The archive contains a wide range of information about changes in land use and urban development. Shopping centre plans, developers’ plans, land utilisation maps from the 1930s, photographs and watercolours offer many insights into how life altered as the countryside and towns changed. News about everyday life also changed.

Changes in land use

From the estate maps of the sixteenth century to the present day, there is evidence of how the land was used. Estate maps usually record the tenant and area of each plot. Tithe Maps also record the use of the land e.g. arable. In the 1930s, Dudley Stamp at the University of London and a nationwide team mapped the use of every field, providing a unique land use record of the countryside and the towns (e.g. the larger gardens and open spaces). Maps at a scale of One Inch to One Mile (1:63360) and, for each county, a description and analysis were published. In the 1960’s, a Second Land Utilisation Survey published maps at the scale of Two and a Half Inches to One Mile (1:25,000). Examples of both Land Utilisation Surveys are in the archive. It is possible to trace the ownership or tenancy and the changing uses of the land for long periods. Although simply ‘snapshots’, these records provide a very important record of how Dorset’s landscape has changed.

Urban development

Although very detailed, town maps and plans rarely describe the use of buildings. However, the historical changes in the towns, especially Weymouth, Bournemouth and Christchurch, can be traced. For example, following the Christchurch Inclosure Act 1802, the Map of the Commissioners’ Award dated 1805 provides detailed information about the pattern of the town and its surroundings. The expansion of Christchurch, Bournemouth and the surrounding villages can then be followed in detail through the Tithe Maps (mostly from the 1840’s) and the Ordnance Survey 1:2500 Plans (beginning in the 1860s) to the present day plans and aerial photographs.

Developers’ plans

The growth of the resorts, particularly Bournemouth, provides a wealth of information. Developers’ plans show how they were laying out the new estates and the different styles of housing and gardens. For example, it is possible to trace the gradual occupation of areas such as Boscombe by relatively close housing and streets contrasting with the larger detached houses in bigger grounds of the East Cliff between the Lansdowne and Boscombe Chine. Previously open land, often farmed along the old terraces of the western side of the Stour valley, changed to the present urban landscape.

News about everyday life

There is also a continuing record, often reported in the newspapers of the time, of the disputes that took place. Changes to the neighbourhood invoke strong responses in the past and today. From the nineteenth century, many changes are recorded in the photographic records. Photographs show people at work both in the countryside (e.g. reed cutting and farm-workers) and in the towns and harbours (e.g. rope making at Bridport and ship building at Poole).

Vincent May