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St George's Church And Surrounding Area
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© OpenStreetMap contributors - see http://www.openstreetmap.org/copyright
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This area contains St George's Church [1] as well as the Portland Red Circle Cricket Ground [7] and the Tradecroft Industrial Estate [6] which was built on the old municipal rubbish tip.
In the North-East of the map is Inmosthay Quarry [5] which is a working quarry. This has expanded greatly over the past 150 years.
The George Inn [3], possibly the oldest inhabited building on Portland, is on the bottom edge of the map overlooking the cricket pitch.
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St GEORGE’S CHURCH [1]
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St GEORGE’S CHURCH GRAVEYARD [2]
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THE GEORGE INN [3]
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FANCY’S BEACH [4]
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INMOSTHAY QUARRY [5]
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TRADECROFT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE [6]
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RESTORATION OF STEAM LOCOMOTIVES [6]
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PORTLAND RED CIRCLE CRICKET CLUB [7]
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St GEORGE’S COMMUNITY CENTRE AND YMCA [8]
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ANOTHER OF MY PROJECTS
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St GEORGES CHURCH
St George's Church was built between 1754 and 1766 to replace the dilapidated St Andrew's Church near Rufus Castle on the east of Portland - please click here for this old church. The latter had suffered damage by landslips and raiding French pirates and was no longer suitable as a place of worship.
The location for St George's Church was in part because it was one of the few places where graves could be dug the required 'six feet deep'.
Although completed in 1766, by 1794 the roof timbers were so decayed that the roof had to be replaced. The church was uncomfortable and draughty but served the Island until a new church - All Saints - was consecrated in Easton in 1917. St George's fell into disuse despite the fact that the population of Portland had increased ten-fold between 1801 and 1901.
Its poor state of repair and inconvenient location resulted in it becoming abandoned and bomb damage in 1940 helped its decline. In the 1960s it came under the protection of the 'Friends of St George's Church' who have now restored it to its original glory.
There are some excellent pictures by Stuart Morris of the church and the graveyard monuments here and the Dorset Historic Churches website here has a description and pictures.
There is a full and fascinating description of St George’s church and its history written by Ashley Smith which can be read here.
St George's Church is opened during the summer to visitors and is well worth a visit when a guide will show you around.
The next three pictures show St George's Church in contrasting moods.
Above the Portland stone glows in the sunset - quite different from the rather harsh glare of fresh grey stone on a bright summer's day.
St George's Church - usually photographed in brilliant sunshine - is here seen in more sombre conditions. A damp sea mist drifts in on the south-westerly wind and makes the monumental figures stand out - even appear to be alive - in the gloom.
The majestic outline of the church against a setting sun giving a sense of isolation which is characteristic of the Royal Manor of Portland itself.
The sun does not always shine on Portland.
The wooden pews were originally sold to help pay for the construction of the church. This must have seemed a good idea at the time but it was to prove a big mistake. This is because on Portland there was a system of shared inheritance - called Gavelkind - with the island's properties being passed on by equal division among the beneficiaries - male and female. This was practically unknown on the mainland where male children had priority over their sisters. Rights of ownership to each pew became split between hundreds of members of Portland families so modernising the church was impossible as getting agreement from all part-owners involved was out of the question.
The church has two central pulpits, one was used for the sermon, which could last up to two hours, and the other for reading ‘The Word’. The box pews were originally built to hold 600 locals. These are overlooked by the twin pulpits and the galleries.
St GEORGE’S CHURCH GRAVEYARD
Walking around St George's churchyard, one will be struck by the large number of 'Portland' family names - Comben, Pearce, Stone, Attwooll, Lano, etc. So dominant were a few families that they frequently intermarried as shown below.
Of the those listed in the Dorset telephone directory with the ‘Stone’ family name 21% live on Portland compared with only 4% of a more widespread name ‘Smith’ in Dorset living on Portland. Portlanders have been loathe to move away from their Isle. In fact, as late as the 1970s there were still people who had never left Portland in their life! When one elderly Portlander was asked at that time why he had never travelling to the Mainland he replied that there was nothing of interest to tempt him over Ferrybridge.
The sun does not always shine on Portland...
Much of the graveyard was overgrown when this picture was taken (October 2016) with many of the graves unreachable.
Do try to get hold of a copy of a little booklet "Interesting Headstones of St George's Church" published by Jeffery Printers Ltd, Weymouth.
The inscriptions of thirty-one headstones are reproduced with a map showing where to find them. Some of the most interesting follow:
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William Hansford Aged 61 Years who was killed on the 23 November 1824 by the Sea overflowing the Village of Chissel his Leg was broken in attempting to make his escape afterwards the House fell on him.
