Boscombe, Hampshire
Historical Description
Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, in Hampshire. It has a station on the L. & S.W.R., 104 miles from London, and is rapidly growing into an important seaside resort. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office (T.S.O.) under Bournemouth. It is separated from Bournemouth by the Boscombe Chine Gardens, which are a great attraction, and form one of the approaches to the beach and pier. Boscombe Pier was opened in 1889; it has a good landing-stage, and forms a very pleasant promenade. There are two churches, and Wesleyan, Congregational, and Baptist chapels.
Church Records
The registers of St. John date from the year 1891.
Churches
Church of England
St. John the Evangelist, Christchurch Road (parish church)
The parish of St. John the Evangelist, Boscombe, was formed out of St. Clement's, Bournemouth: the church, standing at the corner of the main Christchurch road and St. John's road, was erected 1894-5 at a cost of about £14,000, the foundation stone being laid on 27 Dec. 1893 by W. W. B. Beach esq. M.P. with full Masonic ceremony: it is of flint and stone in the Gothic style of the 14th century, from designs by Mr. John O. Scott F.S.A. of London, and Mr. C. T. Miles, Bournemouth, and consists of chancel, north aisle, nave, aisles and a south outer aisle, organ chamber and double vestries: there are 1,150 sittings.
Baptist
Baptist Chapel, Gladstone Road
The Baptist chapel, in Gladstone road, is a plain Gothic building of white brick with stone facings, erected in 1875, at a cost of about £1,200. and will seat 450 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel, Christchurch Road
The Congregational chapel, in the Christchurch road, is a stone building in the Early English style, erected in 1887, at a cost of £1,800, and has sittings for 750.
Methodist
Wesleyan Chapel, Ashley Road
The Wesleyan chapel, in Ashley road, rebuilt in 1893, at a cost of £3,300, is a brick building in the Gothic style, and has sittings for 520.
Roman Catholic
Catholic Church of Corpus Christi, Christchurch Road
The Catholic church of Corpus Christi, Christchurch road, was completed and opened for service in 1895, the architect being W. Lunn esq. of Great Malvern: the church is of red brick and Bath stone in the Early English Gothic style, and consists of nave and chancel arch and aisles: the church will seat about 400.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Hampshire (County Southampton) is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Boscombe are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Hampshire newspapers online:
- Portsmouth Evening News
- Hampshire Telegraph
- Hampshire Advertiser
- Hampshire Chronicle
- Aldershot Military Gazette
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitations of Hampshire, 1530, 1575, & 1622-34 is available to view on the Heraldry page.