User:Penbat/Friars Cliff

Friars Cliff

Friars Cliff and the surrounding area was known as 'Common Gate' early in the 18th Century.

The current Friars Cliff area was purchased by the ex-Prime Minister John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (1713-1792) who built High Cliff House in the late 1770s and by 1773 the area was simply referred to as the grounds of 'High Cliff House' (now known as Highcliffe Castle). At this time the estate was much larger than today, stretching from Chewton Bunny Common near Highcliffe village through Friarscliffe to Mudeford Quay.

In the mid-1920s a flurry of newspaper advertisements appeared in the Times; Edward James Montagu-Stuart-Wortley who owned the Highcliffe Castle estate at that time offered land as freehold building sites on the Friars Cliff estate for builders, speculators and investors. The area was described as a delightful and fashionable seaside resort with a long sea frontage and, as an added attraction, an adjoining golf course.

According to the Dorset Historic Towns Survey for Christchurch, page 6:-

  57. Friars Cliff housing estate. Friars Cliff housing estate was constructed to the south and east of the original settlement at Bure 
  during the 1930s. The earliest part of the estate probably includes the area around Seafield Road which is arranged in a regular grid 
  pattern. Later extensions to the estate tended to have a geometric street pattern. The name ‘Friars Cliff’ is an invention.

In December 1954 The Times reported floods in the area where 100 privately owned beach huts were damaged or washed away. On the night of 14th February 2014 a storm damaged a similar number of huts.Storm damage repairs commence at Christchurch beaches

Steamer Point

Steamer Point gained its name after a later estate owner, Charles Stuart, 1st Baron Stuart de Rothesay, used an old paddle steamer as a site office for the construction of what is now Highcliffe Castle. Around 1830 the old boat was beached in a small inlet and jammed between two large trees. Later the boat became a beach house for about 60 years but fell into disuse and dereliction at the turn of the 20th century.

During the 2nd World War Steamer Point was the site of a military radar research station that helped to develop radar cover for the south coast. Specifically, the devices developed at Steamer Point included radar guided anti-aircraft guns, radar beacons and the 'Tenset' radiotelephone used by Lord Montgomery during his campaign through Europe. The building known as site 16 (the 16 is still visible today) was used as an anti aircraft gun emplacement that incorporated a Lewis machine gun.

On the cliff top at Steamer Point there is a plaque dedicated to the pioneering work carried out at Signals Research and Development Establishment between 1948 and 1980. The plaque is situated on the concrete plinth where a “radome” used to stand containing a 40-foot diameter dish that communicated with the first launched British satellite.

Steamer Point was once under the demesne of Highcliffe Castle and was originally intended as a formal and functional woodland with salt tolerant tree species such as Holm Oak planted to help stabilise the cliff. Today it is managed for nature conservation with non-native species such as sycamore and rhododendron gradually removed to promote the growth of native species such as oak and hazel. The area has been extensively surveyed by Dorset Environmental Records Centre and a full species list has been compiled. The woodland is a candidate Local Nature Reserve and the cliffs upon which it is situated are designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for their fossil content (They were laid down 43 million years ago).

Sunseeker International

Sunseeker International began in a local Friars Cliff car dealership.

Friar’s Cliff Motors, a Ford motor dealership did a sideline in boat sales. In 1960, Friar’s Cliff Marine was incorporated and during the 1960s morphed into Poole Power Boats.

In 1969 a dramatic turn of events changed the direction of the firm forever. The American boat builder Owens (whose yachts Poole Power Boats sold) decided that they would no longer distribute to Europe and announced their decision to close the UK operation down. Poole Power Boats (née Friars Cliff Motors) acquired their mould and having never built any craft before, embarked on the business of boat building.

The rest, as they say, is history. The nautical sideline grew into one of the world’s biggest brands.