Swanage is the focus of new book which makes fascinating reading...

A NEW book has arrived on local book store shelves to give a near-definitive insight on one of Dorset's most popular seaside towns.

The Book of Swanage finds stalwart local author Rodney Legg digging even deeper to unearth more about the town whose origins can be traced back to the Bronze Age.

Roman graves have been found in the town but it now seems likely that its earliest recorded historical event - the Battle of Swanage - written up in the Anglo Saxon Chronicle, probably never happened.

A Viking fleet was destroyed in a storm off Swanage in 877 AD en route to reinforce warriors besieging Exeter. The wily Saxons, though, claimed it as a victory.

The book takes a lively stroll through the town's rich history from prehistoric times, through the earliest days of its settlement, its growth as a quarry town, port and the boom years of the Victorian era.

More recent history encompasses the two World Wars and significant snippets right up to the turn of the millennium.

Legg's eminently readable narrative is helped no end by the anecdotes of Swanage Advertiser columnist George Willey - a Swanage resident and old-school reporter for the past 50 years - not least the revelation that Enid Blyton, a regular visitor to the town, modelled her PC Plod on Studland bobby Christopher Rone.

Notable events recorded include the visits of Princess Victoria in 1833, King George VI in 1944 and John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, in 1774.

There's the bombing of Wesley's cottage, the flooding of Eldon Terrace, and all maner of legendary local characters including John Go-To-Bed, George Burt and Henry Welles.

Fascinatingly, the closing chapter records local ghosts and folklore, including the fate of John Ball, landlord of the Ship Inn at Langton Matravers.

Ball shot himself after his estranged wife, Mary, refused to return to him. An inquest found Ball guilty of suicide and therefore not able to be interred in a churchyard. He was "buried like a dog" beside the highway on the night of December 23, 1878.

The subsequent campaign of letter writing, led by Langton's rector, the Rev Lester, saw the crime of suicide mitigated by two Acts of Parliament in 1880 and 1882, allowing victims to be buried in consecrated ground.

NICK CHURCHILL

* The Book of Swanage by Rodney Legg (Halsgrove, £19.95) available from local stockists or Halsgrove Direct on 01884 243242.

* photograph published courtesy of Halsgrove