Melcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th century. It received a

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

as a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

in 1268.

Melcombe was one of the first points of entry of the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

into England in the summer of 1348. (The disease was possibly carried there by infected soldiers and sailors returning from the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, or from a visiting spice ship. There is no way of knowing for certain.) The two boroughs, Melcombe on the north shore and Weymouth on the south, were joined as a double borough in 1571, after which time the name ''Weymouth'' came to serve for them both. Nevertheless, Melcombe Regis remained a separate parish and became a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in 1866. The civil parish was abolished in 1920 and merged with Weymouth. After two centuries of decline, the town's fortunes were dramatically revived by the patronage of the Duke of Gloucester, brother of King

George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...

, in the 1780s, and then of the King himself, who regularly used the town as a holiday resort between 1789 and 1811. He is commemorated by a prominent statue on the Esplanade, or sea-front, recording the gratitude of the inhabitants, and by the locally well-known ''

Osmington White Horse __NOTOC__ The Osmington White Horse is a hill figure cut into the limestone of Osmington Hill just north of Weymouth in Dorset in 1808. It is in the South Dorset Downs in the parish of Osmington. The figure is of King George III riding his ...

''. The well-known terraces of large late

Georgian Georgian may refer to: Common meanings * Anything related to, or originating from Georgia (country) ** Georgians, an indigenous Caucasian ethnic group ** Georgian language, a Kartvelian language spoken by Georgians **Georgian scripts, three scrip ...

town houses on the Esplanade date from this period, with additional building later in the 19th century. The town has the

Regis Regis or Régis may refer to: People * Regis (given name), a given name (including a list of people with the name) * Regis (surname), a surname (including a list of people with the name) * Regis (musician), full name Karl O'Connor, an Englis ...

name. The town was well established as a successful resort by the time that George's visits ceased, and has continued as such to the present day. Weymouth & Melcombe Regis was used as a base for Allied troops in the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, and has since operated on and off as a cross-channel ferry terminus.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Melcombe Regis
Melcombe Regis Local History
Seaside resorts in England Geography of Weymouth, Dorset 1571 establishments in England Former civil parishes in Dorset

See also

References

External links