** Please read the logging requirements below - it's "more than a photo" ! **
Poole's history can be traced back over to 2,500 years to the Iron Age. The Romans landed at Poole during the 1st century. After the invasion of the Saxons in the 7th centre, Poole became part of the Kingdom of Wessex. Poole was largely a fishing town until the latter part of the 11th century. Throughout the medieval period, Poole was an important port for trading with most of the maritime nations of Europe. In 1568, Elizabeth I granted the Great Charter, under which Poole became "The County of the Town of Poole," separate from the county of Dorset. Poole has a splendid heritage of Georgian mansions, which can be seen in and around Poole’s Old Town. These were largely the products of the wealth created by the Newfoundland trade. Poole played its part in both World Wars and, in particular, was one of the points from which Operation Overlord was launched for the invasion of Europe in 1944.
If you wish to learn more about Poole and it's storied history, there are many online references available.
This Virtual Reward requires that you visit two logging locations in the Old Town.
Custom House
The original Custom House building was built in 1747. In the same year, the Custom House was the site of a burglary, in which 30 smugglers, led by members of the Hawkhurst Gang, raided the house and took two tons of smuggled tea and 39 barrels of rum, worth over £500, that had previously been confiscated. The raid happened at night, with the gang reaching Poole at 11pm. Four men were convicted at the Old Bailey in 1749, during which they argued that "there was no crime in smuggling" and that they were just "recovering their own goods".
The original Custom House was destroyed by fire in 1813 and replaced with the replica that still stands today. The central porch has Tuscan columns and an entablature which carries a cast-iron Royal Coat of Arms. The central porch has Tuscan columns and an entablature which carries a cast-iron Royal Coat of Arms. The porch is approached by symmetrical segmental curved stairs with wrought-iron railings, which copy those of the Guildhall.
Guildhall
The building was designed in the Georgian style, built in red brick with stone dressings at a cost of £2,250 and was completed in 1761. From 1819 to 1821 it served as a church while the nearby St Jame's Church was being rebuilt. It became the meeting place for the municipal borough of Poole in 1836. Up until May 1932, the building functioned as the central office for the borough council. During the Second World War, it functioned as a gathering point and mess hall American soldiers, preparing for landings in France. For nearly two decades, a museum was housed on the first floor of the building before transitioning to a new location in the Lower High Street. More recently, it has been used as registry office and a venue for weddings and civil partnership ceremonies.
From Wikipedia - "The design involved a symmetrical main frontage with three bays facing southwest down Market Street; the central bay, featured a projecting two storey structure consisting of a rusticated base which supported a portico with Tuscan order columns and a pediment accessed by fine curved staircases on either side".
Logging Requirements
Custom's House - Posted Coordinates - N50° 42.737 W001° 59.351
Guildhall - Additional Waypoint - N50° 42.874 W001° 59.241
To log this as Found, you will need to include two photos with your log :
- One taken from Custom House coordinates/posted; the other at the Guildhall coordinates.
- Both photos need to include each of the specific landmarks in the background
- The Player name of the account logging the Find should be visibly displayed within the photo itself - for example, written on a piece of paper or visibly displayed on a screen.
If you wish to include yourself in the photo - feel free to do so; you do not have to show your face to log this Virtual Reward.
If your photos capture the similarities between the staircases - that is fantastic - however, it is not a specific logging requirement.
Remember - you had to be there - so digitally altered images will not be considered valid.
Aren't sure how to add a second photo to your Find log? Check here for help - or, post a Write Note log with your additional photo(s).
Background - The Cache Owner
I moved from Poole to Ontario, Canada in August 1990 when I was 15. I've visited "home" a few times and there have certainly been many changes over the years. Before attending Poole Grammar School, I went to South Road Combined School (now Old Town County First School), which is within walking distance of the posted coordinates of this Virtual Reward.
At South Road, many school outings involved walking around the Old Town, following a teacher with a clipboard and a duplicated sheet of purple text (it was the 1980s!) listing nearby historic buildings and places of note. I loved those outings; there was so much to learn, and every walk around town, even outside of school, became a history lesson. The Guildhall and Custom House buildings always seemed to be very important - in my mind, they were bold landmarks with notably similar staircases.
In October 2024, while visiting Poole, I stayed at a hotel in the Old Town. Standing in the doorway, I saw a group of school children on a history tour with their teacher. They stopped in front of me, and the teacher shared the building's story. Forty years later, the lessons continue.
If you have other stories, moments or photos from your time in Poole that you wish to share in your log, please feel free to do so.
Below I include photos separated by almost 40 years... (I used to love that blue coat!) at a different landmark in Poole's Old Town.
Time makes every moment we live, part of the history of Us.
Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025.
Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.