Brownsea Island

Brownsea Island
Dorset
Branksea Castle on Brownsea Island
Location
Location:	50°41’24"N, 1°58’16"W
Grid reference:	SZ019879
Area:	500 acres
Data

Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in Dorset. The island is archaically known as Branksea, which gives a name to its largest building – Branksea Castle. The name comes from the Old English Brunoces ieg, meaning "Brunoc's island".

The island is owned by the National Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole Harbour and the Isle of Purbeck.

Brownsea Island is most famed as the location of the first camp of the Boy Scout movement in 1907, a camp organised by Baden-Powell and which marked the visible birth of the scouting movement. Access is by public ferry or private boat; in 2002 the island received 105,938 visitors.

Geography

Brownsea Island lies in Poole Harbour opposite the town of Poole in Dorset. It is the largest of eight islands in the harbour. The island can be reached by one of the public ferries or by private boat. There is a wharf and a small dock near the main castle. The island is 1.5 miles& long and 0.75 miles&nbsp wide and consists of 500 acres of pine and oak woodland, heathland and salt-marsh.

The entire island is owned by the National Trust, except the church and a few other buildings. Most of the buildings are near the small landing stage. The northern portion of the island is a Nature Reserve managed by Dorset Wildlife Trust and an important habitat for birds; this part of the island has limited public access. A small portion to the south-east of the island, along with Brownsea Castle, is leased to the John Lewis Partnership for use as a holiday hotel for staff, and is not open to the public.

Nature

Cliff-side path

Brownsea Island has built up on a bare sand and mud bank deposited in the shallow harbour. Ecological succession has taken place on the island to create topsoil able to support ecosystems.

The nature reserve on the island is leased from the National Trust by Dorset Wildlife Trust. This reserve includes a brackish lagoon and area of woodland. Other ecosystems on the island include salt marsh, reedbed, two freshwater lakes, alder carr, coniferous woodland, deciduous woodland and arboretum. In the past invasive species such as rhododendrons, also non-native, were introduced to the island, but the trusts have cleared many areas. The entire island is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Wildlife

A peacock displays to a visitor

The island is one of the few places in the southern counties where indigenous red squirrels survive, largely because non-native grey squirrels have never been introduced to the island. Brownsea also has a small ornamental population of peacocks. The island has a heronry, in which both Grey Heron and Little Egret nest.

There is a large population of non-native sika deer on the island. In the past the numbers have been higher than the island can sustain and have overgrazed. To try to limit damage to trees and other vegetation by deer, areas of the island have been fenced off to provide areas of undamaged woodland to allow other species such as red squirrels to thrive.

The lagoon is noted for the large population of Common Tern and Sandwich Tern in summer, and a very large flock of Avocets in winter, when over 50% of British birds (over 1500) can be present.

Some imported stonework and statuary on the island serves as a habitat for a Mediterranean land snail, Papillifera bidens.

History

Early history

The first records of inhabitants on Branksea Island occurred in the 9th century, when a small chapel and hermitage were built by monks from Cerne Abbey near Dorchester. The chapel was dedicated to St Andrew and the only resident of the island was a hermit, who may have administered to the spiritual welfare of sailors passing through Poole Harbour. In 1015, Canute led a Danish seaborne raid to the harbour and used Brownsea as a base to sack Wareham and Cerne Abbey.

The island is not mentioned in the Domesday Book, though it records that Studland, to which manor Brownsea belonged, had been held in the time of King Edward (which is to say before the Noerman Conquest) to Bruno, who is probably the Brunoc after whom the island is named. After the Norman Conquest, William the Conqueror gave Studland to his half-brother, Robert de Mortain. In 1154, King Henry II granted the Abbot of Cerne the right of wreck for the island and the Abbey continued to control the interests of Brownsea for the next 350 years.

Early Modern period

After the Dissolution of the Monasteries, control of Brownsea passed to the Crown. Henry VIII recognised the island's strategic importance of guarding the narrow entrance to the expanding port of Poole. As part of a deterrent to invasion forces from Europe, the island was fortified in 1547 by means of a blockhouse, which became known as Brownsea Castle. In the following centuries, the island passed into the hands of a succession of various owners. In 1576, Queen Elizabeth I made a gift of Brownsea to one of her court favourites, Sir Christopher Hatton.

During the Civil War, Poole sided with Parliament and garrisoned Brownsea Castle. Colonel Thomas Pride, the instigator of Pride's Purge – the only military coup d'état in English history – was stationed on the island in 1654. Sir Robert Clayton, a Lord Mayor of the City of London and wealthy merchant became owner in the mid-1650s and after his death in 1707 the island was sold to William Benson, a Whig Member of Parliament and architect. He converted the castle into a residence and was responsible for introducing many varieties of trees to the island.

Industrial plans

The mock Tudor entrance added by William Waugh

In 1765 Sir Humphrey Sturt, a local landowner and MP purchased the island, which in turn passed to his sons. Sturt expanded the castle and records suggest that he spent £50,000 on enhancing the island's gardens. Sir Augustus John Foster, a retired British diplomat, bought the island in 1840. Foster experienced bouts of depression and died in Brownsea Castle in 1848 when he slit his throat. In 1852 Brownsea was again up for sale and was sold for £13,000. It was purchased by William Waugh, a retired Colonel, in the belief he could exploit the white clay deposits on the island to manufacture high quality porcelain. A three-storey pottery was built in south-west corner of the island together with a tramway to transport the clay from clay pits in the north. He hoped the clay would be of the same quality as the nearby Furzebrook clay, but it turned out to be suitable only for sanitary ware. The company employed over 200 people but by 1887 the venture closed due to a lack of demand and the poor quality of the clay.

