Barnstaple Town Centre :: Accommodation Guide

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Gillingham - Dorset

Gillingham

Gillingham, the Leddenton of Thomas Hardy's novels, is situated in the Blackmore Vale, and is the most northerly town in Dorset. The town is in a convenient position for anyone wishing to explore the surrounding area, as it is on the main railway line from Exeter to London, and only four miles from the main London to Penzance trunk road.

There is evidence of royal connections in Saxon times and, in the Middle Ages, Gillingham was the seat of a royal hunting lodge. This was visited by King John and the first three Henrys. The lodge was demolished in 1369 after it had fallen into disrepair.

Gillingham became a thriving centre for the local farming community and built the first Grammar School in Dorset in 1526. By the end of the 18th century, it also had a silk mill. The local church has a 14th century chancel, but mostly dates from the 19th and 20th centuries. There are still many 15th century buildings surviving in the town.

The arrival of the railway, in the middle of the 19th century, brought additional prosperity to the town and new industries grew up, including brick making, printing, soap manufacture and cheese production. Further expansion took place during the Second World War when there was large scale evacuation from London to rural towns.

Much of Gillingham is still much as it was in the days of Hardy. John Constable knew the area too, and his painting of the old town bridge is in the Tate Gallery in London.

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Click on Tourism for information on the area, Attractions for what to do and where to go, Food and Drink on what to eat when you get there, Leisure... well relax and think about that one and the Town Centre to shop till you drop!