By CHARLES VAN RAALTE, F.S.A. 



JHHE early records of Brownsea are very slight, but that 

 at one time it was visited by the Romans is clear 

 from pieces of pottery that we have discovered on 

 this and neighbouring islands. It is mentioned in 

 the story of Cerne Abbey, which, according to 

 William of Malmesbury, was founded in the sixth 

 century by St. Augustine, that no doubt the monks 

 took possession of the island. Libaud mentions 

 this in describing his travels in 1545, and speaks 

 of the " Chapelle for an Heremite." It was dedicated to St. 

 Andrew, and what is now reclaimed land, surrounded by a sea- 

 wall, was formerly known as St. Andrew's Bay. 



In the -early part of the eleventh century the Danish King 

 Canute achieved his second invasion of this country, landing at 

 Sandwich, whence he sailed round the coast to the mouth of 

 the Frome, harrying and ravaging Dorset and Somerset. Libaud 

 tells us that he destroyed the monastery of Cerne and carried the 

 spoils to Brownsea, or, as he puts it, " Ad Branksiam, hoc est 

 Brunei Insula," when he is said to have destroyed the chapel, 

 for which Canute afterwards made some reparation. The name, 



