Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that wer ...

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. Covering an area of , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

equidistant A point is said to be equidistant from a set of objects if the distances between that point and each object in the set are equal. In two-dimensional Euclidean geometry, the locus of points equidistant from two given (different) points is the ...

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

South East Dorset conurbation The South East Dorset conurbation (also known as the South Dorset conurbation, Poole-Bournemouth urban area and Bournemouth urban area) is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. Extent The main population centre ...

Lewis Tregonwell Lewis Dymoke Grosvenor Tregonwell ( ; 1758–1832) was a captain in the Dorset Yeomanry and a historic figure in the early development of what is now Bournemouth. Early life Born 1758 in Anderson, Dorset, Tregonwell lived at Cranborne Lodge as ...

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

Augustus Granville Augustus Bozzi Granville FRS (born Augusto Bozzi, Bournemouth's growth accelerated with the arrival of the railway, and it became a town in 1870. Part of the historic county of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, Bournemouth joined Dorset for administrative purposes following the reorganisation of local government in 1974. Through local government changes in 1997, the town began to be administered by a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

independent of

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

, although it remains part of that ceremonial county. Since April 2019 the unitary authority has been merged with that of Poole, as well as the non-metropolitan district of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

to create the

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It was created on 1 April 2019 by the merger of the areas that wer ...

unitary authority. The

town centre A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus s ...

has notable

Victorian architecture Victorian architecture is a series of architectural revival styles in the mid-to-late 19th century. ''Victorian'' refers to the reign of Queen Victoria (1837–1901), called the Victorian era, during which period the styles known as Victorian we ...

and the spire of St Peter's Church, one of three

Grade I 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 ...

listed churches in the borough, is a local landmark. Bournemouth's location has made it a popular destination for tourists, attracting over five million visitors annually with its beaches and popular nightlife. The town is also a regional centre of business, home of the Bournemouth International Centre or BIC, and a financial sector that is worth more than £1 billion in

gross value added In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. "Gross value added is the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption; it is a measure o ...

.

Toponymy

The first mention of Bournemouth comes in the

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of 1406, where a

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

describes how a large fish ("uni magno piscis"), long, was washed up at "La Bournemothe" in October of that year and taken to the Manor of

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

; six days later, a portion of the fish was collected by a canon from

Christchurch Priory Christchurch Priory is an ecclesiastical parish and former priory church in Christchurch in the English county of Dorset (formerly in Hampshire). It is one of the longest parish churches in the country and is as large as many of the Church of E ...

and taken away as

tithe A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...

. "La Bournemowthe", however, was purely a geographic reference to the uninhabited area around the mouth of the small river which, in turn, drained the heathland between the towns of Poole and Christchurch.Andrews & Henson (p.7) The word ''bourne'', meaning a small stream, is a derivative of ''burna'',

old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th c ...

for a brook.Edwards (p.24)Ashley & Ashley (p.51) From the latter half of the 16th century "Bourne Mouth" seems to be preferred, being recorded as such in surveys and reports of the period, but this appears to have been shortened to "Bourne" after the area had started to develop. A travel guide published in 1831 calls the place "Bourne Cliffe" or "Tregonwell's Bourne" after its founder.Ashley & Ashley (p.9) ''The Spas of England'', published ten years later, calls it simply "Bourne"Edwards (p.39) as does an 1838 edition of the ''Hampshire Advertiser''.Edwards (p.32) In the late 19th century "Bournemouth" became predominant, although its two-word form appears to have remained in use up until at least the early 20th century, turning up on a 1909 ordnance map.Ashley and Ashley (p.52) The Coat of arms of Bournemouth was first granted on 24 March 1891.

History

In the 12th century the region around the mouth of the River Bourne was part of the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of

Holdenhurst Holdenhurst is a small isolated village situated in the green belt land of the north-east suburbs of Bournemouth, England. The village comprises fewer than 30 dwellings, two farms and the parish church. There are no shops and few local facilitie ...

. The hundred later became the

Liberty of Westover Westover, Hampshire, is the ancient manor, now in Dorset, over which much of modern Bournemouth has developed. This area of land marked a historic boundary between Celtic and Saxon civilisations, which found expression as the county boundary bet ...

when it was extended to include the settlements of North Ashley,

Muscliff Muscliff is a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset. Education * Muscliff Primary School Politics Muscliff is part of the Muscliff and Strouden Park ward for elections to Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council which elect three councillors ...

, Muccleshell, Throop, Iford,

Pokesdown Pokesdown is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. It lies just east of Boscombe and west of Southbourne. History Evidence of human occupation in the area dates back to the Bronze Age. In 1909 when Lock's Field was being developed into wh ...

,

Tuckton Tuckton is a suburb of Bournemouth, situated on the River Stour in the eastern part of the borough. First recorded in 1271, this was a hamlet in the tithing of Tuckton and Wick until 1894, when the Local Government Act replaced all tithings in ...

and

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

, and incorporated into the Manor of

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

. Although the

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. Covering an area of , ...

and

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

region surrounding it had been the site of human settlement for thousands of years, Westover was largely a remote and barren

heathland A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...

before 1800.Edwards (pp. 1–2) In 1574 the

Earl of Southampton Earl of Southampton was a title that was created three times in the Peerage of England. The first creation came in 1537 in favour of the courtier William FitzWilliam. He was childless and the title became extinct on his death in 1542. The s ...

noted that the area was "Devoid of all habitation", and as late as 1795 the

Duke of Rutland Duke of Rutland is a title in the Peerage of England, named after Rutland, a county in the East Midlands of England. Earldoms named after Rutland have been created three times; the ninth earl of the third creation was made duke in 1703, in whos ...

recorded that "... on this barren and uncultivated heath there was not a human to direct us". In the late 19th and early 20th centuries the Borough of Bournemouth would grow to encompass a number of ancient settlements along the River Stour, including Longham where a skull thought to be 5,500 years old was found in 1932.

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

burials near

Moordown 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 Mich ...

, and the discovery of

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...

pottery on the East Cliff in 1969, suggest there may have been settlements there during that period.

Hengistbury Head Hengistbury Head (), formerly also called Christchurch Head, is a headland jutting into the English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford in the English county of Dorset. It is a site of international importance in terms of its archaeology ...

, added to the borough in 1932, was the site of a much older

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...

encampment.Ashley and Ashley (p.7)Edwards (pp.1–3) During the latter half of the 16th century

James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy James Blount, 6th Baron Mountjoy (c. 1533 – 1582) was an English peer. Life Blount was born circa 1533 in Barnstaple, Devon, the eldest son of Charles Blount, 5th Baron Mountjoy (1516–1544) and Ann Willoughby. He inherited his title on the de ...

, began mining for alum in the area, and at one time part of the heath was used for hunting, although by the late 18th century little evidence of either event remained. No-one lived at the mouth of the Bourne river and the only regular visitors to the area before the 19th century were a few fishermen, turf cutters and gangs of

smugglers Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

.

Invalids' walk, Bournemouth, Dorset, England, 1890s

Prior to the

Christchurch Inclosures Act 1802 The Christchurch Inclosure Act 1802 (42 Geo. III c. 43) was a local and personal Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for the dividing, allotting, and inclosing, certain commonable lands, and waste grounds within the parish of Christchur ...

, more than 70% of the Westover area was

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

. The act, together with the Inclosure Commissioners' Award of 1805, transferred into the hands of five private owners, including

James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, GCB (21 April 1746 – 21 November 1820) was an English diplomat. Early life (1746 – 1768) Born at Salisbury, the son of James Harris, an MP and the author of ''Hermes'', and Elizabeth Clarke of Sandfor ...

, and Sir George Ivison Tapps. In 1809 the Tapps Arms

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 wa ...

appeared on the heath. A few years later, in 1812, the first official residents, retired army officer

Lewis Tregonwell Lewis Dymoke Grosvenor Tregonwell ( ; 1758–1832) was a captain in the Dorset Yeomanry and a historic figure in the early development of what is now Bournemouth. Early life Born 1758 in Anderson, Dorset, Tregonwell lived at Cranborne Lodge as ...

and his wife, moved into their new home built on land purchased from Tapps. The area was well known to Tregonwell who, during the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

, spent much of his time searching the heath and coastline for French invaders and smugglers. Anticipating that people would come to the area to indulge in the newly fashionable pastime of sea-bathing, an activity with perceived health benefits, Tregonwell built a series of

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became s ...

s on his land between 1816 and 1822, which he hoped to let out.Ashley & Ashley (p.6)Edwards (p.28) The common belief that pine-scented air was good for lung conditions, and in particular

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...

