MARITIME HISTORY 



several earlier generations of Danes had also used it. Years of hard fightin >■ 

 followed until the death of Edmund Ironside in 1017 left Cnut king of all 

 England, but the area of struggle was outside Dorset, and a long period of 

 peace succeeded the new settlement of the throne. Only one other maritime 

 event of any importance is associated with the county previous to the 

 Conquest. In 1051 Godwin and his sons had been banished ; Godwin went 

 to Flanders, Harold and his brother Leofwin to Ireland. Both father and 

 sons returned with fleets in 1052, and that of Harold plundered along the 

 coast of Dorset before he met his father at Portland. Godwin's men landed 

 there ' and did whatever harm they were able to do.' 



In connexion with some of the counties a coasting and foreign trade can 

 be inferred, thus correlating a certain amount of shipping at the date of the 

 Conquest, but there is no evidence concerning Dorset. Bridport and Ware- 

 ham seem rather large places in Domesday, and must have been the principal 

 ports. There was a fishery carried on from Lyme. As Bridport was famous 

 for its cordage by the reign of John there is every probability that the trade 

 was older than the Conquest, and if so it was one which must have especially 

 aided the shipping development of the town until its harbour failed. The 

 events of 1069 show that William had then no fleet available, but he was the 

 last man likely to underrate the importance of maritime power, so that in 

 1 07 1 and the following years his ships were acting in conjunction with his 

 land forces. Between the last threat of a Danish invasion in 1083 and the 

 loss of Normandy in 1204 there were few occasions for naval levies on a large 

 scale, seeing that the Channel was not then a disputed tract but only the sea 

 road connecting dominions under the same sovereign. In 1 171, at Milford 

 Haven, there were collected 400 vessels to carry Henry II and his army to 

 Ireland. From geographical situation and administrative arrangement,^ it is 

 probable that Dorset furnished a quota to the expedition. A fleet conveying 

 the main body of the Crusaders left Dartmouth in 1190, but most of the 

 vessels were obtained from the continental possessions of the crown. For up- 

 wards of a century only small fleets for transport purposes were required in 

 the desultory dynastic wars occurring, and for these it was sufficient to call 

 upon the Cinque Ports, London, and the adjacent districts. Wareham is the 

 only Dorset port from which the combatants sailed, or at which they arrived, 

 during the civil wars of Stephen's reign. 



In March, 1208, the authorities in the principal coast counties were 

 ordered to cause all vessels to return to England before the ensuing Easter to 

 be ready for the king's service. Lists of the ships and the names of the 

 owners were also to be sent to London.* Under 1205 we have the first 

 station list of the king's ships, but as none was placed between Southampton 

 and Exeter the Dorset ports were evidently not yet among the leading ones. 

 A similar order to that of 1208 issued again in 12 14, but in the latter 

 year the Hsts were to be confined to ships of 80 tons and upwards.'' If the 

 inclusion of Dorset among the other counties was not a mere matter of 

 routine, and there was a real expectation of finding vessels of 80 or 100 tons 

 in its ports, it implies a considerable growth of trade and shipping during the 



' With the exception of a few years Dorset and Somerset were under one sheriff, until 8 Eiiz. ; writs 

 usually applied to both counties. 



* Pat. 9 John, ra. 2. ' Ibid. 16 John, m. 16. 



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