76-415: The Swanage Railway is a railway branch line from near Wareham, Dorset to Swanage , Dorset, England, opened in 1885 and now operated as a heritage railway . The independent company which built it was amalgamated with the larger London and South Western Railway in 1886. The passenger service was withdrawn in 1972, leaving a residual freight service over part of the line handling mineral traffic. After
152-657: A castle on the banks of the River Frome, at a site acquired from the Abbot of Shaftesbury and now known as Castle Close, which became the focus of much fighting between the forces of Stephen and Matilda during the period of civil war in the mid 12th century. The keep was destroyed at an unknown date in the 12th or 13th century, possibly under the terms of the Treaty of Wallingford , and no visible trace remains. Up until this time Wareham had been an important port; however
228-512: A market town , and still holds a market on Thursdays and Saturdays. In 2005 Wareham was named as a Fairtrade Town . Events held in the town include the annual carnival which takes place in July with a parade, fireworks and music by the Quay. A new event is the music festival held in summer, with bands playing on the Quay, at Wareham Town Hall and in the town's pubs. The Wareham Court Leet, one of
304-601: A branch of the firm in Purbeck. He signed a contract with Wedgwood in 1791. Originally the output was taken by horse to Wareham , from where it was taken by barge on the River Frome to Poole Harbour . William's sons (William Joseph and John William) took over the business and formed the company as Pike Bros. Wedgwood's success increased demand so much that the horses struggled to keep pace. The nearest competitor, Benjamin Fayle at nearby Norden, had built Dorset's first railway -
380-526: A child, the last train departed a gas-lit Swanage station platform at 10.15pm before passing through Corfe Castle at 10.24pm and pulling into Wareham at 10.40pm. At Furzebrook, the railway crossed the mineral tramway belonging to Pike Brothers, known as the Furzebrook Railway ; the tramway was used for the transport of ball clay . No connection was made at first, and the Furzebrook line used
456-569: A large conifer plantation, Wareham Forest stretches several miles to the A35 road and the southern foothills of the Dorset Downs . To the south east is Corfe Castle and the heathland that borders Poole Harbour, including Wytch Farm oil field and Studland & Godlingstone Heath Nature Reserve . About four miles (7 km) to the south is a chalk ridge, the Purbeck Hills which faces
532-504: A major pastime, and through trains from London were instituted in this period. The train service was gradually augmented; in the winter of 1931 there were thirteen daily passenger trains on the branch. The ball clay and other mineral workings on the Isle of Purbeck had not been connected to the branch at first, but by this time rail connections were made and the minerals were transported away by rail. The railways of Great Britain were subject to
608-520: A motorbike accident. Wareham Town Museum , in East Street, has an interesting section on Lawrence and in 2006 produced an hour-long DVD entitled T. E. Lawrence — His Final Years in Dorset , including a reconstruction of the fatal accident. The museum also contains many artefacts on all aspects of the history of the town. The Royal Air Force Air Cadets has an Air Training Corps squadron based in
684-564: A museum of steam and railway technology. In 1975, after many interventions by local residents, the STC finally granted the Society limited facilities on the Swanage station site. In 1975, DCC acquired the railway land between the end of the line at Furzebrook and Northbrook Road bridge in Swanage, and undertook to "give further consideration" to routes for a Corfe Castle by-pass. The Society piloted
760-513: A national average of 21%. The largest industry of employment for those who live in Wareham is manufacturing which employs 16.3%. Three other significant areas of employment are: wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles (13.5%), real estate renting and business activities (12.2%) and health and social work (10.5%). [REDACTED] Wareham travel guide from Wikivoyage Furzebrook Railway The Furzebrook Railway , also known as
836-469: A passenger-carrying standard, overgrown embankments and drains cleared, a quarter-mile-long embankment upgraded, and half-a-mile of new railway track laid. The £950,000 work also involved the installation of a level crossing across the Wytch Farm oil field access road near Norden station, and the creation of a nearby road-rail interchange for locomotives and carriages. The interchange construction involved