, prompted Tregonwell and Tapps to plant hundreds of

pine trees A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garde ...

. These early attempts to promote the town as a health resort meant that by the time Tregonwell died in 1832, Bournemouth had grown into a small community with a scattering of houses, villas and cottages. The town would ultimately grow up around the scattered pines and tree-lined walk to the beach, later to become known as the Invalids' Walk.Edwards (pp.31–32)Ashley & Ashley (p.17) After the death of Tapps in 1835, his son Sir

George William Tapps-Gervis Sir George William Tapps-Gervis, 2nd Baronet (24 May 1795 – 26 August 1842) was a British politician and land developer. He was the only son of Sir George Tapps, 1st Baronet, of Hinton Admiral. After inheriting his father's estate in 1835, T ...

inherited his father's estate. He hired the young local architect Benjamin Ferrey to develop

Bournemouth Gardens Bournemouth Gardens is a neighborhood in the eastern area of Kingston, Jamaica, off of Kingston Harbour Kingston Harbour in Jamaica is the seventh-largest natural harbour in the world. It is an almost landlocked area of water approximately l ...

along the coastal area on the east side of the stream.Emery (p.16) Bournemouth's first hotel, later to become part of the

Royal Bath Hotel The Royal Bath Hotel is a building in Bournemouth, Dorset. It is regarded to be the towns most famous hotel. Since 1974, the hotel has been a Grade II listed building. History George Tapps-Gervis built the hotel in 1838. The hotel opened o ...

, opened in 1838 and is one of the few buildings designed by Ferrey still standing and operating. Bournemouth grew at a faster rate as Tapps-Gervis began developing the area similarly to the south coast resorts of Weymouth and Brighton. Despite enormous investment, the town's share of the market remained modest. In 1841 Tapps-Gervis invited the physician and writer

Augustus Granville Augustus Bozzi Granville FRS (born Augusto Bozzi, The publication of the book, and the increase in visitors seeking the medicinal use of seawater and the pine-scented air, helped the town to grow and establish itself as an early tourist destination.Edwards (pp.38–40)Ashley & Ashley (pp.10–11) In the 1840s Benjamin Ferrey was replaced by Decimus Burton, whose plans for Bournemouth included the construction of Bournemouth Gardens alongside the Bourne stream, an idea first mooted by Granville. The fields south of the road crossing (later Bournemouth Square) were drained and laid out with shrubberies and walks. Many of these paths, including the Invalids' Walk, remain in the town today.Edwards (pp.70–71) A second suggestion of Granville's, a sanatorium, was completed in 1855 and greatly raised Bournemouth's profile as a place for recuperation. At a time when the most convenient way to arrive in the town was by sea, a

pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...

was considered to be a necessity. Holdenhurst Parish Council was reluctant to find the money, and an attempt to raise funds privately in 1847 had only succeeded in financing a small jetty.Emery (p.24) The Bournemouth Improvement Act of 1856 granted greater financial autonomy to the town and a pier was approved that year. A number of wooden structures were built before an cast iron design by

Eugenius Birch Eugenius Birch (20 June 1818 – 8 January 1884) was a 19th-century English seaside architect, civil engineer and noted builder of promenade-piers. Biography Both Eugenius and his elder brother, John Brannis (born 1813), were born in Gloucester ...

was completed in 1880. Under the Act, a board of 13 Commissioners was established to build and organise the expanding infrastructure of the town, such as paving, sewers, drainage, street lighting and street cleaning.Ashley and Ashley (p.28) Entrance to the pier, Bournemouth, England, 1890s

Entrance to the pier, Bournemouth, England, 1890s

The arrival of the railways in 1870 precipitated a massive growth in seaside and summer visitors to the town, especially from the Midlands and London. In 1880 the town had a population of 17,000, but by 1900, when railway connections to Bournemouth were at their most developed, the town's population had risen to 60,000 and it had become a favourite location for visiting artists and writers. The town was improved greatly during this period through the efforts of Sir Merton Russell-Cotes, the town's mayor and a local philanthropist, who helped to establish the town's first library and museum. The

Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum The Russell-Cotes Museum (formally, the Russell-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum) is an art gallery and museum in Bournemouth, England. A Grade II* listed building originally known as East Cliff Hall, it is located on the top of the East Cliff, next ...

was housed in his mansion, and after his death, it was given to the town. Bournemouth became a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

in 1890 and a

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

in 1900. As Bournemouth's growth increased in the early 20th century, the town centre spawned theatres, cafés, two

art deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

cinemas, and more hotels.

Bournemouth Corporation Tramways Bournemouth Corporation Tramways served the town of Bournemouth in Dorset (although at the time it was in Hampshire) from 23 July 1902 until 8 April 1936. History In June 1905 the company took a lease on the Poole and District Electric Tram ...

was established in 1902, becoming the towns first public transport system. In 1908, a deadly tram crash in the town gardens killed 7 people. Other new buildings constructed included the

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

in 1921 and the Bournemouth Pavilion, the town's concert hall and grand theatre, finished in 1925. The

Bournemouth Blitz The Bournemouth Blitz was the Strategic bombing during World War II, heavy bombing of Bournemouth, Hampshire (but now in Dorset), England from 1940 to 1944, by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the Second World War.More than 2,200 bombs fell o ...

saw heavy damage to the town during the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

despite initially escaping heavy bombing. A raid by German

fighter bomber A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...

s on 23 May 1943 killed 131 people and damaged 3,359 buildings, with two large hotels being completely destroyed. It is believed that the large number of RAF airmen

billet A billet is a living-quarters to which a soldier is assigned to sleep. Historically, a billet was a private dwelling that was required to accept the soldier. Soldiers are generally billeted in barracks or garrisons when not on combat duty, alth ...

ed in the town may have been the reason for the attack. The seafront incurred damage when it was fortified against invasion.Emery (p.100) The cast iron lampposts and benches along the front were removed and melted down for munitions, as was much of the superstructure from both Bournemouth and

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

piers before they were breached to prevent their use by enemy ships. The large amounts of barbed wire and anti-tank obstacles along the beach, and the mines at the foot of the

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Is ...

s, took two years to remove when peace was finally achieved.Emery (p.102) Bournemouth, the Waterfront building - geograph

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed an inshore

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

at Bournemouth between 1965 and 1972. Coverage for the area has otherwise been provided from

Poole Lifeboat Station Poole Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Poole, Dorset in England. The first lifeboat was stationed at Poole Harbour in 1865 and the present station was opened in 1988. Si ...

. The Bournemouth International Centre (BIC), a large conference and exhibition centre, was constructed near the seafront in 1984, and in the following year Bournemouth became the first town in the United Kingdom to introduce and use CCTV cameras for public street-based surveillance. In 1993, the

IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...

orchestrated a terrorist attack in the town centre. The only injuries sustained were minor ones but over £1 million in damage was caused. From 2000-2001 the

Tesco bomb campaign The Tesco bomb campaign was an attempted extortion against British supermarket chain Tesco which started in Bournemouth, England, in August 2000 and led to one of the largest and most secretive operations ever undertaken by Dorset Police. Dur ...

hit the town with a plot to extort money from Supermarket giant

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in Welwyn Garden City, England. In 2011 it was the third-largest retailer in the world measured by gross revenues and the ninth-largest in th ...

. Visitors to the town plummeted during the campaign, especially after a bomb exploded at an elderly woman’s home after she opened a letter sent by the bomber. During the eight months, over seven bombs were found by

Dorset Police Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Dorset in the south-west of England, which includes the largely rural area covered by Dorset Council, and the urban conurbation of Bournemouth, Christchurch ...

, ranging from small letter bombs, to pipe bombs and parcel bombs. The culprit was found to be Robert Edward Dyer, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. The Waterfront complex, which was intended to hold an IMAX cinema, was constructed on the seafront in 1998. The concrete and smoked glass building featured a wavy roof design, but was despised by residents and visitors alike because it blocked views of the bay and the

Isle of Purbeck The Isle of Purbeck is a peninsula in Dorset, England. It is bordered by water on three sides: the English Channel to the south and east, where steep cliffs fall to the sea; and by the marshy lands of the River Frome and Poole Harbour to the no ...

