History Shorts: snippets of local history

While the Red Lion and the Royal Oak are the most common pub names in Britain, with many hundreds of each, there is probably only one pub in the country called St Peter's Finger.  There are some places called Peters Finger (or Petersfinger) but the drinking establishment is found in the Dorset village of Lytchett Minster, and seems to have been there for well over two hundred years. Surprisingly though the origin of the name isn't entirely certain. Pub sign in 2023. Lytchett Minster is found four miles from Wareham and four miles from Poole. A settlement was recorded here in the Domesday book.  A helpful information board reveals that the village church has no dedication, describing this as unusual but not unique. Parish records date back to 1554 and its font also dates to the 16th century. About 100 yards away from the church is St Peter's Finger pub. A phrase on the pub wall suggests that St Peter's Finger is a thief's finger, and that the pub was previously a den...

The Dorset chalk figure known as the Cerne Giant was most probably created in the early Middle Ages, according to recent dating work. Contextualising the archaeological work by the National Trust, authors of a new study say the figure was cut in the ninth or early tenth century when there was much interest in the Greek hero Hercules. In their paper in the journal Speculum , Thomas Morcom and Helen Gittos explain at length when and why the figure was cut in the image of Hercules and why it was done in this West Saxon landscape. By PeteHarlow,  CC BY-SA 3.0 , Link The Cerne Giant, located outside the village of Cerne Abbas, is approximately 55 metres long and 51 metres wide. The hill on which it was carved also features an Iron Age earthwork, which the authors say, has never been investigated archaeologically but which was considered important enough to give the hill its name until recently.  Previous attempts to date the giant placed its creation either sometime in prehistory o...

November 2013 :  ITV Meridian News this week remembered the 70th anniversary of the eviction of villagers from Tyneham, Dorset by the War Office for use as a military training ground. (The surrounding Lulworth ranges area is still used for military training today). What was initially thought a temporary move during the remainder of the Second World War was made permanent by compulsory purchase order of the land in 1948. The buildings of Tyneham now lie dormant, mostly in ruins (some presumably damaged by military exercises!), although the church is now preserved and the striking telephone kiosk is a modern replica. Access is available during part of the year when military training is not taking place. The following pictures were taken in June 2010.