Furzehill
- a Dorset Hamlet
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The history of FurzehillAll contributions on the history of Furzehill will be welcome. If you have any information or memories of Furzehill in the past please complete the form below. Items of interest:
Furzehill Cottages: The earliest cottages built on the brow of the hill were built around 1895. The cottage currently occupied by Jim Frampton, the upholsterer, was the "Old Clapgate" Post Office before the second world war and the workshop behind the cottage was originally used for the production of handmade bicycles around 1900. The Stocks Inn gets it's name from the old village stocks that were in the front field of Stocks Farm, just across the road from the pub. Stocks Farm is believed to have a very long history and is thought to be mentioned in the Doomsday Book. It used to be part of the Kingston Lacey estate. Clapgate: The area around the junction of Grange with the Cranborne Road is still known as "Clapgate" from the old custom of travellers on horseback clapping their hands to call the gate keeper to let them through. EDDC Offices: I have not managed to obtain much information about the original building, known as Woodleaze, which is now used by East Dorset District Council, and any further information would be welcome. From information in the deeds it was built before 1864 as it was held on trust at that time for Rev. Carr John Glyn and Carr Stuart Glyn. Captain Carr Stuart Glyn died in 1923. In 1924 Captain Richard Owen Tapper Gervis Meyrick bought the property and land. Kenny Wentworth, who was born in Furzehill before the Second World War and still lives here, remembers that for a period it was a school and then was used by the US Army during the second world war. On 23rd September 1947 it was bought by Sydney Wallace Bushby and Norah Winifred Hubert for £7,800. They converted it to a private club which developed a reputation for rowdy late night drinking. On one occasion, when it got out of control, Mr. Bushby is reported to have gone to the stables, mounted a horse and re-entered the bar on horseback scattering the drinkers as he advanced. The property was then sold to Wimborne and Cranborne Rural District Council for £7,000 three years later in October 1950. David Smith who was born in 1940 and lived at Little Croft, the thatched cottage opposite the drive to Woodleaze, has just been in touch from Australia having emigrated in 1967. He also remembers the American troops. "THE AMERICAN SERVICEMEN WOULD VERY OFTEN COME DOWN WITH SWEETS AND ALL SORTS OF GOODIES AND THEY WOULD HAND THEM THROUGHT THE HEDGE TO MY BROTHER AND MYSELF. AFTER THE WAR THE CHILDREN OF FURZEHILL USED TO PLAY IN THE WOODS SURROUNDING THE BIG HOUSE AT WOODLEAZE. WE FOUND A TUNNEL HIDDEN IN THE WOODS AND WE FOUND WE WERE ABLE TO WALK THROUGH IT AND WE WOULD COME OUT IN THE CELLARS OF WOODLEAZE HOUSE, AND THERE WAS EVIDENCE OF A LOT OF ALCOHOL WHICH THE AMERICANS KEPT DOWN THERE. THE TUNNEL WAS STILL THERE UNTIL THE LATE FIFTIES WHEN SOME ONE HAD IT FILLED IN." Wimborne Minster Church Hall: According to a brief history of Furzehill held in the records of the Wimborne Priest's House, there was a wooden hut which was an outreach for Wimborne Minster between 1913 and 1971. Those who know him may be surprised to hear that Kenny Wentworth was sent there for Sunday School. To make sure he went he was given a card which had to be stamped each week.
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