Poole Harbour - History

History

In 1964 during an archeological dig by the York Archaeological Trust, the fortified remains of a 2000 year old Iron Age longboat were found preserved in the mud off Brownsea Island. Dated at 295 BC, the 10 metres (33 ft) Poole Logboat is the earliest known artifact from the harbour. It would have been based at Green Island in the harbour, and carried up to 18 people. It is thought to have been used for continental trade and was estimated to have weighed 14 tonnes.

Poole was used by the Romans as an invasion port for the conquest of southern England, who established the settlement at Hamworthy, now the western half of Poole. A Roman Road ran north from Hamworthy to Badbury Rings, a Roman transport hub. At the time of the Norman Conquest Poole was a small fishing village.

The port grew and in 1433 Poole was made Dorset's Port of the Staple for the export of wool. Medieval Poole had trading links from the Baltics to Italy. In the 17th century the town began trading with North America, in particular Newfoundland, and the town became very wealthy. In the 18th century Poole was the principal British port trading with North America. At the start of the 19th century 90% of Poole's population's employment was directly dependent on the harbour, but this dropped to 20% during the century as the railways reached the town, and deep hulled boats moved up the coast to Southampton, which had a deeper harbour and is closer to London. With regular dredging of a channel through the harbour it has regained some importance.

The largest ship to enter the harbour is Brittany Ferries 29,438 tonne Armorique on 2 February 2010 with the second largest being the 24,534 tonne Bretagne which arrived in the port for the first time on 27 February 2007. The previous holder of that title was the 20,133 tonne Barfleur which began operating from the port in 1992.