. In 2005 it was voted the most hated building in England in a 10,000-person poll conducted by the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

programme '' Demolition'', and was pulled down in spring 2013. The site is now used as an outdoor event arena. The council has recently completed a larger redevelopment of the site and adjoining council land. In 2010, Bournemouth celebrated its bicentenary. In 2012 Bournemouth was unsuccessful in its bid for

city status City status is a symbolic and legal designation given by a national or subnational government. A municipality may receive city status because it already has the qualities of a city, or because it has some special purpose. Historically, city status ...

, losing out to

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It ...

,

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and Grea ...

in competition with 26 other towns to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II's

Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...

. Bournemouth sought city status once again for the

Platinum Jubilee Civic Honours As part of the Platinum Jubilee, Queen Elizabeth II awarded a number of civic honours, most notably the creation of new cities in a competition. Another competition for lord mayor or lord provost status was held. It was announced on 8 June 202 ...

but was unsuccessful. In 2022, both of the towns

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

MPs,

Conor Burns Conor Burns (born 24 September 1972) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth West since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Trade Policy from 2019 to 202 ...

and

Tobias Ellwood Tobias Martin Ellwood (born 12 August 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician and soldier who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth East since 2005. He has chaired the Defence Select Committee since 2020 and was a Go ...

had the whip withdrawn forcing them to sit as Independents.

Governance

Historically History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Bournemouth was part of

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

, with neighbouring Poole, just to the west of the border, in Dorset. At the time of the 1974 local government re-organisation, it was considered desirable that the whole of the Poole/Bournemouth urban area should be part of the same county. Bournemouth, therefore, became part of the

non-metropolitan county A non-metropolitan county, or colloquially, shire county, is a county-level entity in England that is not a metropolitan county. The counties typically have populations of 300,000 to 1.8 million. The term ''shire county'' is, however, an unoffi ...

of Dorset on 1 April 1974. On 1 April 1997, Bournemouth became a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

, independent from Dorset

County Council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irel ...

. For local elections the district was divided into 18 wards, with the

Bournemouth Borough Council Bournemouth Borough Council was the local authority of Bournemouth in Dorset, England and ceased to exist on 1 April 2019. It was a unitary authority, although between 1974 and 1997 it was an administrative district council with Dorset. Previou ...

elected every four years. In the 2011 local elections the Conservatives held overall control, winning 45 of the available 51 seats. The Council elects a mayor and deputy mayor annually. The Mayor of Bournemouth for 2019-20 was Councillor Susan Phillips. As from April 2019, the nine councils of Dorset were merged into two and Bournemouth became part of a unitary authority with Christchurch and Poole (known as BCP). For the purposes of the Lieutenancy it remains part of the ceremonial county of Dorset. BCP held its first elections in

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, which resulted in the Conservatives as the largest party, but with No Overall Control; A Unity Alliance Administration of other groups subsequently formed. The next elections are due to occur in 2024. Bournemouth is represented by two parliamentary constituencies in the House of Commons;

Bournemouth East Bournemouth East is a parliamentary constituency in Dorset represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2005 by Tobias Ellwood, a Conservative. Constituency profile The seat is mostly home to White British people and covers ...

and Bournemouth West. In the 2017 general election, the former was held for the Conservatives by

Tobias Ellwood Tobias Martin Ellwood (born 12 August 1966) is a British Conservative Party politician and soldier who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth East since 2005. He has chaired the Defence Select Committee since 2020 and was a Go ...

with 51.9% of the vote, while the latter was also held for the Conservatives by

Conor Burns Conor Burns (born 24 September 1972) is a British politician who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Bournemouth West since 2010. A member of the Conservative Party, he served as Minister of State for Trade Policy from 2019 to 202 ...

with 53.5%. However, the seats saw some of the largest increases in Labour vote share in the country, with increases of over 18% in each.

Geography

Bournemouth is about southwest of London. The town borders the neighbouring towns of Poole and Christchurch to the west and east respectively.

Poole Bay Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, on the coast of Dorset in southern England, which stretches 16km from Sandbanks at the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west, to Hengistbury Head in the east. Poole Bay is a relatively shallow embayment a ...

lies to the south. The River Stour forms a natural boundary to the north and east, terminating at

Christchurch Harbour Christchurch Harbour is a natural harbour in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England named after the nearby town of Christchurch. Two rivers, the Avon and the Stour, flow into the Harbour at its northwest corner. The harbour is g ...

; while the River Bourne rises in Poole and flows through the middle of Bournemouth town centre, into the English Channel. The towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch form the

South East Dorset conurbation The South East Dorset conurbation (also known as the South Dorset conurbation, Poole-Bournemouth urban area and Bournemouth urban area) is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. Extent The main population centre ...

with a combined population of over 400,000. Bournemouth is both a retail and commercial centre. Areas within Bournemouth include:

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

,

Kinson Kinson is a former village which has been absorbed by the town of Bournemouth in the county of Dorset in England. The area became part of Bournemouth on 1 April 1931. There were two electoral wards containing the name Kinson (North & South). The ...

, Southbourne,

Springbourne Springbourne is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England (historically in Hampshire). It occupies the north-east part of the main built-up area, north of Boscombe. Its formal boundaries are Northcote Road to the west, the Wessex Way (A338) to ...

, Throop, Westbourne, Winton and

Pokesdown Pokesdown is a suburb of Bournemouth in Dorset, England. It lies just east of Boscombe and west of Southbourne. History Evidence of human occupation in the area dates back to the Bronze Age. In 1909 when Lock's Field was being developed into wh ...

. The area's geology has little variety, comprising almost entirely of

Eocene The Eocene ( ) Epoch is a geological epoch that lasted from about 56 to 33.9 million years ago (mya). It is the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the modern Cenozoic Era. The name ''Eocene'' comes from the Ancient Greek (''ēṓs'', " ...

clays which, prior to urbanisation, supported a heathland environment. Patches of the original heath still remain, notably Turbary Common, a site, much of which is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. This heathland habitat is home to all six species of native reptile, the

Dartford warbler The Dartford warbler (''Curruca undata'') is a typical warbler from the warmer parts of western Europe and northwestern Africa. It is a small warbler with a long thin tail and a thin pointed bill. The adult male has grey-brown upperparts and is ...

and some important flora such as

sundew ''Drosera'', which is commonly known as the sundews, is one of the largest genera of carnivorous plants, with at least 194 species. 2 volumes. These members of the family Droseraceae lure, capture, and digest insects using stalked mucilaginou ...

and

bog asphodel ''Narthecium ossifragum'', commonly known as bog asphodel, Lancashire asphodel or bastard asphodel, is a species of flowering plant in the family Nartheciaceae. It is native to Western Europe, found on wet, boggy moorlands up to about in ele ...

. Small populations of

Exmoor pony The Exmoor pony is one of the mountain and moorland pony breeds native to the British Isles. Some still roam as semi-feral livestock on Exmoor, a large area of moorland in Devon and Somerset in southwest England. The Exmoor has been given "P ...

and

Shetland cattle The Shetland, known natively in the Scots language as Shetland wikt:kye#Scots, kye is a small, hardy Scottish list of cattle breeds, breed of cattle from the Shetland Islands to the north of mainland Scotland. The cattle are normally black an ...

help to maintain the area. Bournemouth is directly north of

Old Harry Rocks Old Harry Rocks are three chalk formations, including a Stack (geology), stack and a stump, located at Handfast Point, on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset, southern England. They mark the most eastern point of the Jurassic Coast, a UNESCO World H ...

, the easternmost end of the

Jurassic Coast The Jurassic Coast is a World Heritage Site on the English Channel coast of southern England. It stretches from Exmouth in East Devon to Studland Bay in Dorset, a distance of about , and was inscribed on the World Heritage List in mid-Decembe ...

