The re-emergence
of Southbourne-on-Sea and the
thriving High Street
Today
Southbourne-on-Sea is a popular and bustling suburb
of Bournemouth on the cliff top to its east. In the 18th
century
this area was known as Stourfield. This was before Bournemouth had been
founded
and the land between Poole and Christchurch was mainly barren heath
land
interspersed with a few isolated cottages. The poet Robert Southey, who
was
renting a cottage in Burton near Christchurch in 1797, enjoyed browsing
in the
library at Stourfield House and would make the journey on foot
declaring that to go any further west he would be “walking
through desolation”.
Stourfield
House was
built in 1766 on the edge of the heath land and to the east of
Pokesdown
village by Edmund Bott after leaving London due to ill health. He was a
JP and became
an assessor of the poor people of Christchurch before they received
relief; in
1771 he had a work published on the Poor Laws. Stourfield House was a
beautiful
Georgian mansion built on the hillside overlooking the River Stour and
the
ancient settlements of Tuckton, Wick and Iford, having commanding views
of St Catherine’s Hill and the New Forest, Christchurch
Priory Church and Christchurch Harbour. It had a
greenhouse, dovecote and ice house. The present cul-de-sac Douglas Mews
stands
on the site of the house and its grounds stretched down the hill as far
as where
Cranleigh
Road is now.
Bott
is buried in Christchurch Priory Church and
after his death the isolated mansion became the home of the Countess of
Strathmore. She was hiding from her impecunious second husband Captain
Andrew
Stoney (of ‘Stoney broke’ fame) who had kidnapped
her in London in an Oxford
Street shop and held her hostage in a castle near Newcastle. The
Countess, who
was one of the richest ladies in the land at the time and a member of
the
Bowes-Lyon family, lived at the house for 4 years until her death in
1800.
In
more recent times Stourfield House (also known as
Douglas House) became a care home looking after servicemen who had been
injured
in the Great War. Today only the front steps survive leading to a block
of
flats in Douglas Mews called Stourfield Mansion and marked by a Blue
Plaque.
The
founder of
Southbourne and the person to give it its current name was Dr Thomas
Compton
(1838-1925). He first knew the area as a student when he arrived in
Christchurch to sail to Studland. In 1866 he moved to Holmwood 18
Christchurch
Road (since demolished) and ran a surgery in Old Christchurch Road. In
1870 he
bought a mile of open seafront land east of a track (now Clifton Road)
and
called the quarter of a mile wide strip first ‘South
Bourne’ and later ‘Southbourne-on-Sea’.
This high table of land, being one of the sunniest places in the
country and
having not only sea breezes but also winds from the river valley to the
north,
was considered more bracing than Bournemouth. The following year he
formed a
company which built Belle Vue Road and in 1874 erected (on the west
side of the
present Bolton Road) a large glasshouse called a Winter Garden.
In
1875, the year he
bought Cellars Farm on the eastern boundary, he moved to Southbourne
where at
first his home was the isolated house Clarenzia. After a year he moved
to
Locksley (now St Peter’s School) where his family had five
servants, a coachman
and a groom. In 1881 Dr Compton built the South Cliff Hotel (since
demolished)
at Southbourne Crossroads and the following year formed the Southbourne
on Sea
Freehold Land Company Limited. A promenade was completed in 1885 and a
terrace
of six houses added, with Dr Compton living a number 4. A pier long
enough to
be served by steamers followed in 1888. However, bad weather at the
turn of the
century severely damaged the promenade and pier. With no money for
essential
repairs, the scheme including the seafront houses was abandoned. At a
London
auction in 1901 the properties and vacant building plots failed to
reach the
reserve price and were sold privately at considerable loss. The Winter
Garden
had already been dismantled due to competition from
Bournemouth’s own Winter
Gardens. Dr Compton left Southbourne for Devon in 1892 where prospects
for
development still looked promising. He eventually returned to
Southbourne in
1920 to live at Sandymount.
