The Blandford Express

One of Dorset’s oldest hotels, the Crown Hotel in Blandford has a long and colourful history. Highwayman John Poulter and his five companions were unwelcome visitors to the Crown Hotel in 1752. After spending the day at the Blandford Horse Races, they decided ‘ to go on the sneak’ and in the dusk of the evening stole a ‘ porte-manteau trunk’ from the Crown Hotel. Taking it to a field to search, they discovered it contained eighteen guineas, several gold and silver coins, a gold watch, a pair of gold buckles, a gold girdle buckle, a great quantity of jewels, a white petticoat and a great quantity of apparel. All were taken to London and sold. (Source: John Poulter’s own account published in 1764.) A young chimney sweep was suffocated and burnt to death in a chimney at the Crown Hotel which had been on fire a little before. He went up one chimney and attempting to go down another was in a narrow part and could neither get up nor down. (Source: Salisbury & Winchester Journal 27 ...

Twenty-four years old leather breeches maker, Tom Hill has the unusual distinction of being condemned to be transported to both America and Australia for his crimes. On 13 th March 1783, Tom had been sentenced in a Dorchester courtroom to be transported to America for stealing a silver watch valued at one pound. At the time, this sum was the equivalent of three weeks wages for a Dorset agricultural labourer. The decision was a particularly bizarre one as America was no longer a British colony after the British defeat in the American War of Independence. However, the British were surreptitiously trying to restart the American convict trade as its prisons were overfull. Prior to this war, which had halted the scheme, around 50,000 convicts had been sent to the American colonies despite its unpopularity with locals. British authorities hired a London merchant who did a deal with a Maryland merchant to receive convicts and sell them as indentured servants. Consistent with the furtiven...

‘Tis not well-known, but one year in the 1970s Shillingstone had the privilege of hosting the County’s Dwyle Flonking Championships. Equally little-known are the rules of the game. Two teams of twelve players are formed who dress up as yokels. To play they use a ‘dwyler’ (knitted cloth), a ‘dribbler’ (stick used to hurl the cloth) and two chamber pots, known as ‘guzunders’. The latter are filled with beer. Turns are determined by tossing a sugar beet. One team gathers in a circle and moves around an opposing player known as the ‘flonker’. This competitor dunks the cloth into one of the pots and then throws it at the opposing circling  players.  Points are awarded according to which area of the body the thrower hits with three points awarded for hitting a head.  However, if the player misses, called a ‘swadge’, the thrower has to drink as a forfeit the contents of the other chamber pot within a strict time limit. Alternatively, the player can dump the contents of the guzul...

Riots and protests are not normally associated with towns like Gillingham. Yet, that is what happened back in the 1620s. Gillingham Forest on the Dorset/Wiltshire borders was a medieval royal hunting ground and deer park which had been particularly popular with King John. A moated hunting lodge had been built there  to accommodate his annual visits. Gillingham Royal Forest consisted of some seven thousand acres and included the villages of Motcombe, Bourton and West & East Stour. In 1625, the area was deforested, the land enclosed but this  led to riots and protests. King James I and King Charles I had sold off parts of the forest to raise money. Erection of fences prevented the locals from grazing their animals and from collecting wood which had been long-standing practices. Also during the winters of 1626 & 1627 the deer were slaughtered and trees were felled. One of the more bizarre protests involved Lady Skimmington cross-dressing parades designed to poke fun at th...

Despite the duties being unpleasant, ‘Groom of the Stool’ to the King of England was considered a prestigious position. The role involved assisting the Monarchs with their bodily functions and bathroom needs using a close stool (see above). This historical piece of furniture was an early portable toilet which enclosed a chamber pot. Historians disagree as to whether this servant was required to wipe the Monarch’s bottom. Proximity to the Monarch with no-one else present led to the sharing of many royal confidences. In turn, the post holder became a feared and influential figure around the Court because of his access to the Sovereign.  The Groom of the Stool was also responsible for monitoring the King’s bowel movements and for liaising with doctors when necessary. Elizabeth I was served by a Chief Gentlewoman of the Privy Chamber. Sir William Compton, Sir Michael Stanhope and Sir James Fullerton were all Grooms of the Stool. Compton performed the role between between 1509 until 152...

Archie Wellman, a Dorchester postman and his friend, Owen Wicks, a hairdresser’s assistant who worked on South Street, were both charged at Dorchester Assizes in May 1910 with fraudulently seeking to obtain money from a football betting company based in Holland. To secure their ends, the two men put together an ingenious scheme.  The betting company, owned by Fred Archer & Fred Bacon offered money prizes if the match scores were accurately predicted in return for an entry fee. All entries had to be posted before 2pm on Saturdays. Legal restrictions in Britain on betting were quite restrictive at the time and this is probably why the scheme operated out of Holland. Wicks made arrangements with a Cheshire based newspaper, the Athletic News to have the result of Saturday’s football matches telegrammed to him as soon as the games finished. These he would later post up in the hairdresser’s salon where he worked. Wicks received the football results at 4.56pm on the Saturday in questi...

It was a long time ago but 25th June 1348 was probably Dorset’s worst day ever. For it was when it is believed that infected sailors arrived at Melcombe, near Weymouth from Gascony in France carrying the Black Death. Like most ships, it would have been carrying rats. No-one knew at the time the causes of the epidemic which became known as the Great Pestilence. Local townsfolk were the first victims of the epidemic. The Great Pestilence quickly spread around Weymouth and people left the town taking the Black Death with them. So many died in Portland that the quarries fell silent. Within weeks, it had spread along the coast and up river valleys. Quickly, it passed through Devon and Somerset and onto Bristol and beyond. The disease was transmitted it is believed by fleas. Sufferers first experienced a black rash, then swollen glands, a high fever and finally death. Such was the devastation of the epidemic that the Bishop of Salisbury appointed new priests in Dorset on 22 days during the 3...

  Such was the sympathy among Dorset folk towards smuggling that sometimes in the Dorchester Courtroom there were unexpected legal outcomes. Two Dorset men, James H Adstock and William White, who were natives of Portland, appeared before Justice Sir Stephen Gaselee at the Dorset Assizes in July 1826. They were charged with making signals to smugglers at Chesil Cove on the Isle of Portland. Their actions, on the 8th April, provided the bootleggers with the opportunity to make their escape from the pursuing customs men. It was a fine night so the officers said they could see clearly what was happening. It was reported in the Dorchester Courtroom that the two men were loitering on the beach at around two o’clock in the morning and were heard whistling extremely loudly after they espied two Prevention Officers approaching. Both men were known to these Officers. Upon hearing the whistling sound, a small boat carrying five men quickly departed the shore. Others ran towards the cliff. The...