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#1732765275881912-482: A project has been started to restore them. 4 out of the 11 are complete, with 1 currently being worked on: Swanage Railway recovered a stone based LSWR water tower from Salisbury, and is currently relocating the tower to the South East side of Northbrook Road Bridge. It will also install a Spring Water Extraction System which will save money in the longer term because it is currently dependent on treated water from
988-523: A repeat service on 2 April 2009. The first public passenger-carrying steam service since 1967 was "The Dorset Coast Express" from London Victoria on Saturday 2 May 2009, which was hauled by a Southern Railway Battle of Britain class Bulleid Pacific locomotive number 34067 Tangmere . The first Swanage-to-Wareham steam service since 1967 was "The Royal Wessex" on Monday 4 May 2009, hauled by 34067 Tangmere . Trains operate between Swanage and Norden Park & Ride every weekend and Bank Holiday from January to
1064-537: A river wharf, and the Middlebere Plateway which conveyed the mineral to Poole Harbour; however the proprietors of those lines were slow to arrange interchange facilities with the Swanage Railway. There was one intermediate station, at Corfe Castle . Gradients were undulating, with a ruling gradient of 1 in 76 or 1 in 80, falling for one mile (1.6 km) from Worgret Junction and then rising to
1140-541: A station on the South West Main Line railway, and was formerly the junction station for services along the branch line to Swanage, now preserved as the Swanage Railway . The steam railway has ambitions to extend its service, currently from Swanage to Norden, near Corfe Castle back to Worgret Junction (where the mainline and branch divided) and into Wareham again. To the north west of the town
1216-561: A successful application by the Southern Steam Group to the Charity Commissioners for charitable status, and subsequently both the Society and the residents' group joined the new Southern Steam Trust. In 1979, a short line was re-opened the length of King George's playing fields. This was extended, first to Herston Halt, and then to Harman's Cross in 1988, neither of which had been stations previously. In 1995,
1292-489: A summit at Furzebrook; falling again to Corfe Castle and rising to a summit about halfway to Swanage, and then falling. The first train service consisted of five passenger trains each way and a daily goods train; the latter was amalgamated with the passenger service by the operation of mixed trains from 1 August 1885. The Swanage Railway was amalgamated with the LSWR by an act of Parliament of 25 June 1886. This merely formalised
1368-558: Is divided into four quarters by the two main roads, which cross at right-angles. The medieval almshouses escaped the fire, and some of the Georgian façades are in fact disguising earlier buildings which also survived. With the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, Wareham became a garrison town with up to 7,000 soldiers living and training locally. The camp was re-located to nearby Bovington in 1922. The town survived
1444-599: Is situated on the River Frome eight miles (13 km) southwest of Poole . The town is built on a strategic dry point between the River Frome and the River Piddle at the head of the Wareham Channel of Poole Harbour . The Frome Valley runs through an area of unresistant sand, clay and gravel rocks, and much of its valley has wide flood plains and marsh land. At its estuary the river has formed
1520-401: Is the town's local weekly newspaper. Thomas Hardy in his novels based the town of "Anglebury" on Wareham. Dinah Craik used the town as one of the settings in her novel Agatha's Husband (as "Kingcombe"). Anglebury House - a tea house/restaurant still operating on the high street - was frequented by T E Lawrence . The seat where Lawrence regularly sat is marked by a plaque. Wareham is
1596-650: The Bronze Age . The first house discovered dates to the mid 15th century BCE. Archaeological evidence exists of a small Roman settlement, though the current town was founded by the Saxons . The Roman name is unknown, but the town is referred to as Werham in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry of 784, from Old English wer (meaning 'fish trap, a weir') and hām ('homestead') or hamm ('enclosure hemmed in by water'). The town's oldest features are
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#17327652758811672-873: The House of Commons . Until 31 January 2020, they were also within the South West England constituency of the European Parliament . Prior to 2019, Wareham was also part of the Purbeck District of Dorset, before it was merged with other districts to the Dorset Unitary Authority. Wareham is twinned with Conches-en-Ouche in Normandy , France and with Hemsbach in Germany . Since the 16th century Wareham has been
