A pleasant and interesting town between two Dorset rivers, the Piddle and the Frome. It was an important port until Poole surpassed it in the 13th century. It is surrounded on three sides by massive ramparts, dating from the time of King Alfred. They are a reminder of the troubled earlier history of the town, when it suffered repeated attacked by the Danes and was captured by Vikings in 876. The present town is mainly Georgian as it was rebuilt after a fire in 1762. There are two main churches in Wareham, one the tiny St Martin’s church “the only Saxon church in Dorset surviving in anything like its original state”.

Inside is the remarkable marble effigy of T.E. Lawrence by Eric Kennington. T.E. Lawrence lived not so far away at Clouds Hill, near Wool. The Church of St Mary which can be seen in the centre of the photo, also of Saxon origins, has a tower which is an important landmark behind the quay on the Frome which runs into Poole Harbour. The white dots along the river Frome, on the right hand side in the photo, are moored boats. Photo taken from the W in July 1998. FR 267/24.