A NEW book is the first to focus on the medieval history of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis.

Written by local author James Crump, Medieval Weymouth is based on original research in local and national archives and local fieldwork.

Mr Crump's book challenges the perception of Weymouth as a 'Georgian' town, showing how much of the physical appearance of the town was determined before the arrival of George III himself.

Back then Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were two separate towns.

Medieval Weymouth explores the growth and decline of both towns.

Both towns were in decline from the late fourteenth century into the sixteenth century.

Mr Crump writes: "The reasons for this decline are complex.

"Contemporaries attached most importance to the effects - economic, financial and physical - of the prolonged conflict with France known as the 'Hundred Years War'.

"Others, perhaps influenced by Melcombe's notoriety as the 'original' port of entry of the Black Death, have drawn attention to that plague and subsequent epidemics."

The coincidence of both proved devastating, Mr Crump wrote.

Mr Crump's research explores the origins of the town in Weymouth, which is less than 500 years old, and was brought into being in 1571 when it was merged with Melcombe Regis.

The author takes us right back to the 13th century when Weymouth and Melcombe had foundations as towns.

We also hear about the charter of 934 in which King Athelstan granted substantial lands in Dorset to Milton Abbey.

The book also looks at a 988 charter and a writ of King Edward the Confessor declaring that he has bequeathed Portland and everything belonging thereto to the Old Minster at Winchester.

From 1252 the recently-installed Prior of St. Swithun's, William of Taunton, was seeking to make Weymouth grow and to attract inhabitants by offering them security of tenure, free status and the chance of prospering.

The next stage of the building of a town was the laying out of streets and building plots, Mr Crump writes, followed by attempts to attract immigrants - merchants, traders and craftsmen.

Modern street maps still show us how medieval Melcombe was divided into rectangular blocks.

Blocks were laid out into parcels of land known as 'burgage plots', the separate properties which would be owned by the burgesses who took them up.

The strategy of bringing in migrants began to pay off, Mr Crump writes.

The accounts of the Earls of Clare show that there were 260 burgage plots in Weymouth in 1329-30, which produced a revenue of £20. 12s. 9d.

Growing trades in Weymouth and Melcombe Regis were the export of wool and the import of wine.

Mr Crump then explores the decline of Weymouth in detail, ascribed to the outbreak of 'the Black Death' in 1348.

There is also an interesting chapter on the role religion played in the towns.

A friary site was once bounded by present-day Maiden Street, St. Alban Street, Governor's Lane, earlier known as Friary Lane, and lay open to the beach on the east.

Medieval Weymouth also explores town life in the fourteenth century with his research looking at the role of bailiffs from the record of their expenses.

The book concludes at the end of the Middle Ages. This medieval legacy remains to this day.

Mr Crump writes: "Weymouth is often described as 'Georgian' in character. But obviously that is only half the story."

*Medieval Weymouth is priced at £6.99 and is available by emailing the author jim@crump491.plus.com, can be bought in Weymouth from the Tourist Information Centre in the Colwell Centre and Tudor House, and from internet booksellers such as Wordery, Abe and Amazon.

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