Arne

St Nicholas Church
© Dorset OPC 2015

Arne is a parish in the Purbeck district about 4 miles east of Wareham and lies between that town and Poole harbour. The Village is situated on the Arne Peninsula, which protrudes into Poole Harbour opposite the town of Poole and is surrounded by heathland, most of which is an RSPB managed (Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) nature reserve.

The church of St Nicholas is an ancient, small building, sitting on top of a large bank it is quite prominent considering it's size. The church which dates from around 1200 seats 60 and has just one bell. The registers date from 1762 though many records of the people of Arne are to be found in the Wareham registers particularily those of Holy Trinity.

In the late 19th century the Parish was expanded to include two parts of Wareham Holy Trinity parish that separately covered Stoborough and Middlebere, and the part of Wareham Lady St Mary parish that covered Worgret. The result was that the parish more than doubled in size to around 6500 acres.

The village of Arne was evacuated in July 1942, the nearby Royal Naval Cordite Factory at Holton Heath having set up decoy targets in the vicinity. Unlike Tyneham, the military did not retain Arne after the War, but the village never really re-established itself and much of it lay derelict until the late 1950s. [Reference Dorset Life, March 2009]

St Nicholas Church
© Dorset OPC 2015

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