A HISTORY OF DORSET 



from the Middle Ages, at least near Upwey and 

 Preston, where the bed corresponding to the 

 Portland Basebed is known as ' VVhite Freestone.' 

 About the middle of the reign of Edward III we 

 hear '' of ' Wynesbache ' (Windsbatch) stone 

 being carried from Westminster to the Tower, 

 and Preston is also occasionally mentioned towards 

 the end of the fourteenth century as the locality 

 whence stone was exported to London.''' 



In Portisham parish Hutchins mentions a 

 quarry of stone used for paving and tiling, and 

 about a mile east of the ' Hardy Monument ' a 

 quarry was opened to provide stone for the 

 bridges of a local railway. The best freestone 

 bed is inferior to the Basebed of Portland island. 

 Of the quarries of purely local repute in Southern 

 Dorset no account can be given here, but 

 references are occasionally found in records, as for 

 example to the quarry on AUington Hill, whence 

 William de Legh, in the thirteenth centur}', 

 permitted the hospital of St. Mary Magdalen of 

 Bridport to take stone for necessary uses.^* 



In respect to ornamental stone it may also be 

 noted that septaria from the Oxford Clay of 

 Radipole Backwater, when cut into slabs and 

 polished have been used as tops for fancy 

 tables.'' 



It is possible that oolitic iron ore found in the 

 upper part of the Coral Rag at and near Abbots- 

 bury may have been quarried in the early medi- 

 aeval period, when, owing to the difficulty of 

 transporting Gloucester iron and the expense of 

 Spanish iron, local bloomeries were not infrequent 



in places where little or no iron is worked to-day. 

 But no documentary evidence of the smelting of 

 Dorset iron has been published. We hear, how- 

 ever, that the Constable of Corfe '^ in the thir- 

 teenth century took from the abbess of Shaftes- 

 bury for her land in Blackenwell twenty-four 

 horse-shoes as rent, while a rental of Kingston " 

 shows us Beorn the smith doing all the iron-work 

 and shoeing exacted of him by the abbess for his 

 half-virgate, but the metal employed may have 

 been obtained from Hampshire. 



To conclude, a mere mention can be made of 

 a very few of the northern quarries of the county. 

 At Sturminster and MarnhuU the lower beds of 

 the Coral Rag yield an excellent oolitic building 

 stone which has been employed locally to a 

 considerable extent. The limestone layers oc- 

 curring in the Forest Marble are frequently 

 quarried for flagstones, and at Long Burton, not 

 far from Sherborne, the finer varieties have been 

 polished for ornamental use as chimney-pieces, 

 under the name of Yeovil Marble. 



The latest government returns of the stone 

 raised in Dorset during the year 1906 show that 

 8,147 tons were raised from mines,'' and 94,463 

 tons from quarries. Underground and above 

 ground at the mines, which included a good 

 many workings for clay, producing 35,038 tons 

 of this material, 261 persons were employed. 

 Inside and outside the quarries, which besides the 

 stone showed an output of 122,437 tons of clay 

 and 700 tons of chalk, the number of workmen 

 reached 1,057. 



THE HEMP INDUSTRY 



One of the oldest industries in Dorset is that 

 connected with the manufacture of hemp and flax ; 

 in importance it ranks next to quarrying. The 

 centre of the trade, which has been chiefly con- 

 cerned with the production of ropes, sail-cloth, 

 and nets, has been, from time immemorial, the 

 town and neighbourhood of Bridport, though 

 there are mills also at Poole and Hamworthy.^ 

 There is no direct reference to the industry in 

 Domesday, although it has been pointed out by 

 Mr. Eyton, in his study of the Dorset Domesday, 

 that Bridport, the smallest borough in point of 

 burgesses, and with fewest acres of annexed terri- 

 tory, was taxed at the rate of a full firrna noctis, 

 a fact which he considers to have been * the co- 

 ordinate of a great commercial position.' ^ Having 

 regard to the very primitive character of the 



" Accts. Exch. K.R. bdle. 471, No. 6 ; cf. Pat. 24 

 Edw. Ill, pt. I, m. 31. 



" One of the masons employed on the royal works 

 in London as early as 1 348 was one William of Pres- 

 ton. See Accts. Exch. K.R. bdle. 471, No. I. 



"' Hisi. MSS. Com. Rep. vi, App. 486. 



" Strahan, Geology of Isle ofPurbeck, 236. 



rope-making industry, it is reasonable to suppose 

 that even in io86 the 'human spiders' had 

 begun their long, monotonous tramp, and that 

 the manufacture for which they were to be so 

 widely renowned accounted in some measure for 

 the high figure at which Bridport was rated. 

 However this may be, the town's seal bears wit- 

 ness to the fame and profit which were brought 

 to Bridport by ropemaking, for on it are engraved 

 three ' cogs ' or hooks employed in this industry. 

 There seems to be no record of the exact date 

 when the use of this seal was granted to the 

 borough, though there are repeated notices of 

 it in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 



The documentary evidence concerning rope- 

 making begins in 121 1, and the interest of the 



"Add. MS. 24775, fol. 67. 



" Harl. MS. 61, fol. 62. 



'' The greater portion of the stone derived from 

 mines no doubt came from the Isle of Purbeck. 



' The people of Bridport have been styled by 

 Defoe the ' best artists in ropes, cables, and nets.' 

 Tour through Great Brit, i, 327. 



* Eyton, Key to Domesday, 73. 



344 