FAREWELL MY WIFE AND CHILDREN DEAR
MY DEATH WAS SUDDEN AND SEVERE,
THE WONDROUS WORKS OF GOD BESPOKE
MAN’S DWELLINGS LEVELL’D WITH THE GROUND
WHEN SOME WERE KILL’D AND SOME WERE DROWN’D
THEREFOR O GOD THEIR SOULS PRAY TAKE
IN JOYS ABOVE FOR JESUS SAKE.
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William Hansford was a victim of the greatest storm to ravage the Dorset coast in recorded history.
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George John Leggett
Late Chief Petty Officer R.N.
Who served on HMS Discovery
in the Arctic Expedition 1875 - 1876.
Died Dec - 17 - 1909
Age 57.
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Affectionate Remembrance of
BENJAMIN SCRIVEN
Who was accidentally shot by the Steward in the East India Dock London
October 11th 1875 Aged 24 Years
ALSO
JOSEPH READ SCRIVEN
Chief Officer of the
Cliiper Ship CALIPH of London
in the China Sea Sept 1871
Aged 31 years
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In Memory of MARY
wife of THOMAS WHITE who
departed this Life the 7th March 1783
aged 37 Years
Farewell vain World enough I’ve had of thee
And now I am careless what thou say of me
Thy smiles I count not nor thy frowns I fear
My Heads at rest, my Bones lye quiet here
What faults were seen in me take heed to shun
And look at home enough theres to be done.
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Sacred
To the memory of
Joseph Trevitt
Late Assistant Warder
of Portland Prison
Who was murdered by a convict while in the execution of his duties in the Batteries
On 23rd March 1869
Aged 38
Leaving a Widow and 3 Children to Mourn
The loss of an affectionate husband and a kind parent
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IN THIS GRAVE
Are interred the bodies of
CARPENTER JAMIESON
of the Ship AVALANCHE
and five other names unknown who were drownde in attempting to land in Chesil Cove
on the morning September 12th 1877
and who had formed parts of the crew of the FOREST and AVALANCHE
which ships were lost by collision in the channel off Portland on the previous night September 11th 1877
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IN MEMORY OF
JOHANN CARL FREDERIC MAGDELINSKY
Died November 25th 1872 Aged 49
Drowned near Chesil Beach Portland whilst helping to save his fellow passengers
From Royal Adelaide where he bravely sacrificed his own life
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SACRED
To the Memory of
WILLIAM PEARCE
Who was killed by Lightning
While on duty in Her Majestie’s service
On Portland Beach November 29th 1858
Leaving a widow and five children
To lament his loss
Aged 33 Years
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In Memory of
GRACE
Wife of EDWARD COMBEN Junr
who dies in Childbed with two daughters who also died on the 29th of November 1775 Aged 26 Years.
Farewell my Father Mother Oh farewell
I and my Babes must here no longer dwell
And I do bid farewell to this day light
Of which mine Eyes
shall never more have fight
for Fate has sealed mine and my infants doom
Farewell my Husband Death I come I come.
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SACRED
to the Memory of
MARY Daughter of JOHN and MARY WAY who was Shot by some of a Press gang on the 2nd of April 1803 And died of the wound the 21st of May the same Year.
Aged 21 Years
Here Immortality with beauty lies
Confin’d from Earth to kindred skies
Her Life was short her Death severe
Stop Reader, think and shed a tear.
Wife of EDWARD COMBEN Junr
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SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF
WILLIAM LANO
Who was wantonly shot by some of a Press gang and died of the wound on the 2nd of April 1803 Aged 26 Years
As o’er my Grave some sorrowing Comrade stands
And mourns my Fate, cut off by cruel Hands
As fancy views, I fall upon the Ground
And lifes warm Current, rushing from the Wound
Let him exclaim with poignant Grief Opprest
Here unoffending: Murder’d VICTIM rests
Oh, may my fate in warning Accents show
What Mischief from ungovern’d Passions flow
Also to the Memory
of REBECCA. Wife of
WILLIAM LANO
She departed this Life the
12th of February 1806
Aged 29 Years
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Mary Way and William Lano were shot and killed in 1803 by a press gang supported by the Mayor of Weymouth - leading to a long-term hatred of Weymouth people by older Portlanders.
In the summer of 2015 an engraved plaque was discovered during the clearance of brambles. This is immediately behind the headstone of the grave shown above. This grave is close to the south-west corner of the old graveyard.
It is very difficult to read and impossible to photograph but I have transcribed it as shown below.
The ‘New’ Graveyard
The saddest part of the graveyard - the baby’s and children’s section seen above and below. .
THE GEORGE INN
The George Inn is reputed to be the oldest inhabited building on Portland and was, for many years, the meeting place of the Court Leet as seen below. There is a detailed and excellent article describing this pub to be read here.
Note the Reeve Staff being held aloft. There used to be examples of reeve staffs on display in the The George but these are now in Portland Museum together with others. The use of these staffs is described in the Portland Museum entry - see here.
The sign above the name board welcomes cyclists and urges them to stop awhile for refreshments.
