POOLE QUAY BOAT HAVEN
POOLE HARBOUR
50°42.70’ N 001°59.10’ W
The second largest natural harbour in the world after Sydney in Australia, Poole Harbour is a 14-square-mile haven featuring several marinas, golden beaches, wildlife refuges, some of the most expensive properties in the UK (at the exclusive Sandbanks), and a 60-acre commercial port.
Sheltered to the South by the Purbeck Hills, with no tidal restrictions and easy access, Poole has a history dating back to the Iron Age. Researchers for the TV show Time Team explored Green Island – one of eight islands within the harbour – and found evidence of commercial activity from this era in the remains of a furnace and traces of the production of shale jewellery, possibly for export to Europe.
In Roman times, Poole became a supply port, and by the 12th century it was one of the largest and most prosperous of the south-coast ports. Its fortunes have waxed and waned
