Southwell, Dorset

Southwell
Southwell  Southwell shown within Dorset
Civil parish	Portland
District	Weymouth and Portland
Shire county	Dorset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Portland
Postcode district	DT5
Dialling code	01305
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	South Dorset
List of places UK England Dorset

Part of Southwell from the High Street roundabout

Southwell (pronounced south-well) is a small coastal village in Tophill on the Isle of Portland, Dorset, between Portland Bill and the village of Easton.

History

Southwell remains one of Portland's oldest settlements and there remains ample evidence of Roman occupation. The nearby Barrow Hill took its name from long lost pre-historic earth mounds there.^[1] Until the 1960s, Southwell was a rural village, where it had an old working farm, whilst fishing boats were often launched from Freshwater Bay. As the 20th century progressed, a large housing estate was laid out to the west of the village whilst the ancient fields of Lime Croft, Suckthumb and Coombe Field separating the village from Weston were progressively quarried away.^[2] Fancy's Family Farm was once within the area of the village, before it moved in 2011 to the Verne area, close to the Verne Citadel and Verne High Angle Battery.

The Great Southwell Landslip, named after the village, remains Britain's second largest recorded historical landslide on the east side of Portland, occurring in 1734, between Durdle Pier and Freshwater Bay, at a distance of one and a half miles.^[3]

Area

Like many of the other villages on Portland, Southwell has commercial industry (Southwell Business Park). Aside from the park, the Eight Kings pub remains the only commercial business within the village,^[4] although a Post Office was once located in the village until it closed during the 1990s.^[5] The village had one Primary School, Southwell County Primary School, until July 2012, where it became part of the Isle of Portland Aldridge Community Academy.^[6]

During 2002 and 2003, both the Sweethill estate and the fields north of Southwell Business Park were used to build houses, despite community hopes that a large field within the Sweethill estate would be left for community use.^[7]

In the south of the village remains the sewerage pumping station, which was originally built in the late 1980s. Today, the sewerage from Portland is collected here and sent to the mainland where it reaches a new treatment works in Wyke Regis.^[8]

A small Methodist Chapel, named Methodist Chapel, is recorded as being in existence at Southwell since 1849, where according to J.H. Bettey's book "The Island and Royal Manor of Portland", there was room for a congregation of about 103 in 1851.^[9]

Avalanche Memorial Church

The Avalanche Memorial Church

During September 1877, two ships, the SS Avalanche of the Shaw Savill Line and SS Forest, collided with one another off Portland Bill, causing the loss of 106 people. The disaster, along with the bravery of the local fishermen in rescuing the few survivors, found the following morning, resulted in a national subscription. The total funds raised £1,900 to build a memorial church close to the scene of the disaster and the Avalanche Memorial Church was opened for the first time on 3 July 1879.^[10]

The church features memorials to those drowned and testimonials to the bravery of the local fishermen, whilst artifacts recovered from the tragedy are displayed, most notably the large anchor of the Avalanche. In 1984 divers located the anchor, and after seeking permission, managed to raise it and donate it to the church, where it lies outside to date. Inside the church, stained glass windows display scenes from the tragedy. Today, the church is open to the public during the peak season.^[5]

Southwell Business Park

A small part of the Southwell Business Park

The Southwell Business Park is located to the south-west of Southwell village. Originally built in the mid-1950s as the Admiralty Gunnery Establishment, it became the Admiralty Underwater Weapons Establishment in 1960 after a decision was made to consolidate all minewarefare and torpedo research to the establishment. After various successive name changes, the site was closed in the 1990s, where it then became the successful Southwell Business Park, used for commercial purposes. The park provided employment for almost 500 people and became home to over 100 businesses, ranging from professional services, research and development, manufacturing, engineering and design and publishing.^[7] In 2010, the park was under new ownership, where Compass Point Estates bought the park from KPMG after going into administrative receivership.^[11]

Today, the site is offers storage for domestic/business use as well as secure parking.^[12]

The Venue Hotel

The Venue Hotel, once known as The Portland Hotel, now occupies a large part of the old naval establishment. The hotel itself accommodated some of the stars of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic sailing teams.^[13] Within the hotel is the The Cliff Panoramic Restaurant and Bar, which is also open to non-hotel guests.^[14]

The Ocean Spa also occupies part of the park, a premier luxury day spa and health club. The spa offers the widest range of spa treatments available in Dorset and the South West of England.^[15] Within the spa is The Orchid, a coffee shop, bar and restaurant,^[16] the Theatre and Sherborne suite and an indoor swimming pool.

References