On entering the pub there is a room on the left which has wooden tables which were built in situ in the room by local quarrymen in the early 1940s. These are much worn and with the names of old Portlanders carved into the gnarled surface.
The pub’s website is here.
FANCY'S BEACH
The descriptive word 'beach' on Portland means a flat area of undisturbed or in-filled quarry land. 'Fancy's Beach' was north of the cricket ground.
When photographed in 1989 an interesting painted showman's wagon was parked nearby. This is in the centre of the picture.
In the steep ditch in the foreground is a small cave system. The entrance was only accessible in 1989 by sliding head first into a small hole - which I never attempted!
A wonderful collection of rusty sheds and buildings existed almost opposite St George's Church in this 1990 photograph. This whole area has now been quarried out and is a vast hole in the ground.
Fancy’s Beach was around here somewhere.
In this area is a scrap yard which also supplies excellent eggs from its free-range chickens which used to run precariously and amusingly on the verge of the main road. Sadly, most of these chickens - comprising several rare breeds - were stolen late in 2002. The yard still sells chickens and eggs however.
INMOSTHAY QUARRY
Inmosthay Quarry is a large working quarry north of Reforne.
It is a rather boring landscape of tracks, jumbled quarry waste and working quarries. It had an impressive cave system which was ripped out during the extension of the quarry and this no longer exists.
The entrance to the Inmosthay cave was the hole to the left of the picture centre. This entrance was on a nearly sheer rock face across a ditch from the main track and was difficult to reach.
It was reported that it had a fine collection of stalactites and stalagmites but that the cave entrance had to be stopped up with iron bars to prevent vandalism. The pictures above and below were taken in 1989.
This whole area has now been quarried away so that this cave system no longer exists.
The above picture was taken in 2008 and shows the cave system entrance overgrown. Soon after this picture was taken the entire area was ripped out by quarrying.
Above is approximately where the fascinating cave system was to be found.
Where there was once a wide footpath running through the quarry there is now a narrow muddy track hemmed in by a wall of boulders.
TRADECROFT INDUSTRIAL ESTATE
Once a major centre for the stone industry, this huge factory which stood to the north of St George’s Church, was bought by Tod's of Weymouth for the manufacture of glass fibre mouldings.
The land stretching from the factory to the camera was the Portland household rubbish dump until it was compacted, covered with stone waste and used as the foundation for a small industrial estate called Tradecroft.
Tradecroft consists of a large number of utilitarian business units as show above.
STEAM LOCOMOTIVES
This steam locomotive arrived at the industrial estate at Tradecroft in May 2003. This is a Bulleid Merchant Navy Class No 35018 "British India Line" in its British Railways livery. It looked very much the worse for wear but, when renovated, it was a gleaming hissing monster ready to work on the Watercress Line in Mid-Hampshire.
This locomotive was built at Eastleigh Engine Works in May 1945 and was numbered 21C18 in the system then used by the Southern Railway. This locomotive spent most of its life working from the huge Nine Elms Depot in London and was used to pull Pullman trains and once even hauled a Royal Train in July 1955.
The locomotive was withdrawn in 1964 and was sent to the massive graveyard for steam locomotives at Barry Island in South Wales. It was bought by the Watercress Line in 1980 but no renovation was done until it was moved to Portland in 2003. It was moved off Portland in 2014.
I have fond memories of travelling between Weymouth and London on trains pulled by these types of locomotive until steam haulage was withdrawn in the mid-1960s.
The next set of pictures show locomotives in the repair yard in February 2006. Currently there are no locomotives or rolling stock in the yard.
The locomotive “ALBERT” was sent back to the Plym Valley Railway in 2007 where is can be seen running - see details here.
The yard now devoid of any locomotives.
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PORTLAND RED CIRCLE CRICKET CLUB [7]
The cricket club facilities. The club’s website is here. There is a large tunnel running under the cricket pitch which extends from Bowers Quarry. Stone is being extracted from the mine without disturbing the surface features - see here for details of this mining process.
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St GEORGE’S COMMUNITY CENTRE AND YMCA [8]
Ashley Smith has produced an authoritative account of the history and use of the St George’s Community Centre - please click here. Originally a school opened in 1857 it was closed in 1969. In 1981 the Island of Portland Heritage Trust was formed and raised �25,000 to buy the building which was opened initially as a Tourist Information Centre. The facilities comprise the Peter Trim Community Hall, Girt Hall and the Skylark Studio. These are used for a wide range of community activities.
Next door is the YMCA building.
And finally..
The ‘DT5 gang’ (also known as the ‘Portland Bois’) left their tag on this garage at the back of the YMCA in 2011.
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ANOTHER OF MY HOBBIES
At the age of 75 I started a new hobby - writing and publishing books. These are available as paperbacks from Amazon - please click here for details.
Keywords St George’s Church Inmosthay Quarry George Inn Steam locomotive 35018 30053 47160 Plym Valley Railway Albert Portland Dorset
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