, of coastline designated a

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for h ...

in 2001. Bournemouth's own coastline stretches from Sandbanks to Christchurch Harbour and comprises mainly sandy beaches backed by gravel and sandy clay cliffs. These cliffs are cut by a number of

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Is ...

s which provide natural access to the shore. At the easternmost point lies Hengistbury Head, a narrow peninsula that forms the southern shore of

Christchurch Harbour Christchurch Harbour is a natural harbour in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England named after the nearby town of Christchurch. Two rivers, the Avon and the Stour, flow into the Harbour at its northwest corner. The harbour is g ...

. It is a local nature reserve and the site of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second prin ...

settlement.

Climate

Like all of the UK, Bournemouth has a

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (23.5° to 66.5° N/S of Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ranges throughout ...

oceanic climate with moderate variation in annual and daily temperatures, mild summers, and cool winters. From 1991 to 2020 the annual mean temperature was . The warmest months are July and August, which have an average temperature range of , while the coolest months are January and February, which have an average temperature range of . Average rainfall in Bournemouth is around annually, well below the national average of . It records both higher and lower temperatures than would be expected for its coastal location. Since 1960, temperature extremes as measured at Bournemouth Hurn Airport have ranged from in August 1990, down to in January 1963. The lowest temperature recorded in recent years was in December 2010. The February record high was broken in 2019, with a new record temperature of 17.8C.

Green belt

Bournemouth lies at the centre of a

green belt A green belt is a policy and land-use zone designation used in land-use planning to retain areas of largely undeveloped, wild, or agricultural land surrounding or neighboring urban areas. Similar concepts are greenways or green wedges, which ...

region that extends into the wider surrounding counties. It is in place to reduce

urban sprawl Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city." Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted growt ...

, prevent the towns in the South East Dorset conurbation from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building. Bournemouth has small areas of green belt within its district to the north and east, mostly along the fringes of the shared border with the Christchurch and East Dorset districts. These cover landscape features and greenfield facilities including the River Stour, Stour Valley Way, Millhams Mead and Stour Valley nature reserves and arboretum,

Hengistbury Head Hengistbury Head (), formerly also called Christchurch Head, is a headland jutting into the English Channel between Bournemouth and Mudeford in the English county of Dorset. It is a site of international importance in terms of its archaeology ...

, and the small communities of Throop and Holdenhurst.

Turbary Park Turbary Park is an area of West Howe, Bournemouth in Dorset. Turbary Park is south of Kinson and north of Wallisdown. Geography Turbary Common is the largest area of heathland in North Bournemouth. It is also a Site of Special Scientific Inte ...

is a heathland which is a protected Site of Special Scientific Interest.

Demography

The 2011 census records the population of Bournemouth as 183,491, comprising 91,386 males and 92,105 females, which equates to 49.8% and 50.2% of the population respectively. The

mean average In mathematics and statistics, the arithmetic mean ( ) or arithmetic average, or just the ''mean'' or the ''average'' (when the context is clear), is the sum of a collection of numbers divided by the count of numbers in the collection. The colle ...

age of all persons is 40 years. With 4,000 residents per square kilometre, Bournemouth has the highest population density of any authority in the

South-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

region, and is the eighth most populated. Much of the population, 83.8%, describe their ethnicity as '

White British White British is an ethnicity classification used for the native white population identifying as English, Scottish, Welsh, Cornish, Northern Irish, or British in the United Kingdom Census. In the 2011 census, the White British population ...

' while other white groups account for a further 8.1%.

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

groups; Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese and other Asian, make up 3.9%. Black British, Black African, Black Caribbean and other Black groups form 1.0% of the population, Those who are

Mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

make up 2.3% of the population, and 0.9% are from other ethnic groups. Christians made up 57.1% of the population but 30% of residents said they had no religion and 7.8% declined to say whether they were religious or not. Muslims were 1.8%, Buddhists, Hindus and Jews each had a 0.7% share, Sikhs were 0.1%. and other religions made up 0.7%. Of all Bournemouth residents aged 16 or over, 19.1% had no qualifications at all, although 35% said they had between one and four

O-level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-dept ...

s, CSEs, GCSEs or equivalent, and 36.5% have more than five O-level equivalents (grade C and above), an A-level or two to three AS-levels. Those with an

NVQ National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs) are practical work-based awards in England, Wales and Northern Ireland that are achieved through assessment and training. The regulatory framework supporting NVQs was withdrawn in 2015 and replaced by the ...

level 1 comprise 8.0% of the population while 15.2% have a level 2 NVQ, a

City and Guilds The City and Guilds of London Institute is an educational organisation in the United Kingdom. Founded on 11 November 1878 by the City of London and 16 livery companies – to develop a national system of technical education, the institute has ...

craft certificate, BTEC or general diploma. Just over 20% of residents had two or more A-levels, four or more AS-Levels or an

advanced diploma is the Japanese original academic degree given to people who had spent more than 4 years and successfully completed a particular specialized course of study at the vocational schools certified by Japanese MEXT (the educational ministry of the Japa ...

while 15.8% possessed a degree, such as a BA or BSc or a higher degree such as an MA or PhD. An NVQ level 4 or 5, HNC, HND, higher BTEC or higher diploma, is held by 4.2% and a professional qualification is held by 13.9% of residents. An

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

has been completed by 6.3% of the population while 16.9% have some other work-related or vocational qualification and 8.3% hold a foreign qualification. Historically Bournemouth has suffered from negative rates of natural increase and has relied on immigration to maintain population growth. In 2007 however, births exceeded deaths for the first time, and this trend has continued through to 2011. This, coupled with a substantial increase in people moving into the area, has led to a sharp rise in the resident population since 2001. Of the total population, 3.3% are 85 or over, compared to 2.2% nationally; however the largest group of people moving into the area are students in the 16-24-year age group, and 9% of the current population are between 20 and 24. In England this age group accounts for only 7%. According to the Centre for Cities in 2016, Bournemouth's population had the third highest average age among 63 large towns and cities in the UK, at 42.8 years.

Economy

Bournemouth, 100 Holdenhurst Road - geograph

Similarly to the rest of Dorset, Bournemouth's economy is primarily in the service sector, which employed 95% of the workforce in 2010. This was 10% higher than the average employment in the service sector for Great Britain and 11% higher than the

South West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

. Of particular importance are the financial and public service sectors which through 2011 continued to show sustained growth. Compared to the rest of the country, Bournemouth performed well in these two areas but under performed in transport and communications. The smallest geographical region for which

gross value added In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. "Gross value added is the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption; it is a measure o ...

information is available is the

NUTS3 Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 2003 ...

area, Bournemouth and Poole. The latest figures, , are for the year 2009 which showed that the Bournemouth and Poole area enjoyed the strongest annualised growth in the South-West region. In 2009 the South West Regional Accounts showed that the Financial Services sector in Bournemouth was worth £1,031.8 million in

Gross Value Added In economics, gross value added (GVA) is the measure of the value of goods and services produced in an area, industry or sector of an economy. "Gross value added is the value of output minus the value of intermediate consumption; it is a measure o ...

. Important employers in this sector include

JPMorgan JPMorgan Chase & Co. is an American multinational investment bank and financial services holding company headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. As of 2022, JPMorgan Chase is the largest bank in the United States, the w ...

,

Nationwide Building Society Nationwide Building Society is a British mutual organisation, mutual financial institution, the seventh largest co-operative banking, cooperative financial institution and the largest building society in the world with over 16 million members. ...

, and the

Liverpool Victoria Liverpool Victoria, trading since May 2007 as LV=, is one of the United Kingdom's largest insurance companies. It offers a range of insurance and retirement products. History The First Hundred Years The first known meeting of the Society was ...

,

Tata Consultancy Services Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an Indian multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting company with its headquarters in Mumbai. It is a part of the Tata Group and operates in 150 locations across 46 countries. In July ...

(formerly Unisys), and RIAS insurance companies. The

manufacturing sector In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in constructio ...

is predominantly based in neighbouring Poole, but still employed 2% of the workforce in 2010 and 2.6% in 2011. Notable employers in this sector include Escor Toys and

Parvalux Parvalux Electric Motors Ltd is a British manufacturer of fractional horsepower geared electric motors. Based in Wallisdown, Bournemouth in southern England. In December 2018, Parvalux was acquired by maxon motor AG. History The name ‘Parvalu ...