1748-687: The Isle of Wight to the east, and eight miles (12 km) to the south is the English Channel . The town's strategic setting has made it an important settlement throughout its long history. Excavations at the nearby Bestwall site have produced evidence of transient early Mesolithic activity dating to around 9000 BCE . At the same site four large Neolithic pits containing worked flint and pottery fragments dating to 3700 BCE were found. Three green stone axeheads discovered also probably date to this period. Flint working and potting continued throughout
1824-646: The Middlebere Plateway to take his clay to the south shore of Poole Harbour in 1806. Around 1840 the Pike Brothers William Joseph and John William followed suit by building the Furzebrook Railway to Ridge, about half a mile downstream from Wareham. The line was engineered with a continual downhill gradient, and loaded clay wagons were run by gravity , with the empty wagons being hauled back by horses. To facilitate this, some wagons were equipped with sledge brakes acting directly on
1900-664: The Pike Brothers' Tramway , was a narrow gauge industrial railway on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset . It was built by the Pike Brothers , to take Purbeck Ball Clay from their clay pits near Furzebrook and West Creech to a wharf at Ridge on the River Frome . Clay Merchant Joseph Pike created his firm around 1760 in Chudleigh in Devon, but it was his son William Pike (born 1762) who started
1976-503: The Railways Act 1922 by which most of them were "grouped", and the LSWR became a constituent of the new Southern Railway . The Transport Act 1947 imposed further reorganisation, taking the railways into national ownership under British Railways in 1948. In the period after 1945, the local trains on the branch were operated as push and pull trains . Through carriages from Weymouth trains were conveyed by some branch trains and if
2052-559: The Second World War largely intact, although five houses were destroyed when a bomb dropped by a German aeroplane fell near St Martin's Church in 1942. Because of the constraints of the rivers and marshland Wareham grew little during the 20th century, while nearby towns, such as Poole , grew rapidly. Wareham contains several places of worship with the oldest being the Saxon churches of Lady St. Mary (substantially modified but
2128-485: The Second World War . The civil parish of Wareham Town encompasses the walled town of Wareham, situated on the land between the rivers Frome and Piddle, together with the area of Northport to the north of the River Piddle, and a relatively small amount of the surrounding rural area. The parish has an area of 6.52 square kilometres (2.52 square miles). The sister civil parish of Wareham St. Martin covers much of
2204-518: The Swanage Pier Act 1859 ( 22 & 23 Vict. c. lxxvii), on 8 August 1859. John Mowlem was prominent in generating local support. The scheme involved about 4 miles (6.4 km) of line, running on to the pier at Swanage, from which coastal vessels would be loaded directly. In fact, only a short section was built, from the pier to an area on the sea front called The Bankers where stone blocks were prepared for transit. Horse traction only
2280-503: The Swanage Railway Act 1881 ( 44 & 45 Vict. c. clix), on 18 July 1881, with share capital of £90,000 and permitted debenture borrowings of £30,000. It was built under the supervision of consulting civil engineer W. R. Galbraith . The line was opened on 20 May 1885 and was operated from the start by the LSWR. The branch diverged from the main line at Worgret Junction, over one mile (1.6 km) west of Wareham station;
2356-774: The Martyr Roman Catholic church on Shatters Hill, Wareham Methodist Church in North St. and the Evangelical Church in Ropers Lane. Sections of the churchyard of Lady St. Mary are managed by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission , containing as it does a number of graves of servicemen who died in a nearby military hospital during the First World War and others, including those of German and Polish servicemen, from
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2432-490: The Purbeck branch line was once again complete, thirty years to the day after it was closed. On 8 September 2002, a brand new Virgin CrossCountry Class 220 Voyager diesel multiple unit , no. 220018, became the first mainline train to use the new temporary track, when it made a special journey to Swanage, where it was named Dorset Voyager . On 10 May 2007, the permanent connection with Network Rail network
2508-495: The Society's plans to restore the railway. DCC planned to build a by-pass for Corfe Castle on the railway land, while STC started to demolish Swanage station. To break the impasse, the Railway Society formed two daughter organisations: the Swanage and Wareham Railway Group, composed of local residents prepared to lobby the local authorities, and the Southern Steam Group, to collect historic railway rolling stock and establish
