-opened under its original name two years later, before closing again in 2013. The building was subsequently sold and in 2020 the building was refurbished and converted into five apartments with retail/office space on the ground floor.
Grade listed buildings
- The Little Ship became a Grade II listed building in May 1993. The building, externally, is a "complete example of a modest classical-style Victorian pub". In their survey Historic England noted the pub's "very important" position in the square.
- The Royal Victoria Hotel also became Grade II listed at the same time. Again it holds an important position on the corner of the Square, complimenting The Little Ship opposite.
Portland Skate Park
The surviving section of the nearby recreation ground not to be transformed into a car park would later become a Skate Park, known simply as Portland Skate Park. Portland has the distinction of being home to the UK's first skate park, Skateboard Escape, which was located at Tophill near Portland Heights. It had been built in 1977-78 by Lorne Edwards, a local businessman. However, the park was later removed after Edwards and the local council had disagreements over the planning application process and taxation.
The Portland Skate Park at Victoria Square was established around 2005 at a cost of £20,000. However, by 2009, the park's equipment had suffered from extensive rusting and other structural issues, despite having a life expectancy of a decade. Weymouth & Portland Borough Council attempted to get the manufacturers to refurbish the equipment, but they refused to do it. However, the park, set to be removed, was given a new lease of life when work commenced on a new skate park at the same site. The £200,000 project was funded as part of the South West Regional Development Agency's sale agreement on the nearby Officers Field. The Portland Skate Park Users Group worked alongside local skaters to design the park, with the developers Freestyle assisting in the construction of the park. It was officially opened on 13 November 2010, with 150 young people from across Dorset attending the event.
Commemorative stones
In 1978, the square's roundabout was chosen for the placing of the 'Tower Stone' memorial. Designed and sculptured by Cecil Arthur 'Skylark' Durston M.B.E., it was unveiled by Major General W.D.M Raeburn C.B., D.S.O, M.B.E., M.A., Governor of the Tower of London, on 27 May 1978. The event commemorated 900 years of local government (1078-1978) and that the earliest known national building to use Portland stone was the Tower of London.
Overlooking the square is a stone memorial containing a bronze plaque which commemorates and provides a brief history of the Weymouth and Portland Railway. The plaque, which has a 1903 boundary marker embedded into it, was produced in 1977 by the Department of the Environment's Property Services Agency. It was originally installed into the stonework of RNAS Portland's Victoria Gate Guardroom in 1978. With the closure of the base and the subsequent demolition of the guardroom, the plaque was retained and moved to its present position during the 2000s by the South West Regional Development Agency.
References
The following is an A-Z list of references for this page.
1) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Masonic Lodge, Victoria Square, Underhill - Paul Benyon - website page
2) Ancestry.com - Genealogy - Portland Year Book 1905 - Portland Gas Works - Paul Benyon - website page
3) BBC News - 'Rusty' skate park set to close - June 2009 - website page
4) Countrybus.co.uk - Smiths of Portland - website page
5) Discover Dorset: Portland - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 1998 - ISBN: 978-1874336495 - page 13 - book
6) Disused Stations Site Record - Portland 1st Site - Nick Catford - website page
7) Disused Stations Site Record - Portland 2nd Site - Nick Catford - website page
8) Dorset Echo - Former pub the Royal Victoria Lodge to be transformed into shop and five apartments - George Smith - January 2016 - website page
9) Dorset Echo - Mayors unite at the opening of island gateway - June 2004 - website page
10) Dorset Echo - Portland Skate Park officially open - Laura Kitching - November 2010 - website page
11) Dorset Echo - Royal Victoria Lodge re-opens on Portland - Arron Hendy - March 2011 - website page
12) Dorset for You - Appraisal of the Conservation Areas of Portland - PDF document
13) Dorset for You - Storms and Coastal Defences at Chiswell - Dorset Coast Forum - PDF document
14) Exploring Portland - Northern Chiswell and Northern Fortuneswell - Geoff Kirby - website page
15) Free Portland News - Portland 40 Years Ago: 1978 (Taken from the late George Davey's diary) - February 2018 - Issue No. 472
16) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - Little Ship, Victoria Square - website page
17) Historic England - The National Heritage List for England - Royal Victoria Hotel, Victoria Square - website page
18) Isle of Portland Official Guide - Portland Urban District Council - Ed. J. Burrow & Co. Ltd, Chelternham and London - circa 1955 - page 23 - book
19) Little Book of Dorset - David Hilliam - The History Press - 2010 - ISBN: 978-0752457048 - page 83 - book
20) Mocavo UK - Film Year Book 1922-23 (The 1922-23 Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures), Volume 1922-23, Page 248 - website page
21) Official 1996 stone plaque, commemorating Victoria Square refurbishment scheme
22) Official 1978 'Tower Stone' monument plaque at Victoria Square
23) Online Parish Clerks - Portland: 1881 Cenus RG11/2107 - website page
24) Opening of the Chesil Sea Defence and Victoria Square Pumping Station - 1987 - booklet
25) Ordnance Survey - various maps, including 1864, 1891, 1903, 1929 and 1974 + Tithe map of 1841
26) Pastscape - Monument No. 1420321 - website page
27) Pastscape - Monument No. 1420418 - website page
28) Pastscape - Monument No. 1420494 - website page
29) Portland Picture Archive - Chiswell - Geoff Kirby - website page
30) Portland Picture Archive - Public Houses - Geoff Kirby - website page
31) Portland: An Illustrated History - Stuart Morris - Dovecote Press - 1985 - ISBN: 978-0946159345 - pages 102, 121, 124 - book
32) The British Newspaper Archive - various contemporary newspaper articles - website page
33) The Island and Royal Manor of Portland 1750-1851 - J. H. Bettey - University of Bristol - 1970 - ISBN: 978-0901047052 - pages 71-73 - book
34) View from Online - Portland: Skaters flock back to new park - Paul Crompton - April 2011 - website page
35) Vintage Skateboard Magazines - Skateboard! (UK) Issue 1 (Premier Issue - August 1977) - website page
36) Weymouth and Portland Borough Council - Draft Appraisal of the Conservation Areas of Portland - Appendix B - PDF document
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