. Tourism is also important to the local economy. In 2011, domestic and overseas visitors made more than 5.6 million trips to the town and spent over £460 million between them. The equivalent of 8,531 full-time jobs exist as a result which accounts for 15% of all employment in the town. Bournemouth seafront is one of the UK's biggest attractions with 4.5 million visitors in 2011. RNLI lifeguards provide seasonal coverage of Bournemouth's beaches. With a third of all town centre businesses in the leisure industry, Bournemouth has a booming nightlife economy and is a popular destination for stag and hen parties. These party-goers contribute £125 million a year to the economy and support 4,000 jobs. In 2010 the town was awarded a Purple Flag for providing a wide variety of night-time activities while maintaining the safety of both residents and visitors. An independent report published in 2012 indicates there has been a rise in antisocial behaviour which it attributes to the increase in nightlife. Those of working age make up approximately 65% of Bournemouth's population and of these, 74.6% are economically active although not necessarily employed within the Bournemouth area. Industry in Bournemouth employed more than 76,400 people in 2011 but not all of these were Bournemouth residents. Of those employed in Bournemouth based industries, 29.32% were employed in the public administration, education and health sector. This compares favourably with Dorset, the South-West region, and the country as a whole, as do the other large sectors; distribution, hotels & restaurants (29.06%), and banking, finance and insurance (24.48%). 37.2% of Bournemouth's resident population are employed full-time while 13.3% are employed part-time. An additional 7.1% full-time workers are self-employed, 3.1% are self-employed part-time. Full-time students with jobs account for 5.3% and 3.8% are unemployed. The shopping streets are mostly pedestrianised with modern shopping malls, Victorian arcades and a large selection of bars, clubs, and cafés. North of the centre there is an out-of-town shopping complex called Castlepoint. The site has 40 units and was the largest shopping centre in the UK when it opened it 2003. Other major shopping areas are situated in the districts of Westbourne and Boscombe.

Culture

Bournemouth is a tourist and regional centre for leisure, entertainment, culture and recreation. Local author and former mayor, Keith Rawlings, suggests that Bournemouth has a thriving youth culture due to its large university population and many language school students.Rawlings (p.145) In recent years, Bournemouth has become a popular nightlife destination with UK visitors and many clubs, bars and restaurants are located within the town centre. In a 2007 survey by

First Direct First Direct (styled first direct) is a telephone and internet based retail bank division of HSBC Bank plc based in the United Kingdom. First Direct has headquarters in Leeds, England, and has 1.45 million customers. It was awarded Most T ...

, Bournemouth was found to be the happiest place in the UK, with 82% of people questioned saying they were happy with their lives. Major venues for concerts include BIC, Pavilion Theatre and O2 Academy. Built in 1984, the BIC is also a popular place for party political conferences and has been used by all three major political parties. Its four auditoria make it the largest venue on the south coast. The O2 and Pavilion are older and are both

Grade II listed buildings 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 ...

. The O2, which opened in 1895 as the Grand Pavilion Theatre, was initially used as a

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclis ...

and later for music hall theatre. The Pavilion opened in 1929 as concert hall and tea room while also providing a venue for the municipal orchestra. It continues to provide traditional entertainment today, presenting West End stage shows, ballet and operas. Bournemouth has more than 200 listed buildings, mainly from the Victorian and Edwardian eras, including three grade I churches; St Peter's, St Clement's and St Stephen's. The Russell-Cotes Museum is a Grade II* listed, villa completed in 1901. It houses artefacts and paintings collected by the Victorian philanthropist Merton Russell-Cotes and his wife during their extensive travels around the world. The four art galleries display paintings by

William Powell Frith William Powell Frith (9 January 1819 – 2 November 1909) was an English painter specialising in genre subjects and panoramic narrative works of life in the Victorian era. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1853, presenting ''The Sleep ...

,

Edwin Landseer Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (7 March 1802 – 1 October 1873) was an English painter and sculptor, well known for his paintings of animals – particularly horses, dogs, and stags. However, his best-known works are the lion sculptures at the bas ...

,

Edwin Long Edwin Longsden Long (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was a British genre, history, biblical and portrait painter. Life and works Long was born in Bath, Somerset, the son of James Long, a hairdresser, (from Kelston in Somerset), and was edu ...

, William Orchardson, Arthur Hughes, Albert Moore and

Dante Gabriel Rossetti Gabriel Charles Dante Rossetti (12 May 1828 – 9 April 1882), generally known as Dante Gabriel Rossetti (), was an English poet, illustrator, painter, translator and member of the Rossetti family. He founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhoo ...

. It was Russell-Cotes who successfully campaigned to have a

promenade An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...

built; it runs continuously along the Bournemouth and Poole shoreline.Rawlings (p.25) Shops and Apartments, Bournemouth Town Centre - geograph

The Lower, Central and Upper Gardens are Grade II*

public parks A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. ...

, leading for several miles down the valley of the River Bourne through the centre of the town to the sea. Bournemouth has a further of parkland. Initially serving to compensate for the loss of common rights after

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person who has a ...

was

enclosed Enclosure or Inclosure is a term, used in English landownership, that refers to the appropriation of "waste" or "common land" enclosing it and by doing so depriving commoners of their rights of access and privilege. Agreements to enclose land ...

in 1802, it was held in trust until 1889 when ownership passed to Bournemouth Corporation and the land became five public parks: King's Park, Queen's Park, Meyrick Park, Seafield Gardens and Redhill Common.Rawlings (p.10) The detailed Land Use Survey by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

in 2005 noted that the local authority area of Bournemouth had the third-highest proportion of land taken up by domestic gardens, 34.6%, of the 326 districts in England; narrowly less than the London Boroughs of Harrow and

Sutton Sutton (''south settlement'' or ''south town'' in Old English) may refer to: Places United Kingdom England In alphabetical order by county: * Sutton, Bedfordshire * Sutton, Berkshire, a location * Sutton-in-the-Isle, Ely, Cambridgeshire * ...

at the time with 34.7% and 35.1%.Physical Environment: Land Use Survey 2005
Published with the 2011 census. One of Bournemouth's most noted cultural institutions is

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

which was formed in 1893 under

Dan Godfrey Sir Daniel Eyers "Dan" Godfrey (20 June 1868 – 20 July 1939) was a British music conductor and member of a musical dynasty that included his father Daniel Godfrey (1831–1903). His son, also Dan Godfrey, was also a musician, station man ...

.Rawlings (p.39)Ashley & Ashley (p.59) It became the first municipal orchestra in the country when in 1896, Bournemouth Borough Council took control and Godfrey was appointed musical director and head of the town's entertainments. Originally playing three concerts a day during the summer season, in the great glass palm house known as the Winter Gardens; the orchestra is now based in Poole and performs around 130 concerts a year across

Southern England Southern England, or the South of England, also known as the South, is an area of England consisting of its southernmost part, with cultural, economic and political differences from the Midlands and the North. Officially, the area includes ...

. Bournemouth is currently host to a number of festivals. Bournemouth Food and Drink Festival is a ten-day event which combines a market with live cookery demonstrations. The Arts by the Sea Festival is a mix of dance, film, theatre, literature, and music which was launched in 2012 by the local university, the

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and T ...

, and is set to become an annual event. The Bourne Free carnival is held in the town each year during the summer. Initially a gay pride festival, it has become a celebration of diversity and inclusion. Since 2008, Bournemouth has held its own air festival over four days in August. This has featured displays from the Red Arrows as well as appearances from the Yakovlevs, Blades, Team Guinot Wing-Walkers,

Battle of Britain Memorial Flight The Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (BBMF) is a Royal Air Force flight which provides an aerial display group usually comprising an Avro Lancaster, a Supermarine Spitfire and a Hawker Hurricane. The aircraft are regularly seen at events c ...

including Lancaster,

Hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

,

Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 to the Rolls-Royce Grif ...

and also the last flying

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

. The festival has also seen appearances from modern aircraft such as the

Eurofighter Typhoon The Eurofighter Typhoon is a European multinational twin-engine, canard delta wing, multirole fighter. The Typhoon was designed originally as an air-superiority fighter and is manufactured by a consortium of Airbus, BAE Systems and Leonardo ...

. The air festival attracts up to a million people over the four-day event. Bournemouth 7s Festival is a sports and music festival taking place in May each year. Hosting rugby, netball, hockey, dodgeball and volleyball tournaments, the event is a celebration of team sports in a festival atmosphere and was launched in 2008. Wollstonecraft Shelley Grave 1

The town was especially rich in literary associations during the late 19th century and earlier years of the 20th century.