2584-437: The Swanage branch to NR's main line near Wareham. The upgrade enables scheduled train services to operate between Wareham, Corfe Castle and Swanage. Swanage Railway ran its first diesel-hauled passenger train into Wareham station on 13 June 2017, to mark the start of a two-year trial public service using diesel trains operating on 60 days during that summer. Trains with diesel locomotives at each end were used because of delays in
2660-621: The Swanage line was to be closed by September 1968. However, due to opposition focused on the problems in providing a replacement bus service during the summer months, the closure was deferred. A Department of the Environment Inspector ruled that the line should remain open, but that decision was later overturned by the Secretary of State for the Environment . The line closed to passenger services from 3 January 1972, this
2736-440: The branch engine was propelling the branch coaches, the attached main line coaches would be behind the locomotive, which was sandwiched. In the 1960s, usage of rural branch lines declined rapidly as road transport for both goods and passengers improved. However, the line was not mentioned in the report The Reshaping of British Railways , published in 1963, which recommended the closure of many such lines. From 1966, steam traction
2812-502: The branch was 10 + 1 ⁄ 4 miles (16.5 km) in length and single track. An extension from Swanage station to the pier tramway had been authorised by the Act, and would be built "if required by the LSWR", but the larger company did not activate this requirement and the pier line was not proceeded with. The branch intersected the pre-existing Furzebrook Railway , a narrow gauge industrial tramway concerned with conveying ball clay to
2888-409: The clay was processed locally, but much of the mineral output was transported away for use elsewhere. Movement of heavy minerals was chiefly by coastal shipping, and in some cases simple tramways were built for movement within the quarries and to the various loading points situated within the natural Poole Harbour. The Southampton and Dorchester Railway opened its main line through Wareham in 1847; it
2964-509: The clay, and the last use of the Furzebrook Railway was in 1957. The locomotives used by the railway include: The line's engine shed at Ridge still exists, and is a listed building . The route of the line from Ridge to Furzebrook can be traced on the ground and on maps. As noted above, the steam locomotive Secundus has survived. A weighbridge building of similar design to the Ridge engine shed also survives at Furzebrook Works, adjacent to
3040-480: The country operate over this section. The Swanage Railway has won the annual Institution of Civil Engineers' (ICE) South West Engineering Award 2017 in ICE's projects costing less than £1 million category. Part of the Swanage Railway's "Project Wareham", the £950,000 work took place over two years between Norden station and half-a-mile short of Worgret Junction: three miles of little-used former Network Rail line restored to
3116-438: The de facto position, as the LSWR had taken over Swanage Railway liabilities of £2,914 in 1881 and was effectively its paymaster from then. The existing small Wareham station east of the level crossing was superseded by a larger station west of it, capable of acting as the junction interchange point. The new station was opened on 4 April 1887. In the first decade of the twentieth century, taking holidays at seaside resorts became
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3192-475: The end of the Saxon period, Wareham had become one of the most important towns in the county, to the extent that it housed two mints for the issue of Royal money. The Burghal Hidage lists the town as 1,600 hides , the third largest in the realm. During the Norman conquest of England , in late 1067, William I harried the town as his army passed into the west to lay siege to Exeter . The Normans later built
3268-557: The end of the year, and every day of the week from Easter to the end of October. Each year during December, the railway runs Santa Special services as a seasonal attraction. At summer peak times, trains operate up to every 40 minutes, which is one of the highest-frequency operations on a heritage railway in the UK. As well as the main Society, other groups are based at the Railway. The Southern Catering Project Group has railway wagons stored on
3344-687: The excavation of 2,500 cubic metres of earth that was recycled and used to extend a quarter-mile-long embankment near Furzebrook. In 2021, the government announced that the line had been approved for additional funding as part of its "Reverse Beeching" proposals to restore lines closed by the Beeching Report (though the Swanage Railway was not included in the original report). Regular summer services were planned to start in 2022: however, they were then postponed to 2023. A four-day-a-week service has been announced to run between 4 April and 10 September 2023. The railway has numerous heritage carriages and
