Sturminster Marshall

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  Chris Smih (guest)

  Sturminster Marshall grew around the Bailey Gate Milk, Cheese and Whey products factory that had a station called Bailey Gate so that it was not confused with Sturminster Newton, further north on the Somerset & Dorset Railway. The factory was started by one Henry Tory in 1888 and was called Bailey Gate Dairy The factory was at one time the largest cheese producing factory in Europe after amalgamating with Wilts United Dairies then Cow & Gate amalgamated with them becoming Unigate. The factory was the largest employer in the area, and during WWII Lord Haw Haw claimed that the factory had been bombed twice, totally untrue. The fleet of lorries collected milk from a large area of Dorset and milk was taken to London via Scammell road tankers and glass lined milk tanks from the sidings at the station, cheese was also shipped out the same way. Water cress was also collected from The Water Cress beds in Blandford Road the A350, this is now a fishing lake. The village at one time had three public houses, The Black Horse on Blandford Road, the Green Man in Newton Road near the junction with the A350, The Red Lion, Church Street and The Churchill Arms in High Street, The Green Man is no longer there. In Kings Street in the 1950s there was a Blacksmiths behind a row of thatched cottages, as spark from the forge caught the thatch and burned the row of houses to the ground. They were never rebuilt, but new houses rose from the ashes and a garage reopened at the back. The garage closed some years later as did Haysoms the general store just along the road. In Balls Lane at the junction of Churchill Close there was a building called The Men's Hall it was where people from the village used to meet for social events such as Bingo and Whist Drives. The original Police Station in the village was at the junction of Kings Street and High Street, and the last Police Station was in the High Street at the junction with Balls Lane. Where there are now new houses at the bottom of High Street to the right there was a field where a tall building was situated, local farmers brought their grain in here for drying. Further up Church Street on the right was the Church School, the first school in the village. On the left just along the road is the Church of St Mary the Virgin, the last of three churches in the village.

  11 years ago | reply | hide comment