P. C. Wren Percival Christopher Wren (1 November 187522 November 1941) was an English writer, mostly of adventure fiction. He is remembered best for ''Beau Geste'', a much-filmed book of 1924, involving the French Foreign Legion in North Africa. This was ...

author of

Beau Geste ''Beau Geste'' is an adventure novel by British writer P. C. Wren, which details the adventures of three English brothers who enlist separately in the French Foreign Legion following the theft of a valuable jewel from the country house of a rel ...

, Frederick E. Smith, writer of the

633 Squadron ''633 Squadron'' is a 1964 British / American war film directed by Walter Grauman and starring Cliff Robertson, George Chakiris, and Maria Perschy. The plot, which involves the exploits of a fictional World War II British bomber squadron, wa ...

books, and Beatrice Webb, later Potter, all lived in the town.Rawlings (pp.131–132)

Paul Verlaine Paul-Marie Verlaine (; ; 30 March 1844 – 8 January 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist movement and the Decadent movement. He is considered one of the greatest representatives of the '' fin de siècle'' in international and ...

taught at Bournemouth a preparatory schoolRawlings (p.132) and the writer

J. R. R. Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

, spent 30 years taking holidays in Bournemouth, staying in the same room at the Hotel Miramar. He eventually retired to the area in the 1960s with his wife Edith, where they lived close to

Branksome Chine Branksome Park is a suburb of Poole in Dorset, which adjoins Branksome, Dorset. The area covers approximately , mostly occupied by housing, and includes Branksome Chine which leads to the award-winning blue-flagged beaches of Poole. Descripti ...

. Tolkien died in September 1973 at his home in Bournemouth but was buried in Oxfordshire. The house was demolished in 2008.

Percy Florence Shelley Sir Percy Florence Shelley, 3rd Baronet (12 November 1819 – 5 December 1889) was the son of the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his second wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, novelist and author of ''Frankenstein''. He was the only child ...

lived at Boscombe Manor; a house he had built for his mother,

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

, the writer and author of the Gothic horror novel, ''

Frankenstein ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' is an 1818 novel written by English author Mary Shelley. ''Frankenstein'' tells the story of Victor Frankenstein, a young scientist who creates a sapient creature in an unorthodox scientific ...

''. Mary died before the house was completed but she was buried in Bournemouth, in accordance with her wishes. The family plot in St Peter's churchyard also contains her parents William Godwin and

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

, and the heart of her husband, Percy Bysshe Shelley.

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as ''Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll a ...

wrote ''

The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde'' is a 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old ...

'' and most of his novel '' Kidnapped'' from his house "Skerryvore" on the west cliff, Westbourne.Rawlings (p.131) A novel of Stevenson's life while residing in Westbourne was written by Adelaide A. Boodle, who had met him there.

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

, already acquainted with Stevenson through correspondence, and residing in Bournemouth in 1885 in large part because his invalid sister Alice lived there, visited Stevenson most evenings.

Vladimir Chertkov Vladimir Grigoryevich Chertkov (russian: Влади́мир Григо́рьевич Чертко́в; also transliterated as Chertkoff, Tchertkoff, or Tschertkow ( – November 9, 1936) was the editor of the works of Leo Tolstoy, and one of the mo ...

established a

Tolstoyan The Tolstoyan movement is a social movement based on the philosophical and religious views of Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (1828–1910). Tolstoy's views were formed by rigorous study of the ministry of Jesus, particularly the Sermon on the Mo ...

publishing house with other Russian exiles at

Tuckton Tuckton is a suburb of Bournemouth, situated on the River Stour in the eastern part of the borough. First recorded in 1271, this was a hamlet in the tithing of Tuckton and Wick until 1894, when the Local Government Act replaced all tithings in ...

, and under the 'Free Age Press' imprint, published the first edition of several works by

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

. Author

Bill Bryson William McGuire Bryson (; born 8 December 1951) is an American–British journalist and author. Bryson has written a number of nonfiction books on topics including travel, the English language, and science. Born in the United States, he has b ...

worked for a time with the ''

Bournemouth Echo The ''Bournemouth Daily Echo'', commonly known as the ''Daily Echo'' (a.k.a. the ''Bournemouth Echo''), is a local newspaper that covers the area of southeast Dorset, England, including the towns Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch. Published b ...

'' newspaper and wrote about the town in his 1995 work '' Notes from a Small Island''.

Landmarks

Bournemouth has many historic landmarks, mainly dating from the Victorian and

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...

.

Bournemouth has three Grade I listed churches, St Peter's and St Stephen's in the

town centre A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus s ...

and St Clement's in

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

. St Peter's was the town's first church, completed in 1879 and designed by

George Edmund Street George Edmund Street (20 June 1824 – 18 December 1881), also known as G. E. Street, was an English architect, born at Woodford in Essex. Stylistically, Street was a leading practitioner of the Victorian Gothic Revival. Though mainly an eccl ...

. In his book, ''England's Thousand Best Churches'', Simon Jenkins describes the chancel as "one of the richest Gothic Revival interiors in England", while the spire dominates the surrounding skyline. Jenkins, Simon, 'England's Thousand Best Churches', Allen Lane, 1999, p.148Ashley & Ashley (p.45) When the architect,

John Loughborough Pearson John Loughborough Pearson (5 July 1817 – 11 December 1897) was a British Gothic Revival architect renowned for his work on churches and cathedrals. Pearson revived and practised largely the art of vaulting, and acquired in it a proficiency ...

, designed St Stephen's his aim was to "bring people to their knees". It has a high stone groined roof, twin aisles and a

triforium A triforium is an interior gallery, opening onto the tall central space of a building at an upper level. In a church, it opens onto the nave from above the side aisles; it may occur at the level of the clerestory windows, or it may be locat ...

gallery, although the tower lacks a spire. Other listed churches include the Victorian St Mark's Church in the historic

Talbot Village Talbot Village is located on the boundary of Bournemouth and Poole in Dorset, England. The old Talbot Village was built between 1850 and 1862 because of the generosity of two sisters, Georgina and Mary Talbot. Georgina and Mary divided their y ...

and the 12th-century St. Andrew's Church in

Kinson Kinson is a former village which has been absorbed by the town of Bournemouth in the county of Dorset in England. The area became part of Bournemouth on 1 April 1931. There were two electoral wards containing the name Kinson (North & South). The ...

.

The borough has two piers: Bournemouth Pier, close to the town centre, and the shorter but architecturally more important Boscombe Pier. Designed by the architect Archibald Smith, Boscombe Pier opened in 1889 as a structure which was extended to in 1927 when a new head was constructed. Added in 1958, the boomerang-shaped entrance kiosk and overhanging concrete roof is now a Grade II listed building. In 1961 a theatre was added but this was demolished in 2008 when the rest of the pier was renovated. In 2009, fashion designer

Wayne Hemingway Wayne Andrew Hemingway (born 19 January 1961) is an English designer and co-founder of Red or Dead. He is also on the Design Council Trustee Board and having been with the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) for a de ...

described Boscombe Pier as "Britain's coolest pier". It was also voted Pier of the Year 2010 by the

National Piers Society The National Piers Society (NPS) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom dedicated to promoting and sustaining interest in the preservation and continued enjoyment of seaside piers. It was founded in 1979, with Sir John Betjeman as the f ...

. In 1856, Bournemouth Pier was a simple, wooden jetty. This was replaced by a longer, wooden pier five years later, and a cast-iron structure in 1880. Two extensions to the pier in 1894 and 1905, brought the total length to . After

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 opposing ...

