The Square and Compass is a

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

public house A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...

Worth Matravers Worth Matravers () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the England, English county of Dorset. The village is situated on the cliffs west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pon ...

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 ...

. Built in the 18th century as a pair of cottages before becoming a public house, the Square and Compass got its name in 1830 from a landlord who had been a stonemason. The building includes a museum of fossils and other local artefacts and the pub is one of only five nationally that has been included in every edition of

CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...

's Good Beer Guide since 1974. In 2015, the landlord built a sculpture of tree trunks, dubbed Woodhenge. He was told to take it down by the local council, but after an online petition he was allowed to keep it standing for two years. As of December 2020, Woodhenge remains standing.

History

The

was originally built in the 18th century as a pair of cottages. In 1776 it became 'The Sloop', an alehouse with connections to smuggling. In approximately 1830 the landlord, Charles Bower, changed the name to the Square and Compass, as he had been a stonemason. It was bought by Charlie Newman in 1907, great-grandfather of the current proprietor of the same name. At the time it included oil lamps, no running water or flushing toilets and no bar counter. The lights are now powered by electricity and there is running water, but there is still no bar counter - drinks are served through two serving hatches. The pub is named after Square and Compasses, the tools used by carpenters and stonemasons reflecting the significance of quarrying and stonemasonry to the local economy. It is known as Sqump to its regulars, the Square and Compass was popular amongst the

Telecommunications Research Establishment The Telecommunications Research Establishment (TRE) was the main United Kingdom research and development organization for radio navigation, radar, infra-red detection for heat seeking missiles, and related work for the Royal Air Force (RAF) d ...

scientists in Purbeck, who knew the inn as

Sine In mathematics, sine and cosine are trigonometric functions of an angle. The sine and cosine of an acute angle are defined in the context of a right triangle: for the specified angle, its sine is the ratio of the length of the side that is oppo ...

and Cosine. The public house includes a small museum which displays fossils and local artefacts. The artefacts were collected by the current landlord and his father, with the majority of fossils collected locally. In 2014, the Square and Compass won the

Good Pub Guide ''The Good Pub Guide'' is a long-running critical publication which lists and rates public houses (pubs) in the United Kingdom.CAMRA The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is the ...

's Good Beer Guide since 1974. The public house currently serves locally produced beer and cider and has events each week including live music and open mic nights.

Building

The Square and Compass was built in the 18th century of

rubble stone Rubble stone is rough, uneven building stone not laid in regular courses. It may fill the core of a wall which is faced with unit masonry such as brick or ashlar. Analogously, some medieval cathedral walls are outer shells of ashlar with an i ...

walls, stone chimney stacks and a stone stale roof. It is a single storey building with an attic, which has been converted to include dormer windows. The nearby outbuildings which are of a similar construction have been converted to include garage doors. The building is built on a T-shape plan; there is a two-storey wing to the left of the building which extends to the front and rear, which has plastered walls. The structure became a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

on 13 December 1984. Inside the pub are two simple rooms with flagstones, a woodburner and basic furniture. There is no bar, instead drinks are served through two serving hatches. In the garden outside the benches and tables are made of stone. It is on the

Campaign for Real Ale The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) is an independent voluntary consumer organisation headquartered in St Albans, England, which promotes real ale, cider and perry and traditional British pubs and clubs. With just under 155,000 members, it is th ...

's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors.

Woodhenge

The landlord of the Square and Compass, Charlie Newman, built a tree trunk sculpture known as ''Woodhenge'', in the field near the public house. The trunks were originally planned to be used for firewood, before Newman built the structure, which was complete in time for the

summer solstice The summer solstice, also called the estival solstice or midsummer, occurs when one of Earth's poles has its maximum tilt toward the Sun. It happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere ( Northern and Southern). For that hemisphere, the summer ...

in 2015. Built from two trees, one high, Newman described the Woodhenge as "a bit of fun". The structure is wide and high, weighing about . Newman was initially instructed to dismantle the sculpture by

Purbeck District Council Purbeck may refer to: * Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in the English county of Dorset ** Purbeck Mineral and Mining Museum * Purbeck District, a local government district in the English county of Dorset * Purbeck Hills, a range of hills in the Engl ...

after a complaint from the public, as the field is within the

Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...

and did not meet planning regulations. After an online petition, the council decided that the structure could remain for two years.

Gallery

Square & Compass, Worth Matravers (geograph 2039003).jpg, Visitors at the pub Worth Matravers, Square & Compass (geograph 2371934).jpg, Pathway up to the pub Outside the Square and Compass - geograph.org.uk - 664242.jpg, Items outside Square and Compass, garden - geograph.org.uk - 664258.jpg, Garden including stone table Square and Compass Worth Matravers door - geograph.org.uk - 416596.jpg, Historic porch and door Inside The Square & Compass (geograph 4570949).jpg, Woodburner inside Square and Compass museum - geograph.org.uk - 664294.jpg, Fossil museum Square and Compass museum - geograph.org.uk - 664314.jpg, Fossil museum Woodhenge_06.09.2019.jpg, Woodhenge

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Square and Compass, Worth Matravers Grade II listed pubs in Dorset National Inventory Pubs