Lilliputis an area ofPooleinDorset,England. It bordersSandbanks,Canford Cliffs,Lower Parkstone,andWhitecliffand has a shoreline withinPoole Harbourwith views ofBrownsea Islandand thePurbeck Hills.
Well known residents have included modernist writerMary Butts,a very youngJohn le Carré[1]and disc-jockeyTony Blackburn.ImpresarioFred Karnowho popularised the custard-pie-in-the-face comedy routine spent his last years in the village as a part-owner of an off-licence, bought with financial help fromCharlie Chaplin,and died here in 1941 aged 75.
Lilliput is home to Evening Hill at the edge ofParkstone Bay,Salterns Marina,a hotel 'Salterns Harbourside', the Lilliput C of E Infants First School, and an Anglican church 'The Church of the Holy Angels'.
History
editBrownsea Island stands opposite Lilliput's harbour foreshore and is famous as the birthplace of Baden Powell'sScoutingmovement. Lilliput itself was host to a number of early scouting camps. During theSecond World Warat one stage it provided Britain's only civilian air route: Poole Harbour was temporary home to the Imperial Airways/BOAC flying boat fleet, which had its passenger HQ atSalterns Marina.[2]
Development
editThe area occupying the northern shore of Poole Harbour was often referred to by the Victorians as "Parkstone-on-Sea ".[3]Mary Buttswrote about the local landscape and her childhood in one of the old mansions at the turn of the twentieth century in her autobiographyThe Crystal Cabinet: my childhood at Salterns(1937).[4]Her great-grandfather had been a principal patron of the English romantic poet and artistWilliam Blake,and her Lilliput home housed a large collection of Blake paintings (now inTate Britain). The autobiography took its title from one of Blake's poems. She adored the area and was critical of the kind of development then taking place in Lilliput and Poole–Parkstone–Bournemouth,[5]which she thought soulless, and far from the "garden city"it could be. Aside from an enclave behind Evening Hill, a local beauty spot with panoramic views over Poole Harbour,[6]modern development started in the later 1920s as more of the older estates were sold for suburban projects. A number of distinctive art-deco homes were built, including the landmark Salterns Court building at the new shopping parade.
Before its development as a residential and recreational area there had been industrial projects at Salterns,[7][8]which had been the area's local name. Some claim a connection toJonathan Swiftand his novelGulliver's Travels,and there are local streets which have associated names. The name "Lilliput" probably derives from Lilliput House, an old country mansion built near Evening Hill, which may have been owned by renowned smugglerIsaac Gulliveror one of his relatives.[9]
Recent years[when?]have seen many new property development projects, especially in water frontage or harbour view locations, and often earlier buildings have been replaced entirely.[citation needed]
The dilemma of development is described inThe Dorset Village Book:
"much of Lilliput's woodland has disappeared, the sound of saws rasping through the trunks as prominent as the speeding traffic along the road to Sandbanks. Almost every inch of this beautiful place has been sacrificed to the builders and even parts of the cliff-face have been built on. Who can blame anyone for wanting to come here to live, to enjoy the rich sunsets over Wareham Channel, to smell the sweet cool breezes which waft in from the bay, and to marvel at the view across Poole Harbour and Brownsea Island. To many, this is paradise."[10]
References
edit- ^"John Le Carre".Bournemouth Echo.Retrieved11 October2015.
- ^"Poole Flying Boats Celebration (PFBC)".pooleflyingboats.Retrieved11 October2015.
- ^Waters, Jeremy (2014).Parkstone-on-Sea.Poole Historical Trust. p. 7.ISBN978-1-873535-899.
- ^Butts, Mary.The Crystal Cabinet: My Childhood at Salterns.ISBN9780807070383.
- ^"Extract from The Crystal Cabinet".
- ^Sunset over Poole, England Timelapse,retrieved6 December2015
- ^"Dorset Life article – Lilliput's industrial past".
- ^"George Jennings and the Growth of Parkstone".Poole Museum Society Blog.Retrieved12 October2015.
- ^"Lilliput: Chineland".chineland.Retrieved18 October2015.
- ^"Towns and Villages Around Poole - Lilliput".visitoruk.Retrieved11 October2015.
External links
edit
Media related toLilliput, Dorsetat Wikimedia Commons (click on any image to view in media-viewer)
- 50°42′N1°56′W/ 50.70°N 1.94°WThe Poole Flying Boats
- Lilliput's industrial past
- About the name and the areas' development
- 'Welcome to Poole' Lilliput entry
- The Dorset Village BookHarry & Hugh Ashley, published by Countryside Book[permanent dead link]
- Google Earth view
- Google Maps view
- Salterns from above
- 'About Lilliput' presentation'
- 'Looking Back at Lilliput' Iris A Morris (1999)
- 'Parkstone-on-Sea' Jeremy Waters (2014)