Overview

Rural Dorset hardly noticed the Industrial Revolution as it swept through England in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, yet the county has seen a fascinating variety of activities. The traditional industries were based on materials provided by the local geology and agriculture, such as quarrying for stone, clay and shale, the manufacture of lime, cement, bricks, pottery and tiles, or malting, brewing, corn milling, rope making and textiles. What made Dorset special? Portland stone was shipped worldwide, Wedgwood sought Purbeck's clay, Bridport nets and Poole pottery were renowned, while Dorchester beer was deemed the best and finest in England. There were silk mills and sail cloth factories, a remote foundry exported steam engines, and a quiet village saw the invention of machinery for brewers. Kimmeridge oil shale was destined to light the streets of Paris, and the Portland lighthouse was the first in England to be fitted with Argand lamps. In the field of transport, Dorset had a tramway nearly half a century before the Victorians brought railway contacts with the rest of England, Milestones, tollhouses and two tunnels tell of turnpike road improvements and there is even England's oldest post box. A funnel from Brunel's Great Eastern Survives, the Portland breakwaters enclose the largest artificial harbour in the kingdom, and concerns of defence saw massive Victorian fortifications, a torpedo works and a major explosives factory of the earliest twentieth century. This copiously illustrated book examines these and many other aspects of Dorset's history in the industrial period, while the archaeology illustrates how the physical remains of the industry are a fascinating legacy of Dorset's past whether in town or country.

Full Product Details

9781871164909

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Peter Stainer was born in Cornwall and has written a number of books and papers on industrial subjects, in particular mining and quarrying, and three previous small books on Dorset. He has lived for many years in Shaftesbury, where he is a lecturer and writer on archaeology, industrial archaeology and landscapes. His doctorate from Southampton University concerns the granite industry of south west England, a region on which he is an authority. He edits Industrial Archaeology News for the Association for Industrial Archaeology and is also involved with the Dorset Industrial Archaeology Society.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available