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A settlement around Poole has existed since 2500 BC. In 43AD, the Romans invade England, where Emperor Vespasian founds Hamworthy.
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King Cnut the Great of Denmark seizes Brownsea Island and stores goods on it.
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Poole receives its first town charter from William de Longespee II. The original charter is displayed in the town museum.
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The Black Death sweeps through Poole, killing hundreds of people.
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William de Montacute gives Poole a new charter and allows a mayor to be selected for the year. Each year, a new mayor was installed along with the deputy mayor and sheriff at the Civic Centre in Poole. In recent years, the council re-enact the markings of Poole’s sea boundaries, and travelling around Poole Harbour.
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A French and Spanish naval fleet attack Poole, burning and looting the town in revenge for the exploits of Poole privateer Henry “Harry” Paye. Paye died in 1419, and his life is celebrated every June in town called “Harry Paye Charity Fun Day”.
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Poole becomes a staple port, which allowed merchants to dock and sell their goods for a limited time.
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Poole is allowed two annual fairs.
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Brownsea Island gains a fort for a number of years.
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Queen Elizabeth I gave Poole the Great Charter, giving it greater independence from Dorset.
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The English Civil War comes to Poole. Royalists attempt to sneak into the town to seize but are lured into a trap by Parliamentary soldiers stationed in the town and are executed.
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Corfe Castle, a 12th Century structure, is surrendered by the Royalists to the Parlimentary troops after a long battle for it. By order of Parliament, the castle is demolished so Royalists cannot use it again. Its ruins remain to this day.
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Poole merchant ships set sail to Newfoundland.
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A group of smugglers known as the Hawkhurst Gang break into the quay’s custom house to gain a large amount of tea which was impounded there. In the process, the gang killed an informer and a customs officer.
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The Guildhall is built as the town hall. In later years, it is now home of the town’s registry office services.
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Notorious smuggler Sir Isaac Gulliver gains a royal pardon from King George after offering two men to join the navy and foils an assassination plot against the king.
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Bournemouth is founded by Lewis Tregonwell after he and his wife visit the area's beaches.
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Local MPs William Ponsonby and Benjamin Lester open Poole’s first subscription library. The building is later used for Poole Museum.
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Poole receives gas lighting. A former town clerk causes all sorts of trouble when he demands claims for his loss of office, causing the gas lighting to be turned off for a time, and several historic items of the town to be given to him by the court.
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Poole’s first railway opens. However, the railway’s presence destroyed Poole’s coastal shipping trade.
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The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) arrives in Poole, moving to Poole Lifeboat Station in 1882.
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A second railway is opened with expands to Poole’s town centre. Poole’s coastal shipping comes to an end.
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Poole Pottery is founded, becoming an iconic business for Poole for years to come. The products were made in a factory until 1999 where business moved elsewhere,
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Poole Park opens to the public, created from a piece of land dedicated by Lord Wimbourne. It covers 110 acres and has a mand-made lake created when the railway ran along the bay. Until February 1994, the park had a zoo which featured a Himalayan Black Bear.
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Electrical trams run through Poole and Parkstone until 1935.
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Lord Robert Baden-Powell forms the first scouting group on Brownsea Island.
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Poole Council open the town’s iron suspension bridge to the public. The bridge was once a wooden bridge but was rebuilt into a suspension bridge.
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New municipal buildings including the Poole Civic Centre are opened.
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Poole Harbour is used by Americans in preparation for D-Day. Eighty-one landing craft departed from Poole to take part in the Omaha Beach operations.
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Hamworthy Power Station was built to power local areas, but was shut down and eventually demolished in 1995.
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A 2000-year old log boat is found in Poole Harbour and kept in water for thirty years to keep it in a sustainable condition. It is now in Poole Museum.
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Originally called the Arndale Shopping Centre, the Poole Dolphin Centre opens and is Poole's prominent shopping complex and also home to the town's library.
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Poole General Hospital is opened by Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.
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Poole is twinned with the French town Cherbourg.
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The Poole Arts Centre opens. In the 2000s, it is renamed the Lighthouse.
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The Waterfront Museum opens.
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After over ten years of construction and planning, the Twin Sails Bridge opens across Poole Bay. However, it suffers from numerous problems.