Longfleet

Church of St Mary - Longfleet
  © Copyright Mike Searle and licensed for reuse under this Creative Commons Licence

Longfleet is a parish and district of Poole centred on the Longfleet Road. It is situated directly north of the town centre and lies to the east of Oakdale and to the south and west of Parkstone. Longfleet parish was formed in 1837 from Great Canford. Its boundaries changed in 1946 when part of Longfleet became the new parish of Oakdale St George. The area of Longfleet was originally part of the Manor of Canford, the historic tyhting of Longfleet is mentioned in the Pipe Rolls of 1230. Longfleet is also the site of the Tatnam Well which used to provide water for the town of Poole.

In the early 1870s, Longfleet was a tything and a chapelry in Canford Magna parish. It covered an area of 1,458 acres, 285 of which were water. Poole Workhouse was located in the tything, housing 102 inmates in 1861.

St. Mary's is a Gothic Revival church that was built in the years 1830–33 and consecrated on 25 September 1833. It was originally designed by Edward Blore, but has been considerably modified since. In 1863, a chancel and organ chamber were added by G. E. Street and the year 1884 saw the western end enhanced by a spire, 135 feet high, erected by G. R. Crickmay and Son. The spire was donated by William Pearce JP, a 19th-century Mayor of Poole, who resided at nearby Springfield House. The northwest tower and spire, is one of Poole's most important landmarks.

Today, the vast majority of land use is for private residential dwellings, the majority being Victorian and Edwardian era terraces. However the NHS hospital Poole General covers a vast area of the district, with the main site located on the east side of Longfleet Road and the maternity unit situated on St Mary's Road, which runs north-easterly from Longfleet Road. The site of the maternity unit and the adjacent private hospital was once the site of the workhouse built in 1839. It was demolished in 1979.

St Mary, Longfleet
© Jan Hibberd/Dorset OPC 2012

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