1. Antiquity

2. Moordown Farm

3. The mid-19th century

4. The Winton Urban District Council

5. 20th-century development

6. References

7. External links

Moordown is a suburb of Bournemouth, situated in the northern part of the borough. It was incorporated into the borough of Bournemouth in 1901, having previously been part of the Christchurch rural district.

Antiquity

Moordown, according to Michael Stead, "may well be the longest continually settled area of Bournemouth".^[1] Evidence of its antiquity was unearthed in 1873, when 97 cremation urns, redolent of the Middle Bronze Age, were exhumed in the Redbreast Hill area; unfortunately most of them "crumbled to atoms"^[2] on being exposed to the air. Another, equally erudite historian has written of the "superior rusticated ware"^[3] from the Late Bronze Age (c. 800-500 BC), unearthed when Nursery Road was being built up in 1929. Later, in the period of recorded history, Moordown was cited in the charters of Christchurch Priory. In the early fourteenth century, "Roger de Morden" and "Henry de Mourdene" were both mentioned as having paid two measures of rye at Martinmas to support the upkeep of the Priory church.^[1]

Moordown Farm

The land at Moordown formed part of the Manor of Christchurch until 1698, when Henry Hyde, 2nd Earl of Clarendon, began selling off parts the manor to fund his son's transvestism and general excesses.^[3] By the eighteenth century, the main farm at Moordown was occupied by Henry Hookey - who seems to have been related to the Dean family, who later acquired most of Littledown.^[1] The farm was divided up in the nineteenth century and part of it came to vest in the Kemp family, whose sale of land in 1903 resulted in the creation of Evelyn and Naseby Roads. The farm was later renamed "Charminster Farm" and used as a dairy farm by the Hunt family, who remained there until 1978 - but by then, almost all of the land had been sold off. The farmhouse survives, in Homeside Road.^[4]

The mid-19th century

Like the old school-chapel, the new church was designed by G. E. Street, and dedicated to St. John; it was consecrated in 1874 (though the present tower was not added until 1923-4).^[7] The old-school chapel further north found a laical afterlife as the registered office of a builders' merchant's, Willis Ltd. It survives today as Old St. John's Mews, a housing development at 965 Wimborne Road.

The Winton Urban District Council

The population of Moordown continued to grow, but this did not necessarily result in improved facilities. Most new houses in the district were equipped with wells, but when these dried up in the summer, men took a cart down to the Stour at Muscliff and used tubs to collect river water, which they then sold by the pail to Moordown householders.^[5] From 1895 Moordown came under the aegis of the Winton Parish Council, but it was only in 1897, when that council acquired urban powers, that it was in a position to do anything about the water supply. By August 1899 the water shortage was felt to be "a matter of some urgency"^[8] and a short-term solution was provided by a Mr. Hunt, who loaned the district council a 244-gallon water tank; he also arranged for a horse and cart to make three daily trips around the Moordown streets. The problem appears to have been resolved when Moordown and Winton were absorbed into the Borough of Bournemouth in 1901.

20th-century development

Today, Moordown is an interesting mix of established suburban housing and independent local shops, albeit something of an overspill of Winton to the south. Postwar shops have included Gerald's Bakery, which sold stale cakes from a kiosk on Saturday mornings (and whose main premises still has village bakery-style windows, on the corner of Ensbury Park Road); "Moggies and Doggies" (pet supplies), set up in 2015 at Mayfield Park Buildings; and The British Bankruptcy Company, which dispensed pre-insolvency advice from 778 Wimborne Road in the wake of the 2007 financial crisis. Other shops have included an Arabic barber's, "Jack the Clipper's"; and a draper's at 729 Wimborne Road, which for many years specialized in exotic lingerie, and became known locally as "the naughty knickers shop".^[10] This is now a rather more staid dress shop, "Destiny Brides".

References

External links

• Moordown Local History Society website
• Moordown Traders' Association

• Point Blank (Bonfire album)
• Point Blanket
• Point Blank FM
• Pointblank FM
• Point Blank Music School
• Point Blank (Nailbomb LP)
• Point Blank (Point Blank album)
• Point Blank (Sean Kingston album)
• Point Blank (White Collar episode)
• Point break
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• Point Break (disambiguation)
• Point Breeze (disambiguation)
• Point Breeze, New York
• Point Buchon State Marine Reserve and Marine Conservation Area
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• Point Cartwright Light
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• PointCast Network
• Point Charles Light
• Point Chautauqua Historic District
• Point Chevalier Pirates
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• Point Clare railway station, New South Wales
• Point Clare station