Peacemarsh, Dorset

Flower Delivery to Peacemarsh with Clare Florist

Peacemarsh is the northern section of the town of Gillingham in the Blackmore Vale area of County Dorset. The River Stour flows out of the Vale at Blandford Forum in the southeast after joining the vale to the north of Gillingham. Gillingham is the most northerly town in Dorset. As Gillingham expanded, it encompassed the hamlets of Peacemarsh, Bay and Wyke into its boundaries.

The town has historic evidence of long human settlement, including a Stone Age barrow, and evidence of a Roman settlement dating from the 2nd or 3rd centuries. The town was officially established by the Saxons in the early Middle Ages. The village church of St. Mary the Virgin still has a Saxon cross shaft which dates from the 9th century.

The name Gillingham shows on the town’s 10th century Saxon charter and also in the 1016 annals of a battle between Edmond Ironsides and Viking invaders. In the 1066 Domesday Book, the town name is listed as Gelingeham. The name Gillingham or Gelingeham means the homestead of the family or followers of a man called Gylla.

During the Middle Ages, Gillingham was the home of a royal hunting lodge used by King Henry I, Henry II, King John and King Henry III. The nearby forest was reserved for the King’s deer. Eventually the hunting lodge fell into disuse and was torn down by King Edward III in 1369. The town became a centre for local farming. The town church still retains its 14th century chancel, although the rest of the building dates to the 19th and 20th centuries.

Peacemarsh held the first grammar school in County Dorset, which opened in 1516. A silk mill opened in Gillingham in 1769. Many buildings in town can be dated to the era of the Tudors. In the 1820s, famous artist John Constable visited the Gillingham vicarage. He was so impressed by the beauty of the surrounding countryside, including the areas of Peacemarsh, Wyke and Bay, that he created several paintings and sketches of the region. One painting of the old town bridge hangs in the Tate Gallery.

The railway came to town in the 1850s, bringing new wealth and new industries. These included cheese making, brick making, printing and soap making. Near the end of the 19th century, one of the first petrol engine plants in England opened in Gillingham. During WWII, Gillingham held a strategic position on the railway between London and Exeter, which helped the team grow rapidly. It continued to grow in part as London and other industrial cities evacuated in 1940 and 1941.

Today, Gillingham hosts many well-attended shows and festivals including an agricultural show and carnival. The Gillingham Town Football Club is a non-league club which plays at Harding’s Lane. The town also has a rugby union club and a brass band in operation since 1928.

To send flowers to a friend or loved one in Peacemarsh, Gillingham contact Clare Florist.  We have the perfect arrangement for a birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day or just to say thank you to someone special. Clare Florist provides next day delivery of flowers to Peacemarsh, Dorset and elsewhere in the region.

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