3420-622: The few remaining Court Leets in Britain, meets nightly during the last week in November. In the church of St Martin-on-the-Walls, there is a recumbent effigy of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) in Arab clothing, sculpted by Eric Kennington . Lawrence is buried at Moreton Churchyard where every year a quantity (decreases by one each year) of red roses are left. Near the town is Clouds Hill and Bovington army camp where Lawrence died after
3496-590: The growth of Poole and the gradual silting of the river caused a decline in trade and by the end of the 13th century most of the foreign trade had transferred to Poole. Local trade continued to be handled at the Quay until the construction of the railway in the 19th century. During the English Civil War , Wareham changed hands several times between the Royalists and Parliamentarians and in August 1644
3572-419: The interchange point. Even after steam locomotives were introduced, gravity propulsion was not entirely abandoned. Up to the second world war, a well known sight was a single wagon train carrying clay pit workers back to their homes in Ridge in this way. The line terminated at the Swanage Railway branch, with the line to Ridge being removed by the military. In 1955 road transport started to be used to transport
3648-554: The loading of crude oil from the Wytch Farm oilfield; the wells were 3 miles (4.8 km) distant, oil being brought to the site by pipeline. The sidings were adjacent to the clay trans-shipment site on the branch. In May 1972, the Swanage Railway Society was formed with the objective of restoring an all-the-year-round community railway service linking to the main line at Wareham, which would be 'subsidised' by
3724-530: The main-line junction at Worgret remained in use for ball clay traffic, later also serving the oilfield at Wytch Farm . BR had intended to sell the Swanage station site to a property developer, but, after the intervention of Evelyn King , the MP for South Dorset, at the Society's request, it was offered to Swanage Town Council (STC). At first, neither the Dorset County Council (DCC) nor the STC backed
3800-435: The mains which causes damage to the steam locomotive boilers. For a full list of locomotives, carriages and wagons 50°36′49″N 1°58′56″W / 50.61353°N 1.98235°W / 50.61353; -1.98235 Wareham, Dorset Wareham ( / ˈ w ɛər əm / WAIR -əm ) is a historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town , a civil parish , in the English county of Dorset . The town
3876-632: The mineral workings in Purbeck, but they failed to gain the support they needed. Stone was exported from Swanage by coastal shipping as before, having been quarried on, or mined in, the Isle of Purbeck. The actual loading of the vessels was primitive, and Captain Moorsom , chief engineer of the Southampton and Dorchester line, encouraged local promoters to found the Swanage Pier and Tramway Company , which obtained an authorising act of Parliament,
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#17327652758813952-536: The next Ascension Day King John 's rule would be over. The prophecy turned out to be incorrect, and the King decreed that Peter should be dragged through the streets of the town tied to a horse's tail and hanged together with his son. In 1762, a fire destroyed two thirds of the town, which has been rebuilt in Georgian architecture with red brick and Purbeck limestone , following the earlier street pattern. The town
4028-421: The operation of steam-hauled heritage trains during the holidays. However, during the summer of 1972, BR hired contractors to lift the track between Swanage and Furzebrook sidings. Protests were orchestrated by the Society and an agreement between the Society and BR followed, leading to all the ballast being left in situ plus an extra one-half mile (0.80 km) of track at Furzebrook. The track from Furzebrook to
4104-636: The original workings at the "Blue Pool" in Furzebrook were worked out, and the railway was diverted to the west at its upper end, and extended with several branches serving clay pits at Povington, Cotness, Greenspecks and Creech Grange. When it opened in 1885, the London and South Western Railway standard gauge line from Wareham to Swanage simply passed over the Furzebrook Railway, with no connection. However, in 1902, interchange sidings were constructed at Furzebrook to allow clay to be shipped out by main line rail. A new locomotive shed and workshops were built at
4180-556: The origins are pre-conquest . The Saxon nave was demolished in 1841–2) and St. Martins-on-the-Walls (built c.1030, dedicated to Martin of Tours ). Both are Anglican . The 14th-century building of Holy Trinity Church stands on the site of the Saxon chapel St Andrew's and was until 2012 a tourist information centre. Other churches are the Wareham United Reformed Church in Church Street, St. Edward
