THE TOWN CELLARS AT POOLE. 9 



sufficient evidence can be adduced in support of this supposition, and it 

 is more probable that the edifice was raised by the ancient lords of the 

 manor as a hall for their accommodation when visiting this burgh of 

 Poole, or as a storehouse for the deposit of goods imported here on their 

 account, and of the com and other merchandise taken by them as toll." 



This appears to the present writer a moderate and reasonable 

 view of the matter, which is strengthened by further consider- 

 ations. The building has quite recently been sold by Lord 

 Wimborne, the Lord of the Manor, but up to that time appears 

 to have always been manor property. The writer appealed to his 

 lordship some ten or a dozen years since to know if there was 

 any information on the subject to be obtained from the Canford 

 archives, and Lord Wimborne courteously wrote a line himself to 

 say that there was none. The earliest mention of the place by 

 name is in the early years of Henry VIII., when the dues of 

 " the woolhouse " are granted in the fourth year of that King to 

 one John Hunt for life. It should be noted that the names by 

 which the building was known in the past are the Woolhouse, 

 the King's Hall, and the Town Cellars. The town was made a 

 port of the staple by Henry VI., and the special name of the 

 \Voolhouse would be likely to date from then, the building being 

 then something like a bonded warehouse. The name seems to 

 be well established in 1513, and, as the property of the 

 monasteries was not then confiscated, this appears to tell 

 against the theory that the building is a portion of an ancient 

 monastery. The appearance of the place is also somewhat in 

 accordance with Sydenham's views. Before the mutilation of 

 which he speaks viz., the cutting of a street right through it 

 the building measured about i2zft. by 3oft. The plan is oblong 

 and quite regular. All the doorways open on the Quay side. 

 The small two-light windows are on the north and south and 

 west; there is no east window. The style is late i4th century. 

 The outside roof has been considerably altered from time to 

 time, as various illustrations testify. At the east end of the 

 south face a large corbel may have carried an arch over the 

 street. The Custom House opposite has been rebuilt. The 



