The plague arrives

Saturday, 8th September.

Weymouth – or actually Melcombe, and later Melcombe Regis, as the town on that side of the river was known – holds the dubious honour of being the place where the bubonic plague, otherwise known as the Black Death, arrived in Britain in 1348, carried by people fleeing the plague on the continent. It was transmitted by the bite of a flea, the flea itself having been infected by the black rat upon which it lived. As the population fled the plague, unwittingly taking it with them and spreading it further, the plague went on to kill an estimated 30 to 50% of the country’s population. This fact is commemorated on a plaque attached to the wall of the Ship Inn on the harbour. We haven't eaten there, yet.

This, and many other fascinating facts about the harbour area, was brought to our attention by a member of Weymouth Civic Society who, with his wife, was conducting a free tour of the area on a very warm Saturday in early September (so warm and sunny that I ended up with a very red neck, having forgotten to go out with any sun cream).

We also learnt about the railway line which ran from the main station to the quay at the harbour's end, carrying passengers to the ferry terminal (see more here). Much of the original harbour was reclaimed when the current town bridge was built in 1930 but you can still see parts of the original harbour wall outside The Royal Oak adjacent to the south east side of the bridge. In a street leading off the harbour behind the Royal Oak there’s a replica of a civil war cannon ball that was lodged high in the wall of a building – the Royalists had captured the Weymouth side of town, including the Nothe Fort, were bombarding the Melcome side of town which was held by the Parliamentarians.

In nearby St Mary’s Street, the church boasts an impressive painting of The Last Supper by Sir James Thornhill, who was born nearby and also became a local Member of Parliament. (He was also responsible for the eight scenes in the cupola of St Paul’s Cathedral and for much of the painted ceilings and walls at Greenwich).

On the west, the Weymouth side, of the harbour is a mixture of residential buildings and old store houses. Many are much older than their Georgian and later frontages would suggest and in Cove Street, which at one time was the side of a harbour inlet, is one of the oldest remaining residential buildings in Weymouth. Following restoration by the Civic Society it was, until recently, let out to tenants on condition that they allowed tours of the building on a set number of days per year. It is no longer tenanted, but still open for tours which we have yet to go on. As well as other buildings nearby, it is, reputedly, haunted.

As our guide was revealing the history of the building a former resident came by and told us that although he’d never seen any ghosts, a friend of his had had a very strange and unexplained experience involving noises coming from the stairs. When he turned to look, there was no-one there...