4256-679: The passenger closure, a heritage railway group revived part of the line; it too used the name Swanage Railway and now operates a 9.5-mile (15.3 km) line which follows the route of the former line from Wareham to Swanage with stops at Norden , Corfe Castle , Harman's Cross and Herston Halt . It provides a regular park-and-ride service, normally steam -hauled, from Norden to the sea at Swanage including Corfe Castle village and ruins of Corfe Castle . In 2023, regular trains ran through from Wareham (with National Rail connections) to Swanage. The Isle of Purbeck had extensive quarrying and ball clay activities before Victorian times; some of
4332-413: The rail service from Swanage operated only as far as Norden. The Society continued to work with Network Rail and the local authorities to identify suitable rolling stock and the infrastructure needed to enable regular services. In July 2010, DCC and Purbeck District councils voted to allocate up to £3 million over three years, to part-fund re-signalling work by Network Rail at Worgret Junction, which connects
4408-553: The rail. The gauge of the railway as built is believed to be around 4 ft ( 1,219 mm ). William Joseph Pike met with George Stephenson in Birmingham and became convinced that way forward lay in the excellent economics of steam railways. In 1865 the Pike Brothers purchased the first steam locomotive (Primus) and by this date the gauge had been narrowed to 2 ft 8 in ( 813 mm ). By this time,
4484-467: The railway reopened from Swanage to Corfe Castle and onwards to Norden Park and Ride, another post-BR station. The reopening of the station at Corfe Castle was delayed until Norden was ready, as DCC had concerns about the effects of traffic on Corfe's narrow main street (the A351 road between Wareham and Swanage). On 3 January 2002, the track was temporarily joined with the Furzebrook freight line at Motala and
4560-498: The railway. The railway works at Herston, on the outskirts of Swanage, are not physically connected to the running line. Movements of locomotives for overhaul are carried out by road transporter as the Swanage Railway has been unable to reach agreement with local landowners to build a branch connection into Herston Works. In addition to running the regular service between Swanage, Corfe Castle and Norden, these are: There were no regular timetabled trains between Swanage and Wareham, as
4636-672: The refurbishment of the diesel multiple units (DMUs) planned to operate the service; passenger loadings were good but the cost was uneconomic. In 2018, as the DMUs were still not ready, South Western Railway ran trains to Corfe Castle on summer Saturdays; these were noteworthy for their low price (£10 return from Salisbury and westwards, £5 from Weymouth and Wareham) and involving a record number of reversals for any scheduled service (4, at Yeovil Junction, Yeovil Pen Mill, Weymouth and Wareham). Due to industrial action, these ran on fewer Saturdays than intended. Periodically, railtours from other parts of
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#17327652758814712-602: The rural area to the north of Wareham, including the village of Sandford . Taken together the two Wareham parishes have an area of 36.18 square kilometres (13.97 square miles), with a 2011 population of 8,270 in 3,788 dwellings. Both parishes form part of the Dorset unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Dorset of which it forms the Wareham ward . They are within the Mid Dorset and North Poole constituency of
4788-571: The setting for one of the "Amazing Adventures of Scary Bones the Skeleton" series of books for children by Ron Dawson , Scary Bones meets the Wacky Witches of Wareham . The book also includes a photograph of the town bridge and nearby Corfe Castle which also features in the story. Some scenes from the 2002 German ZDF TV production Morgen Träumen Wir Gemeinsam ("Tomorrow We Dream Together") were filmed in Wareham. The hymn tune "Wareham"
4864-420: The town centre. Wareham is twinned with: The population of Wareham according to the 2001 UK Census was 5,665 living in 2,545 dwellings. 99% of Wareham's population are of White ethnicity. 80.33% of the population state their religion as Christian , 12.24% as "No religion" with 6.59% not stated. There is a high proportion of older people in the town: 29.4% of the population are over 60 years old, against
4940-415: The town in ruins. The town was a Saxon royal burial place, notably that of King Beorhtric (d. 802). Also in the town at the ancient minster church of Lady St. Mary is the coffin said to be that of Edward the Martyr , dating from 978. His remains had been hastily buried there and were later taken from Wareham to Shaftesbury Abbey in north Dorset (and now lie in Brookwood Cemetery , Surrey ). By
