A while ago I wrote about the closure of the “Cine and Video Club” that I was once a member of. It was housed in a hut, that I believed was a relic of WW2 – now I’m not so sure! You can read that story here.
Quite by accident I found another hut but the history of this one is known and somewhat surprising! This one is located in Dorchester and I’ve walked past it several times without giving it a thought. Turns out that this one is a relic from the first world war – not bad for a wooden hut. It was transported here after WW1, when they were sold off. What I didn’t know was that not only is it from a Prisoner of War camp, but it turns out it was the largest in the UK here in Dorchester!!! This is believed to be the only surviving reminder. After being an auction house and a scout hut, it’s been empty for a while – not good for the fabric of a hut. I hope something is done with it soon and some life is breathed into it!
The idea that the largest Prisoner of War Camp in the UK was here in Dorchester is, whilst surprising, not so amazing. Overlooking what is now the Marabout Industrial Estate, the once location of the camp, there are the remaining buildings of the substantial barracks of the Dorsetshire Regiment. The Keep was built in about 1880, and is now a military museum.
The former barracks themselves are now being redeveloped into a housing project, there is a little more history here.
S.H.O.U.T. 