, the structure was strengthened to allow for the addition of a Pier Theatre, finally constructed in 1960. This survived until the 2000s when it was turned into a climbing adventure centre. Between 1979 and 1981, a £1.7 million redevelopment programme, saw a great deal of reconstruction work, and the addition of a large two-storey, octagonal-shaped entrance building. Built as the Mont Dore Hotel in 1881,

Bournemouth Town Hall Bournemouth Town Hall (formerly known as Mont Dore Hotel) is a municipal facility in Bourne Road, Bournemouth, England. The town hall, which is the meeting place of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, is a Grade II listed building. T ...

was designated a Grade II listed building in 2001. Designed by Alfred Bedborough in the French, Italian and neo-classical styles, the foundation stone was laid by King Oscar II of Sweden and Norway and the hotel opened in 1885.Ashley & Ashley (p.43)Edwards (p.42) The buff brick exterior features Bath stone dressings and terracotta friezes. The main entrance is sited within a projected façade that reaches to the eaves and is topped with a pediment, while above sits a belvedere with turrets and a pavilion roof. During the First World War the hotel was used as a hospital for British and Indian soldiers and after as a convalescent home. It never opened as a hotel again and was purchased by Bournemouth Borough Council in 1919.Edwards (p.43) Other Victorian hotels in Bournemouth include the

Royal Bath Hotel The Royal Bath Hotel is a building in Bournemouth, Dorset. It is regarded to be the towns most famous hotel. Since 1974, the hotel has been a Grade II listed building. History George Tapps-Gervis built the hotel in 1838. The hotel opened o ...

in the

Town Centre A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus s ...

and the

Norfolk Royale Hotel The Norfolk Royale Hotel is a Grade II listed building and 4 star Victorian hotel on Richmond Hill, Bournemouth, Dorset in England. The hotel is one of Bournemouth's most historic buildings and stands behind St. Andrew's Church, Richmond Hill ...

in Richmond Hill. Built in the

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

style in 1929, situated close to the seafront, the Pavilion Theatre was at the time considered to be the greatest ever municipal enterprise for the benefit of entertainment. Built from brick and stone, the frontage features square

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order ...

. Still a popular venue, it is today a Grade II listed building. The Bournemouth Eye was a helium-filled balloon attached to a steel

cable Cable may refer to: Mechanical * Nautical cable, an assembly of three or more ropes woven against the weave of the ropes, rendering it virtually waterproof * Wire rope, a type of rope that consists of several strands of metal wire laid into a hel ...

in the town's lower gardens. The spherical balloon was in circumference and carried an enclosed, steel gondola. Rising to a height of , it provided a panoramic view of the surrounding area for up to 28 passengers. After the balloon suffered damage in 2016, the Bournemouth Borough Council, Lower Central Gardens Trust and S&D Leisure announced in 2017 that the contract for operating the Bournemouth Eye would not be renewed due to "increased operating costs."

Sport

The town has a professional football club, AFC Bournemouth, known as the Cherries, which play in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

. AFC Bournemouth play at

Dean Court Dean Court, currently known as the Vitality Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England and the home ground of AFC Bournemouth. History In 1910, Boscombe F.C. was g ...

near

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

in Kings' Park, east of the town centre.

Bournemouth Rugby Club Bournemouth RFC is a rugby union club founded in 1893. The grounds are currently located at Chapel Gate. They currently play in National League 2 South, at the fourth tier of the English rugby union system, following their promotion as champi ...

, which competes in the National League Division Two South, has its home at

Bournemouth Sports Club Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...

. The sports club is next to

Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil contr ...

, and hosts an annual Bournemouth 7s Festival, the world's largest sport and music festival, combining Rugby sevens,

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

,

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

,

dodgeball Dodgeball is a team sport in which players on two teams try to throw balls and hit opponents, while avoiding being hit themselves. The objective of each team is to eliminate all members of the opposing team by hitting them with thrown balls, cat ...

and CrossFit, crossfit tournaments with festival entertainment. Oakmeadians RFC is the oldest RFU Accredited Rugby Club in Bournemouth, established in 1963.They train and play at Meyrick Park competing in the South West Division. Bournemouth Cricket Club also plays at Bournemouth Sports Club and is reported to be one of the biggest cricket clubs in the country. Its first team plays in the Southern Premier League. Dean Park Cricket Ground, Dean Park is a former county cricket ground, once home to Hampshire County Cricket Club and later Dorset County Cricket Club. Today it is a venue for university cricket. The BIC has become a venue for a round of the Premier League Darts Championship organised by the Professional Darts Corporation. The Bournemouth Rowing Club, is the town's Coastal and ocean rowing, coastal rowing club. Established in 1865 as Westover and Bournemouth Rowing Club, it is reported to be the oldest sporting association in the county. The club regularly competes in regattas organised by the Hants and Dorset Amateur Rowing Association which take place on the South Coast of England between May and September. Other watersports popular in

Poole Bay Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, on the coast of Dorset in southern England, which stretches 16km from Sandbanks at the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west, to Hengistbury Head in the east. Poole Bay is a relatively shallow embayment a ...

include sailing and surfing, and there are a number of local schools for the beginner to learn either sport. Bournemouth has the third largest community of surfers in the UK and in 2009 an artificial surf reef, one of only four in the world, was constructed there. The reef failed to deliver the promised grade 5 wave, suffered a series of delays and ran over budget, finally costing £3.2 million.

Transport

Road

The principal route to the town centre is the A338 road, A338 spur road, a dual carriageway that connects to the A31 road, A31 close to the Hampshire border. The A31 joins the M27 motorway, M27 at Cadnam and from there the M3 motorway (Great Britain), M3 to London and the A34 road (England), A34 to the Midlands and the North can be accessed. The main road west is the A35 road, A35 to Honiton in Devon which runs through the South East Dorset Conurbation and continues east as far as Southampton, albeit as a non-primary route. The A350 road, A350 in the neighbouring borough of Poole provides the only northern route out of the conurbation. National Express Coaches, National Express coaches serve Bournemouth Travel Interchange & Bournemouth University. There are frequent departures to London Victoria Coach Station and Heathrow Airport, Heathrow and Gatwick Airports. Local buses are provided mainly by two companies, Wilts & Dorset, the former National Bus Company (UK), National Bus Company subsidiary and now owned by the Go-Ahead Group, and until they ceased operating on 4 August 2022 Yellow Buses, the former Bournemouth Council-owned company and successors to Bournemouth Corporation Transport, which began operating trams in 1902. Other operators serving the town include Damory Coaches, also owned by Go-Ahead Group and the Shaftesbury & District bus company.

Rail

There are two stations in the town, Bournemouth railway station and Pokesdown railway station to the east. Parts of western Bournemouth can also be reached from Branksome railway station, Branksome station. All three stations lie on the South West Main Line from Weymouth railway station, Weymouth to London Waterloo railway station, London Waterloo. South Western Railway (train operating company), South Western Railway operates a comprehensive service along this line, which also serves Southampton Central railway station, Southampton, Winchester railway station, Winchester and Basingstoke railway station, Basingstoke to the east, and Poole railway station, Poole, Wareham railway station, Wareham, and Dorchester South railway station, Dorchester South to the west. Before its closure in 1966, Bournemouth was also served by the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway which provided direct access to Somerset and the Midlands, England, Midlands.

Air

Originally an RAF Hurn, RAF airfield,

Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil contr ...

was transferred to the Civil Aviation Authority (United Kingdom), Civil Aviation Authority in 1944 and was the United Kingdom, UK's only intercontinental airport before the opening of Heathrow Airport in 1946. Acquired by the Manchester Airports Group in 2001, the airport underwent a £45 million phased expansion programme between 2007 and 2011. Situated near the village of Hurn in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, Dorset, the airport is from Bournemouth town centre and serves around 600,000 passengers annually. There are direct flights to 23 international destinations in nine countries: Cyprus, Finland, Greece (3 destinations), Italy (4), Malta, Portugal, Spain (10), Switzerland and Turkey.

Education

The Bournemouth local education authority was first set up in 1903 and remained in existence until local government was Local Government Act 1972, reorganised in 1974 when Bournemouth lost its County Borough status and became part of the county of Dorset. Under the Local Government Commission for England (1992), later reforms of 1997, Bournemouth became a

unitary authority A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governmen ...

and the Bournemouth local education authority was re-established.Ashley & Ashley (p.50) The local council operates a two-tier Comprehensive school, comprehensive system whereby pupils attend one of the 26 primary schools in the borough before completing their education at secondary school. Bournemouth is one of the minority of local authorities in England still to maintain selective education, with two grammar schools (one for boys, one for girls) and ten Secondary modern school, secondary modern/Comprehensive school, comprehensive schools.Edwards (p.87) There are also a small number of independent schools in the town, and a further education college. Bournemouth has two universities: Bournemouth University and

Arts University Bournemouth Arts University Bournemouth (abbreviated AUB) is a further and higher education university based in Poole, England, specialising in art, performance, design, and media. It was formerly known as The Arts University College at Bournemouth and T ...

