SPA Town - Bournemouth

Before it was an established holiday destination, Bournemouth was a real smuggler’s haunt. Its long sweeping coastline was the perfect arrival point for contraband and the many chines presented perfect locations to hide and store exploits. Today the chines are beautifully gardened and provide idyllic walking paths to escape the heat of the beach.

Bournemouth is located in Dorset , before it became recognised as a spa town shortly after it was founded in the early 1800s. Resort status for the town inspired an immense network of hotels and residencies, many of which function in the same way today.

Perhaps most famous of the cliff-top buildings is the Russel-Cotes Art Gallery & Museum which houses a marvellous collection of artwork and sculpture curated by influential society members of the day.

Bournemouth has an almost unbroken sweep of sandy beach, extending from the mouth of Poole Harbour to Hengistbury Head. To the west there are clifftop parks and gardens, interrupted by wooded river ravines, known as “chines”. The varied and colorful garden of Compton Acres was conceived as a museum of garden styles.

East of Bournemouth, Christ Church Priory is 95m in length -one of the longest churches in England. The original nave, dating from around 1903, is an impressive example of Norman architecture, but the highlight is the intricate the stone reredos, which features a Tree of Jesse tracing the line age of Christ.