Bournemouth Becomes a Marine Village

The Development of a Secluded South Coast Spot from 1810 to 1851

Jul 1, 2009

How Tregonwell's small development on the banks of the Bourne initiated the growth of a seaside health resort for the rich and famous in the 19th Century.

Captain Lewis Tregonwell built a mansion and a few houses at the seaside on the west bank of the river Bourne but nothing else much happened in this sleepy backwater for about another twenty five years. It was only after Sir George Ivison Tapps, the owner of the land, passed away in 1835 that the potential for more development was considered. His heir was his son who adopted the name of Sir George William Tapps-Gervis.

It was this Sir George (one time Member of Parliament for New Romney and then Christchurch, Hampshire) that was keen to promote the idea of Bournemouth as a select watering hole for the wealthy and well connected to adjourn to at the end of the London season. So he hired the architect Benjamin Ferrey to draw up plans for the improvement and development of his estates.

Benjamin Ferrey Designs the Marine Village

Benjamin Ferrey was renowned as a church architect and had studied under Augustus Pugin (who had worked on the Houses of Parliament, London and Alton Towers, Staffordshire). Ferrey was a local man, having been born in Christchurch. His father was to become Mayor there in 1840. Mr Ferrey produced several drawings of layout and development ideas – some of which were published in 1836.

One of the stipulations laid down by this latest Sir George was that, in order to ensure exclusivity in his embryonic “Marine Village of Bourne”, each dwelling should be detached and have its own gardens shaded by trees. The Ferrey plans accommodated that. The first such houses that were built were known as the Westover Villas and were placed on the opposite side of the river to Capt. Tregonwell’s development (today’s Westover Road).

The First Hotels are Built in Bournemouth

A new town, of course, if it is to attract visitors, needs somewhere for them to stay so two hotels were built. The Bath Hotel (now the Royal Bath) was opened on the day of Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1838. It still stands today on Bath Road. The other was the Belle Vue Boarding House which was opened around the same time, the site of which is now the present Pavilion, built in 1929.

With the eagerly expected influx of visitors, the emerging town needed to provide something for the holiday makers to do in the way of entertainment. Consequently, John Sydenham, an influential Poole man, opened up a library and reading room in a wing of the Belle Vue Boarding House building. It was he who published the town’s first guide book in 1842.

Dr Granville’s Recommendation for a Health Resort

The village received a terrific public relations boost in 1841 when Dr. A.B. Granville, after much urging by the influential men of Bournemouth, made a visit to the fledgling town. He included a description of the exclusive village in the second edition of his book, The Spas of England. He gave it a glowing report and suggested that it would be an excellent place for invalids and consumptives to go and recuperate.

In 1842, Sir George Tapps-Gervis passed away and his son, who became Sir George Elliott Meyrick Tapp-Gervis-Meyrick inherited the estates. He was only around fifteen years old at the time so the management of the Bourne estates came under the control of his trustees. It was about this time that Decimus Burton (who was the architect for the Triumphal Arch at Hyde Park, London), replaced Ferrey as the estate architect.

Decimus Burton Comes to Bournemouth

Burton continued working on the plans and ideas of Ferrey and set about converting some of the pine plantations near the new buildings into parkland with paths and shrubs. Two bridges were built across the Bourne affording easy access for pedestrians from one side to the other. Other land owners in the area were also beginning to build quality houses for rent and purchase, particularly on the Branksome Park estate between the Bourne and Poole.

Shops also started to spring up to provide consumables for visitors and residents. Such was the growth that from just under 170 residents noted in the Bourne area in the decennial household count of 1841, by the 1851 census that number had grown to 695. Thus an exclusive health resort, the Marine Village of Bourne, developed on the lines originally suggested by Dr. Granville and Benjamin Ferrey had come into being.

The copyright of the article Bournemouth Becomes a Marine Village in Georgian/Victorian Britain is owned by Elaine Findlay. Permission to republish Bournemouth Becomes a Marine Village in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.