, both of which are located across the boundary in neighbouring Poole. They are also home to AECC University College (formally known as Anglo European College of Chiropractic), which is located on Parkwood Road in Bournemouth. In 2012, 60.7% of the borough's school leavers gained 5 GCSEs of grade C or above. This was slightly better than the national average of 59.4% and above the average for the rest of Dorset, with 58.8% of pupils from the local authority of Poole, and 54.1% from the remainder of the county, managing to do likewise.

Religion

The 2011 census revealed that 57.1% of the borough's population are Christian. With all other religions combined only totalling 4.7%, Christianity is by far the largest religious group. 40% of the borough falls within the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury. The remainder, to the east, belongs to the Diocese of Winchester. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Portsmouth incorporates most of Bournemouth with the exception of two small parishes to the west which are covered by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Plymouth, Diocese of Plymouth. The borough has several notable examples of Victorian architecture, Victorian church architecture including the previously mentioned St Peter's Church, Bournemouth, St. Peter's, the churchyard of which contains the grave of the author Mary Shelley; St Stephen's Church, Bournemouth, St Stephen's Church, completed in 1898 for services under the influence of the Oxford Movement and St Clement's, one of the first churches to be designed by J. D. Sedding, John Dando Sedding, built in

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

in 1871. To serve a rapidly expanding population a third church was built in the

town centre A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus s ...

in 1891. St Augustin's church was commissioned by Henry Twells who was 'priest-in-charge' there until 1900. The largest church in the town is the Richmond Hill St Andrew's Church, part of the United Reformed Church. Built in 1865 and enlarged in 1891, it has a seating capacity of 1,100 and is unusually ornate for a non-conformist church. Bournemouth Synagogue

Few purpose-built places of worship exist in the borough for faiths other than Christianity, although with a higher proportion of Jewish residents than the national average, there are three synagogues. Chabad-Lubavitch of Bournemouth is a branch of the worldwide movement. The Bournemouth Reform Synagogue, formerly known as Bournemouth New Synagogue, is a Reform Jewish synagogue with over 700 members. There is also the architecturally notable Bournemouth Hebrew Congregation synagogue built in 1911 with an Art Nouveau take on the Moorish Revival style. There are also two Christadelphian meeting halls in the town. The Bournemouth Islamic Centre provides information, support and a place of worship for the Islamic community. There is also a mosque in the town.

Naming conventions

The word 'Bournemouth' is often used loosely to describe the

South East Dorset conurbation The South East Dorset conurbation (also known as the South Dorset conurbation, Poole-Bournemouth urban area and Bournemouth urban area) is a multi-centred conurbation on the south coast of Dorset in England. Extent The main population centre ...

, which also contains the neighbouring towns of Poole,

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...

, Wimborne Minster, and Verwood. As a result, "Bournemouth" is used in the following terms: * Although it has a significant presence in Bournemouth town centre, Bournemouth University's main campus is located in Poole, on the boundary with Bournemouth. *

Bournemouth Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil contr ...

is located near Hurn in the borough of Christchurch, and was originally named RAF Hurn. * "Bournemouth Bay" is sometimes used for

Poole Bay Poole Bay is a bay in the English Channel, on the coast of Dorset in southern England, which stretches 16km from Sandbanks at the mouth of Poole Harbour in the west, to Hengistbury Head in the east. Poole Bay is a relatively shallow embayment a ...

* The

Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, s ...

is now based in Poole.

Notable people

A number of famous people came from Bournemouth. Tony Hancock lived for most of his early life in hotels in Bournemouth run by his parents. A number of TV actors came from Bournemouth, including Juliette Kaplan from the BBC comedy Last of the Summer Wine, Ray Lonnen from the series The Sandbaggers (1978–80), Alison Newman, actress who played Hazel Bailey in Footballers' Wives and DI Samantha Keeble in EastEnders. Jack Donnelly (born 1985) actor, played the role of Jason in the BBC series Atlantis (TV series), Atlantis and Sophie Rundle (born 1988) actress, portrayed Ada Shelby in the BBC One series Peaky Blinders (TV series), Peaky Blinders and Ben Hardy (actor), Ben Hardy (born 1991) actor, played Peter Beale in the BBC soap opera EastEnders. Authors Radclyffe Hall (1880–1943) poet and author, who wrote The Well of Loneliness a groundbreaking work in lesbian literature came from Bournemouth and Dilys Powell CBE (1901–1995) journalist, film critic of The Sunday Times for over fifty years went to school there. Patrick Ensor (1946–2007) editor of Guardian Weekly from 1993 to 2007 also came from Bournemouth. Bournemouth has been home to a number of musicians, including Max Bygraves OBE (1922–2012) comedian, singer, actor and variety performer. The composer Hubert Parry, Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918) was born in Bournemouth. One of Britain's most prolific composers of choral music he is probably best known for his setting to William Blake, William Blake's words of And did those feet in ancient time, Jerusalem. The rock band King Crimson included many musicians from Bournemouth including brothers Michael Giles (drums) and Peter Giles (musician), Peter Giles (bass). Bournemouth has been the home of sporting world champions: Freddie Mills (1919–1965), who won the World Light Heavyweight title in 1948. Another famous sportsman, the athlete Charles Bennett (athlete), Charles Bennett (1870–1948), lived in the town after he retired. Bennett, was the first British track and field athlete to become Olympic Champion, winning two gold medals and a silver at the 1900 Summer Olympics, Paris Games in 1900. The tennis player and The Championships, Wimbledon, Wimbledon Championships winner Virginia Wade, Virginia Wade OBE was born in Bournemouth. Three recipients of the Victoria Cross came from Bournemouth. Frederick Charles Riggs VC MM (1888–1918), Cecil Noble VC (1891–1915), and Lieutenant Colonel Derek Anthony Seagrim VC (1903–1943), A distinguished resident of Bournemouth was Donald Bailey (civil engineer), Sir Donald Coleman Bailey, OBE (1901–1985) a civil engineer who invented the Bailey bridge. Bailey was knighted in 1946 for his bridge design when he was living quietly in Southbourne in Bournemouth. The heart of Percy Bysshe Shelley, together with

Mary Shelley Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (; ; 30 August 1797 – 1 February 1851) was an English novelist who wrote the Gothic novel '' Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus'' (1818), which is considered an early example of science fiction. She also ...

and her mother

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

and father William Godwin are all buried at St Peter's Church, Bournemouth. Percy and Mary's son, Sir

Percy Florence Shelley Sir Percy Florence Shelley, 3rd Baronet (12 November 1819 – 5 December 1889) was the son of the English poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his second wife, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, novelist and author of ''Frankenstein''. He was the only child ...

lived at Boscombe Manor, now the Shelley Manor Medical Centre, and is also buried in the same vault at St Peter's.

Twin towns

Bournemouth is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Netanya, Israel * Lucerne, Switzerland

Freedom of the Borough

The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the City, Freedom of the Borough of Bournemouth.

Individuals

* Frederick Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts, Lord Roberts of Kandahar: 7 October 1902. * Winston Churchill, Sir Winston Churchill. * Geoff Hurst, Sir Geoffrey Hurst. * Chris Hoy, Sir Christopher Hoy. * Bob Geldof. * Eddie Howe: 5 March 2019.

Military Units

* The Royal Hampshire Regiment: 13 September 1945.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * *

External links

Official Bournemouth Borough Council information site

Tourist Information Site
* {{Authority control Bournemouth, Local government in Bournemouth Local government in Dorset Populated coastal places in Dorset Unitary authority districts of England Seaside resorts in England Towns in Dorset Beaches of Dorset Surfing locations in England Local government districts of South West England 1810 establishments in England Unparished areas in Dorset Former non-metropolitan districts Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Former boroughs in England Populated places established in 1810

Toponymy

History

Governance

Geography

Climate

Green belt

Demography

Economy

Culture

Landmarks

Sport

Transport

Road

Rail

Air

Education

Religion

Naming conventions

Notable people

Twin towns

Freedom of the Borough

Individuals

Military Units

See also

Notes

References

Bibliography

External links