The story behind Wareham’s Street Names By Lilian Ladle, MBE Walking around Wareham, we take the street names for-granted – after all, they have been there, unchanging for centuries – or have they? For example, they describe location (North Street, South Street, East Street, West Street), buildings such as churches (Trinity Lane), lost buildings (St …
How would our Wareham Saxon ancestors have celebrated Christmas? Did you know that the word Christmas orginates from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘Cristesmæsse’ – first recorded in 1038? Saxon Yule Festivities The date to celebrate Christ’s birth was actually decided in the 4th century by Pope Julius I, long before the Anglo-Saxon invasion of England. The …
By local historian Lilian Ladle July 1762 had been very hot and dry, Sunday 25th was no different, but was relieved by a strong breeze. About three o’clock in the afternoon at the back of the Bull’s Head Inn (now Lloyds Bank), hot ashes were thrown onto a rubbish heap which quickly caught alight. The …
Wareham History By Lilian Ladle Roman Industrial Activity and Black Burnished Ware Production in Wareham Today, when you drive down the Wareham by-pass near the Purbeck School, most people are unaware that 2000 or so years ago this area was a hive of Roman industrial activity. Pottery production took place on a huge scale, not …
The history of Wareham… By Lilian Ladle, MBE The modern spelling ‘Wareham’ only became current in the late 15th century. We have to go back to the year 784 AD when the town was first recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which stated that Beorhtric, king of the West Saxons was buried at ‘Werham’. However, the …
