Southbourne History
Southbourne is a popular suburb of Bournemouth. It is the most easterly part of the borough, between Boscombe and Christchurch, Dorset. The area was previously known as Stourfield.
In 1766, Edmund Bott had a Georgian mansion built to the east of Pokesdown village, commanding views of Christchurch Harbour and he named it Stourfield House. One of the most celebrated inhabitants of Stourfield House was Mary Eleanor Bowes, Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne. Stourfield House later became a care home, looking after servicemen who had been injured in the Great War. Today only the front steps survive, leading to a block of flats in Douglas Mews, and marked by a Blue Plaque.
The main area of Southbourne is Southbourne Grove, a long shopping street that has unique and individual shops rather than high street chain shops. Shops include a butcher, a bakery, numerous cafés, hairdressers, convenience stores, homewares, gift shops, the post office, and many estate agents. To find out more about these local businesses please click here.
Further along towards Hengistbury Head is Southbourne Crossroads. At this crossroads are a public house, used car dealership, a surf shop, a café, hairdressers and news agent.
Seafield Gardens, which has held the prestigious Green Flag Award since 2001, offers bowls, tennis and features a watertower. One tourist feature of Southbourne is the Fisherman's Walk Cliff Railway, a funicular railway between the clifftop coastal road and the promenade and beach. This provides very easy access to Southbourne's Blue Flag beach, from which it is possible to reach the beaches at Boscombe and Bournemouth.
Southbourne is still a busy area for tourists keen to escape the busier areas of Bournemouth town centre. The easternmost part of the area is called Hengistbury Head.
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Text in part from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southbourne,Dorset
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