Historic Swanage

The Dorset Town Known as 'Old London by the Sea'

Sep 5, 2009 Andrew Knowles

Philanthropist George Burt transformed Victorian Swanage with street furniture and landmarks from London. Some of them are still visible today.

The seaside town of Swanage, Dorset, is a popular holiday destination. The long, golden beach swells with tourists all summer and the bay is speckled with small boats. But two hundred years ago Swanage looked very different and it was about to gain the nickname of 'Old London by the Sea'.

Swanage sits on a rich vein of Purbeck limestone that has been quarried since Roman times. The hill to the south of the town was a maze of tiny quarries until relatively recently. The industry peaked in the nineteenth century, when huge quantites of stone were shipped to London by sea.

The returning vessels brought with them used building materials and street furniture as ballast. Much of this was reused in the town, and some is still visible today. The fashion for reusing old London stone was deliberately encouraged by one of Swanage's leading businessmen, George Burt.

George Burt's Place in the History of Swanage

Burt owes his significance to another of Swanage's men of history - John Mowlem. Born in the town in 1788, Mowlem was a stonemason who went to London to make his fortune. Successful, he retired to Swanage in 1845 a wealthy man and owner of several quarries and a fleet of ships.

Mowlem and his wife had no children but he recognized the potential in his nephew, George Burt. In 1835 Burt joined Mowlem in the London to work in the business, and later became a partner. When Mowlem retired Burt took over.

Like Mowlem, Burt was not just interested in business. He wanted to serve the people of his home town and was a generous philanthropist. In later years he bought Durlston Head, the headland to the south of the town, and had visions of creating a entirely new community there.

Burt's plans for Durlston were never realized, but he left his mark in Swanage in other ways. He actively encouraged the custom of bringing pieces of London architecture back as ballast, and made a point of reusing it within the town.

As a result visitors to Swanage could be forgiven for mistaking where they were. Bollards and lamp posts announced that they were in the City of London, and well-known landmarks from the capital dotted the Dorset town.

London Landmarks in Swanage

At one time there were as many as one hundred bollards in Swanage that bore the name of London or suburbs within the city. There were also inscribed lamp posts and other street furniture. Unfortunately much of this was removed during the Second World War, as part of the national drive to collect metal for the war effort.

However, some bollards can still be seen today. There are a few along the sea front and a row of mis-matching ones stand behind the town hall.

The town hall itself is a London landmark, or at least the impressive facade is. In around 1670 the Mercers' Company of London had a grand frontage designed for their building on Cheapside. In the early 1880's the building was remodelled.

The facade, with its statues and carvings, was to be retained. But after two hundred years in the metropolis the stone was black, and it was cheaper to create a copy than to clean it. Burt got hold of the dirty original and had it brought to Swanage to front the new town hall he was erecting. The cleansing powers of the Dorset seaside air have, over time, removed much of the stain from the stones.

Another distinctive London landmark now in Swanage is what's referred to as the 'clock tower', overlooking the harbour. It does not take long to realise that there is no clock displayed. That is because it was removed from the tower when it left London.

The tower, built in the Gothic style, was put up in London in 1854 as a memorial to the Duke of Wellington. It included a clock and spire, both of which are now gone. Unfortunately the tower was erected in a busy London street and was soon found to be a nuisance to traffic. By the 1860's the authorities decided to remove the tower.

Burt offered to do this at no charge. The building was carefully dismantled, the pieces numbered and shipped to Swanage. The clock did not come with it, but the spire did. This was removed in the early twentieth century as it was in danger of falling down.

Other pieces of old London were incorporated into Burt's baronial mansion, Purbeck House, which he had built near the centre of town. Pillars from the old Billingsgate fish market and battered statues from the Royal Exchange were used in the gardens. Pieces of other buildings and bridges were scattered through Burt's estate. A few, such as the statues and pillars, are still in place today.

Most visitors to modern Swanage come to enjoy the seaside and the dramatic Jurassic Coast. But a discerning few will wonder at the odd architectural relics encountered about the town, and some will take to the time to discover that chunks of Old London were recycled into this quiet Dorset town.

The copyright of the article Historic Swanage in UK/Irish History is owned by Andrew Knowles. Permission to republish Historic Swanage in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.