5016-402: The town walls, ancient earth ramparts surrounding the town, likely built by Alfred the Great in the 9th century to defend the town from the Danes as part of his system of burh towns. The Danes invaded and occupied Wareham in 876, and only left after Alfred returned with an army and made a payment of Danegeld . In 998 they attacked again, and in 1015 an invasion led by King Canute left
5092-601: The town, namely 2185 (Wareham) Squadron ATC . The squadron's cadets regularly partake in activities around the town for charitable purposes such as supporting the carnival, training exercises and parades. The squadron has a Detached Flight based at Swanage . Local news and television programmes is provided by BBC South and ITV Meridian . Television signals are received from the Rowridge TV transmitter. The local radio stations are BBC Radio Solent , Heart South , Greatest Hits Radio South , Nation Radio South Coast and Greatest Hits Radio South . The Wareham Advertiser
5168-580: The track gauge of 2 ft 8½ in (825 mm), but a transfer siding was later installed. The Middlebere Plateway connected for transshipment purposes with the branch line at Norden; the plateway was operated by Benjamin Fayle and his successors. The location was used during World War II for separate War Department sidings in connection with rail mounted artillery guns. When the line closed to passengers, freight continued to operate from Furzebrook Sidings, where Pike Brothers dispatched clay. In 1978, further sidings were installed at Furzebrook for
5244-399: The wide shallow ria of Poole Harbour. Wareham is built on a low dry island between the marshy river plains. The town is situated on the A351 Lytchett Minster - Swanage road, linking Wareham with the A35 and A31 roads and the M27 motorway . Wareham is also the eastern terminus of the A352 road to Dorchester and Sherborne , both roads now bypassing the town centre. The town has
5320-464: Was composed by William Knapp (born at Wareham, 1698–9); Knapp composed several other hymn tunes and was parish clerk of Poole. Wareham appears in the 2020 video game Assassin's Creed Valhalla , under the name of Werham. Wareham is the home of Wareham Rangers Football Club who currently play in the Dorset Premier League . It is also the home of Swanage and Wareham RFU. There is a multi activity sports centre and swimming pool situated 500 metres west of
5396-412: Was eliminated from the area, and the branch passenger service was operated by a diesel-electric multiple-unit set of BR Class 205 . In 1969, a through train from London was operated on summer Saturdays, worked by a diesel locomotive. In May 1967, the government announced passenger services to Swanage would end after a review of unprofitable branch lines. In late 1967, British Railways issued a notice that
5472-475: Was standard phrasing which meant no trains ran on the 'from' date. Because there was no winter Sunday service, the last trains actually ran on 1 January. Composed of two three-carriage 1957 British Railways diesel-electric multiple units No. 1110 and No. 1124, the last train left Wareham at 9.45pm bound for Swanage. With 500 passengers on board, who had each purchased a specially printed British Rail Edmondson card ticket costing 50 pence for an adult and 25 pence for
5548-648: Was the site of a fierce battle with 2,000 Cromwellian soldiers besieging the town. After the Monmouth Rebellion of 1685, Wareham was one of a number of towns in Dorset where Judge Jeffreys held the Bloody Assizes , with five rebels being hanged, drawn and quartered on the West Walls, an area known as 'Bloody Bank'. This may also have been the site of the execution of a hermit known as Peter de Pomfret who in 1213 had prophesied that before
5624-449: Was used for the first time, allowing four ex-BR diesel locomotives running from Eastleigh Works to participate in the diesel gala and beer festival. They were later accompanied by a preserved four-carriage electric Class 423 unit provided by South West Trains . The first public passenger service between Wareham and Swanage since 1972 was "The Purbeck Pioneer", a 12-coach diesel-hauled railtour from London Victoria on 1 April 2009, with
5700-460: Was used. A second jetty, forming a fork, was added to the pier in 1896, to cater for the growing pleasure steamer passenger business, and the truncated tramway was re-gauged in about 1900 to the track gauge of 2 ft 6 in (750 mm). It was used for bunkering the pleasure steamers, but it fell into disuse at the end of the 1920s. A scheme for a branch line was successful: the Swanage Railway obtained an authorising act of Parliament,
5776-415: Was worked by the London and South Western Railway (LSWR), and amalgamated with the LSWR in 1848. The new line gave the area a through railway connection to London, but it did not come close enough to influence the mineral traffic, which for the time being was mostly conveyed by coastal shipping, as before. The building of the main line railway through Wareham encouraged several schemes to connect Swanage or
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