Ashington, Dorset

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Ashington
Hamlet
Ashington Lane 2024.jpg
View down Ashington Lane
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Ashington
Location within Dorset
OS grid reference SZ0098
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town WIMBORNE
Postcode district BH21
Dialling code 01202
Police Dorset
Fire Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°47′03″N2°00′00″W / 50.7843°N 02.0000°W / 50.7843; -02.0000

Ashington is a hamlet in Dorset, England. It is in the unitary authority of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, between the village of Corfe Mullen and the market town of Wimborne Minster.

Contents

Named by the Saxons, 'Ashington' comes from the words aesc – ash, and tun – homestead or village. [1] The timber of ash was commonly used by the Saxons for construction, as well as for tools and weapons in the same ways metal was more widely used by later generations. The leaves of ash trees provided fodder for cattle and horses, and the tree was thought to have medicinal qualities, slitting an ash trunk was seen as an answer to hernia in infants and a touch of an ash leaf was thought to cure cramp. [2] This abundance of ash trees can still be seen in Ashington today.

Due to its close proximity to the South East Dorset conurbation urban area, Ashington is protected as part of the South East Dorset Green Belt. It contains parts of the Corfe Barrows Nature Park.

Early history

Ashington Bridge, over disused Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Line Merley Park Road - Ashington Cutting - geograph.org.uk - 206397.jpg
Ashington Bridge, over disused Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway Line

Romans

In the first century AD, a Roman fortress was located at Lake Farm under the command of Vespasian, legate and future Roman emperor, who under the orders of emperor Claudius, was tasked with the subjugation of the remaining tribal groups of Britain. First discovered in 1959, the site covered an area of 40 acres (16 ha). [3]

The fort was constructed in two phases, the first established shortly after the Roman invasion of 43 AD. After a short period of use the fort was superseded by a new one that covered a slightly smaller area, with the occupation continuing up to 65 AD, possibly garrisoned by Legio II Augusta. The fort would have been linked to a Roman supply base to the south in Hamworthy, serviced by Poole Harbour, and the remains of another road, 'Roman Road,' can still be seen heading north-west to the Roman settlement of Vindocladia (Bradbury Rings). [4]

Saxons

The Saxons probably settled in the area around the 7th century. There are two tumulus or 'burial mounds' which can be found in the Barrow Hill part of the Corfe Barrows Nature Park, serving as evidence of a Saxon presence in the area.

19th and 20th century

Between 1867 and 1903, 9 pairs of semi-detached estate cottages, or 'Lady Wimborne Cottages,' were constructed. [5] Believed to be the work of the architect Charles Barry Jr. the cottages designs were commissioned by the Guests as suitable estate cottages to improve the housing quality and living standards of labourers through establishing a homogeneous design. [5] These were known as the De Ville style. [6]

Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway

Northward view of train heading through Ashington Cutting to Broadstone. c. 1920s Ashington and Sand-Cutting.webp
Northward view of train heading through Ashington Cutting to Broadstone. c. 1920s

In 1885 the 'Wimborne cut-off', officially called the Poole & Bournemouth Junction Branch of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway was built. The railway line connected the Bailey Gate station to the Corfe Mullen Halt Station, which led to Broadstone and Poole, therefore bypassing Wimborne, leading to its decline as a railway centre. [7] This new line involved the forming of deep cuttings and high embankments to ease gradients through Ashington, and the building of Ashington Bridge. [8]

Throughout the 1960s, the chair of the British Railways Board Richard Beeching, began a series of major route closures as part of the restructuring of the nationalised railways. These were referred to colloquially as the Beeching Axe. After a gradual closure of local lines, in 1970 the Blandford to Broadstone line, which ran through Ashington, was closed. [7]

Now the disused railway line, maintained by BCP council, serves as a public nature reserve, 'Ashington Cutting,' forming a habitat of mixed deciduous woodland. [9]

Ashington Mission Church

Ashington Mission Church as seen in 1993 Ashington, Methodist church - geograph.org.uk - 451844.jpg
Ashington Mission Church as seen in 1993

Constructed in 1900, Ashington Mission Church was given to the parish by Mr C. Paterson, the estate agent of the Canford Estate. [10] The church was a 'tin tabernacle' built from corrugated iron likely from the catalogue of, and supplied by, Messrs Humphreys of Knightsbridge, London. [11] It was located on a site leased from Lord Wimborne, for 1 shilling per year, by Mr Paterson. [12]

Upon the death of his widow Ellen Paterson, a bequest of £500 was left to the vicar, (the Reverend G.F. Richardson) and churchwardens for the maintenance of the church. [13]

After over a decade of disuse, the church was eventually sold and converted into a three-bedroom house, that featured in an episode of Escape to the Country. [14]

Notable residents

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References

  1. ↑ Cullingford, C.N. (1988). A History of Poole and Neighbourhood. Phillimore. p. 15. ISBN   978-0-85033-666-5 . Retrieved 9 November 2024.
  2. ↑ Palmer, Ronald K. (1973). What's in a Name?. Southampton: Southern Newspapers Ltd.
  3. ↑ Russell, Cheetham, Stewart, John. "In the Footsteps of Vespasian: Rethinking the Roman Legionary Fortress at Lake Farm, Wimborne Minster" (PDF). Bournemouth University : 1–5.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  4. ↑ Lake Farm Wimborne, Dorset Archaeological Evaluation and Watching Brief Report (PDF). Wessex Archaeology. October 2009. p. 8.
  5. 1 2 Clark, Pat (2000). Lady Wimborne Cottages The Story of the Canford Estate Cottages. The Dovecote Press. pp. 8–9. ISBN   1-874336-69-5.
  6. ↑ "Cottages for Agricultural Districts". The Illustrated London News . 17 June 1848. p. 393.
  7. 1 2 "Chronology – Wimborne and East Dorset Railways" . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  8. ↑ "Current activity – Wimborne and East Dorset Railways" . Retrieved 30 August 2024.
  9. ↑ "Ashington Cutting". BCP. Retrieved 1 September 2024.
  10. ↑ "Retirement of Lord Wimborne's Estate Agent". Western Gazette . p. 5.
  11. ↑ "Our iron-clad legacy | Dorset Life – The Dorset Magazine" . Retrieved 2 August 2024.
  12. ↑ Memorandum of Agreement, 15 May 1900. Dorset, England, Poor Law and Church of England Parish Records, 1511–1997
  13. ↑ "Handsome Bequest for Ashington Mission Church". Western Gazette .
  14. ↑ Richard Rowe (12 February 2014). Escape to the Country, Old Church, Ashington, Wimborne, Dorset . Retrieved 30 August 2024– via YouTube.
  15. 1 2 "Secluded country house adjoining golf course near Wimborne, Dorset". Somerset Live. 2017.

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