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SOUTHWELL
THIS SMALL VILLAGE IS THE LAST TO BE REACHED BEFORE TRAVELLING TO PORTLAND BILL. QUARRY ACTIVITIES HAVE SERIOUSLY ENCROACHED ON THE FIELDS TO THE NORTH OF SOUTHWELL AND ARE STILL EXPANDING.
AVALANCHE CHURCH LIES IN THE VILLAGE AND IS A MEMORIAL TO THE LIVES LOST NEARBY IN THE COLLISION AT SEA BETWEEN THE AVALANCHE AND FOREST.
THE EIGHT KINGS PUBLIC HOUSE IS REPUTED TO BE THE ONLY ONE SO NAMED IN GREAT BRITAIN.
FOR MODERN PICTURES OF SOUTHWELL PLEASE CLICK HERE.
FOR A VICTORIAN MAP OF THE AREA PLEASE CLICK HERE.
OLD COTTAGES IN AN UNKNOWN LOCATION IN THE VILLAGE.
THE ‘EIGHT KINGS’ PUBLIC HOUSE. BELOW IS A RECENT VIEW.
AVALANCHE CHURCH
IN SEPTEMBER 1877 A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY OCCURRED OFF PORTLAND BILL WHEN TWO SHIPS, AVALANCHE AND FOREST COLLIDED WITH THE LOSS OF 106 PEOPLE. THIS DISASTER AND THE OUTSTANDING BRAVERY OF THE LOCAL FISHERMEN IN RESCUING THE FEW SURVIVORS RESULTED IN A NATIONAL SUBSCRIPTION. THE COST OF BUILDING THIS CHURCH WAS £1,900 AND THE CHURCH WAS DEDICATED TO ST ANDREW ON 3RD JULY 1879.
THE CHURCH HAS MEMORIALS TO THOSE DROWNED AS WELL AS TESTIMONIALS TO THE BRAVERY OF LOCAL PEOPLE. STAINED GLASS WINDOWS SHOW SCENES FROM THIS TRAGEDY. VISITING THE CHURCH IS A 'MUST'. THE TIMES OF OPENING AND THE ADDRESS OF THE KEY HOLDER ARE DISPLAYED IN THE ENTRANCE PORCH.
AN ACCOUNT OF THIS MARITIME DISASTER IS GIVEN IN STUART MORRIS'S EXCELLENT BOOK "PORTLAND: AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY".
THE FOLLOWING THREE PICTURES SHOW HOW AN ANCIENT DERELICT COTTAGE IN SOUTHWELL WAS TRANSFORMED INTO A MODERN HOUSE IN AROUND 1989. NOTICE THE HEIGHT OF THE DOOR COMPARED WITH THE MODERN DOOR ON THE LEFT!
ON THE MAIN ROAD OPPOSITE THE EIGHT KINGS PUBLIC HOUSE WAS A LARGE COTTAGE SHOWN BELOW.
BELOW IS ALL THAT NOW REMAINS.
A VERY ATTRACTIVE VICTORIAN VERANDA AT NO 59 SOUTHWELL COMMENTED UPON BY THE LATE ERIC RICKETTS IN HIS BOOK "THE BUILDINGS OF OLD PORTLAND"
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