St Mary's Church, built in 1854

Traces of these activities remain today, mainly as building foundations and pottery fragments. Waugh was also responsible for expanding the number of buildings on the island – creating the now ruined village of Maryland (named after Waugh's wife), as well as adding a new gatehouse and tower in the Tudor style. Waugh also paid for the construction of a new pier, adorned with castellated watch towers. Another large expenditure was the construction of St Mary's church, built in the Gothic style and also was named for his wife. The foundation stone was laid by Sir Harry Smith in 1853 and construction was completed a year later. Inside the church there is a monument to Waugh as well as the tomb of the late owner Charles van Raalte. Part of the church is dedicated to the Scouting movement and the flags of the Scout and Girl Guide movements line either side of the communion table.

After falling into heavy debt, the Waughs fled to Spain and the island was acquired by creditors and sold in 1873 to George Cavendish-Bentinck who added Jersey cows to Brownsea and expanded the island's agriculture. He filled the island with several Italian renaissance sculptures, some of which still decorate the church and the quay. The 1881 census recorded a total population of 270 people on the island, the majority of residents providing a labour force for the pottery works. After his death, the island was sold to Kenneth Robert Balfour in 1891. Following the introduction of electric lighting, the castle was gutted by fire in 1896. It was later rebuilt and in 1901 Balfour put the island up for sale.

20th century

Cottages at the eastern end of the island

The island was bought by wealthy stockbroker Charles van Raalte who used the island as a residential holiday retreat. During this time the castle was renovated and served as host to famous visitors such as Guglielmo Marconi. Robert Baden-Powell, a close friend of the van Raaltes, hosted the first Scout camp on the island in the summer of 1907. Brownsea was largely self-supporting, with a kitchen garden and a dairy herd. Many of the pottery factory workers had stayed on after it closed, farming and working for the owners.

Charles died in Calcutta in 1907 and his wife eventually sold the island in 1925. In 1927 the island was purchased at auction by Mary Bonham-Christie for £125,000. A recluse by nature, she ordered a mass eviction of the island's residents to the mainland. Most of the island was abandoned and gradually reverted to natural heath and woodland. In 1934, a wild fire caused devastation after burning for a week. Much of the island was reduced to ashes, and the buildings to the east were only saved by a change of wind direction. Traumatised by the event, Bonham-Christie banned all public access to the island for the rest of her life.

During the Second World War large flares were placed on the western end of the island in an attempt to mislead Luftwaffe bombers away from the port of Poole. The decoy saved Poole and Bournemouth from 1,000 tons of German bombs but the deserted village of Maryland was destroyed. In April 1961, Bonham-Christie died at 98 years old and her grandson gave the island to the Treasury to pay for her death duties. The Government handed over ownership of the island to the National Trust in 1962 and work was carried out to prepare the island for visitors. Tracks were cleared through areas overgrown with rhododendrons and firebreaks were created to prevent repetition of the 1934 fire. The castle was renovated and leased to the John Lewis Partnership for use as a staff hotel (which is still does to this day). The island was opened to the public by Olave, Lady Baden-Powell, the Chief Guide in May 1963 at a ceremony attended by members of the 1907 camp. Some years later a Memorial Stone was unveiled by her daughter, Betty Clay, and soon Brownsea was attracting more than 10,000 visitors a year. Larger boats means that today the island attracts some 110,000 visitors annually.

The island today

Since 1964 the island has been host to the Brownsea Open Air Theatre, annually performing the works of William Shakespeare. The island has a visitor centre and museum, displaying the island's history. There is also a newly located shop and café, with one holiday cottage on the quay. There is an outdoor centre and a trading post shop which is focused around the Scout movement at the Scout camp. The Dorset Wildlife Trust operates on the island from an old villa. The island has a single post box which is emptied each day.

There is an annual round the island swim of 4.5 miles organised by Royal Life Saving Society's Poole Lifeguards.

Scouting

Robert Baden-Powell at the first Scout encampment, in August 1907

From 1 August until 8 August 1907, Robert Baden-Powell held the first experimental Scout camp on the island for 22 boys from differing social backgrounds. The boys took part in activities such as camping, observation, woodcraft, chivalry, lifesaving and patriotism. Following the successful camp, Baden-Powell published his first book on the Scouting movement in 1908, Scouting for Boys, and the international Scouting movement grew rapidly.

Boy Scouts continued to camp on the island until the 1930s when all public access to the island was forbidden by the island's owner. After ownership of the island transferred to the National Trust, a permanent 49-acre Scout camp site was opened in 1963 by Olave Baden-Powell. In August 2007, 100 years after the first experimental camp, Brownsea Island was the focus of worldwide celebrations of the centenary of Scouting. Four camps were set up on the island including a replica of the original 1907 camp, and hundreds of scouts and girl guides from 160 countries travelled to the island to take part in the celebrations.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Island Brownsea Island)

• Brownsea Island information at the National Trust
• "Brownsea and its significance – The world's first Scout Camp". Archived from the original on 14 June 2011. http://archive.is/jHW9H. 
• Pictures of St Mary's Church

References

• National Trust
• Pitt-Rivers, Michael, 1970. Dorset. London: Faber & Faber.

Books

• Bugler, John & Drew, Gregory: A history of Brownsea Island (1995} ISBN 0852167652
• Legg, Rodney: The Book of Poole Harbour and Town (Halsgrove, 2005) ISBN 1-84114-411-8
• Sydenham, John: The History of the Town and County of Poole (Poole Historical Trust, 1839, 2nd ed 1986) ISBN 0-9504914-4-6