Rebranded
as Southbourne-on-Sea last year by the local Traders
Association to promote the beach and unspoilt cliff top area as well as
its nearby
retail outlets,
the
town has continued to buck the current trend despite the
challenging economic times and has a thriving shopping centre. The
‘High
Street’ as Southbourne Grove is known locally has no empty
shops at the time of
writing, although the national average is for nearly 15% of all retail
units to
be empty, and new business continue to be set up and flourish. Although
there
are branches of nationwide chains of convenience stores and coffee
shops that
are found in any High Street their presence does not dominate
Southbourne
Grove. Rather it is the eclectic collection of independent shops that
set the tone
and the friendly and welcoming atmosphere where the quality of the
goods that
are being sold and the service provided matters to the traders and
customers
alike. In one small section of the road a lady’s dress shop,
a dog grooming
centre, a shop selling dolls’ houses and furniture, a
photographic studio and
an up-market gift shop nestle side by side. This shopping centre has
managed to
keep its butchers, bakers and greengrocers; a new shop selling
specialist teas has
recently appeared and has a new fishmongers.
Much
of the success is down to the support of the Traders Association
which changed its name at the same time as Southbourne became
Southbourne-on-Sea (SoS). Now called Southbourne-on-Sea Business
Association (SoSBA)
because, as Heather Martyn co-ordinator of SoSBA says, “We
wanted to be open to
all businesses within the BH6 postcode irrespective of size, location
or
turnover. There are so many great little businesses around the BH6 area
and by
working collectively we can make SoS a thriving and exciting place for
residents, businesses and visitors alike.” The aim
is for Southbourne-on-Sea to become a
unique and specialist area with a village atmosphere.
SoSBA
has the backing and support of the Bournemouth Chamber
of Trade and Commerce and organises breakfast meetings, encourages
networking
and joint events with other local organisations such as Friends of
Fisherman’s
Walk as well as producing a local magazine and website to promote
Southbourne-on-Sea. Indeed the collective presence of its retailers at
the
Bournemouth Family Festival in Meyrick Park during the summer meant
that they
had a ‘street’ of stalls to themselves.
Another
initiative supported by SoSBA
and also by a
Bournemouth Council Dragon’s Den Start-Up Grant which was set
up during 2011 is
the Southbourne Creative Hub. Early in the year Cathy Jones discovered
that the
landlords of an empty property at Southbourne Crossroads were looking
for
serious proposals to turn the building over to community use. The
landlords,
Bournemouth Beaches Ltd, an up-market holiday lettings company, liked
Cathy’s
proposal for an arts and community initiative and have been extremely
supportive of the whole venture. Cathy and many volunteers worked
alongside the
landlords’ team, helping to strip out the old restaurant
fittings, floors and
internal walls before the space was transformed into a lovely open
venue
suitable for a wide range of activities, an office, toilets and small
storage
area. Much of the furniture, equipment and supplies have been donations
from
local businesses. Although there was an enormous amount of work to be
done,
Cathy was overwhelmed by the tremendous encouragement from various
council
departments and local councillors and the support and help of the
general
public and within months the building was ready for use. A committee
was set up
to oversee all aspects of the Hub’s work with Cathy as
co-ordinator; its aim to
be a network for people involved with or interested in the arts and
creativity
who live and/or work in Southbourne-on-Sea or nearby.
The
Southbourne Creative Hub was officially declared open by
the Mayor of Bournemouth in September and activities are now in full
swing. The
last three months have seen a very varied programme for all ages from
tots to
senior citizens encompassing crafts such as knitting, drawing,
patchwork and
flower arranging to creative writing
and kids circus club to dance,
karate,
yoga and zumba. Tutors have also been on hand to give lessons on
playing the
guitar, digital photography and French
conversation.
New
activities include Creative Pursuits Club for those
interested in any of the needle crafts, Tots Hot Street Dance,
‘Drumming and
Percussion’ and ‘Reggaeton’ a new dance
fusion of Reggae and Latin, afternoon
Tea Dances and Entertainment Evenings with music, dance, performance
poetry and
cabaret.
As
well as working locally to provide opportunities to take
part in community events and celebrations and providing supported
participation
for particular groups Cathy explains that the committee are keen to
make a
positive contribution to opportunities for professional arts
practitioners in
the area. This is one of the unique aspects of the Southbourne Creative
Hub,
she says, that makes it different from just a community arts
venue. They hold occasional social gatherings for
members who are professional arts practitioners so that they can come
together
and get talking and planning.
Membership
is £10 per annum for individuals, £20 for
corporate membership for groups, associations and businesses.
