{"id":4135,"date":"2024-02-23T09:30:37","date_gmt":"2024-02-23T09:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=4135"},"modified":"2024-02-23T13:02:36","modified_gmt":"2024-02-23T13:02:36","slug":"hotel-history-the-kings-arms-dorchester","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2024\/02\/23\/hotel-history-the-kings-arms-dorchester\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel History – The Kings Arms, Dorchester"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to funding from Dorset Archives Trust<\/a>, DHC acquired an interesting if rather battered item at auction in November 2023.\u00a0 This was The Old Kings Arms Hotel, Dorchester, a short historical sketch<\/em> (D-3353<\/a>).\u00a0 Written in 1914 by notable antiquarian Harry Pouncy in large format paper typescript, it provides a fascinating account of one of the town\u2019s most prominent (and only recently refurbished in 2019) establishments along with a series of vignettes charting significant events in its \u2018stirring, variegated history\u2019.<\/p>\n

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D-3353<\/a>: ‘A Short History of the Old King’s Arms Hotel, Dorchester’ by Harry Pouncey.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The document appears to be unique \u2013 no other copy is known (at least by DHC) to be in existence and sadly due to what appears to be heavy and frequent use, many of the pages have become badly worn and disbound.\u00a0 There are 13 pages of closely typed text, but there are clearly more pages which have unfortunately been lost.\u00a0 Nevertheless, what remains provides a wonderful glimpse into the life of a busy coaching inn over several centuries of operation.\u00a0 Ironically, the volume doesn\u2019t mention Thomas Hardy, whose Mayor of Casterbridge features the Kings Arms with \u201cthe babble of voices, the jingle of glasses and the drawing of corks<\/em>\u201d although it\u2019s possible that a section on Hardy would have been found in the missing pages.<\/p>\n

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D-DPC\/DO\/324<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The hotel was established in the 18th<\/sup> century. \u00a0Pouncy suggests that it sits on the site of a much earlier \u2018medieval hostelry\u2019 although no evidence of this survives.\u00a0 The hotel was a coaching stop \u2013 one where teams of horses along with passengers on coach services could rest and recuperate.\u00a0 Mail coaches bound for London (thrice-weekly), Exeter and Southampton stopped at the hotel several times a week, and Pouncy notes that the hotel was sketched by notable artist and caricaturist Thomas Rowlandson, an image that can be found via a quick Google search.\u00a0 Pouncy also states that the earliest documented reference to the Kings Arms is in 1737.\u00a0 The hotel was the venue for a key Dorchester civic event the \u2018Beef-steak Supper\u2019 held every winter and was where various bodies held their celebratory meals including one that had Boer War hero Sir Redvers Buller as guest of honour.<\/p>\n

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Nelson and his Dorset flag-captain Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy passed in 1801 through Dorchester en route to Plymouth and had to make an emergency stop at the Kings Arms as Nelson \u2018was taken so ill just before they arrived\u2026that he thought he would have died<\/em>\u2019.\u00a0 Fortunately, Nelson prevailed.\u00a0 Prince Albert on a walking tour of Dorset accompanied by \u2018guides, philosophers and friends\u2019 stayed two nights at the Kings Arms in September 1856.\u00a0 Upon arrival, the proprietor of the day did not have sufficient accommodation for the party and told the Prince (whom he had not recognised) that he would have to \u2018put up with a couch in the corridor\u2019.\u00a0 The tableware used by Albert was displayed for many years afterwards in a glass cabinet in the hotel foyer.\u00a0 The last notable guest referenced in these pages was Lord Kitchener of Khartoum \u2013 who was described as a \u2018firm believer in simplicity\u2026[who]\u2026arrived with only a single portmanteau\u2019.\u00a0 Clearly, travelling light was something of an exception in the later 19th<\/sup> century.<\/p>\n

This volume provides some interesting insights into the life of a Dorchester institution and its importance as both a meeting place for local people but as a staging post for many others.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thanks to funding from Dorset Archives Trust, DHC acquired an interesting if rather battered item at auction in November 2023.\u00a0 This was The Old Kings Arms Hotel, Dorchester, a short historical sketch (D-3353).\u00a0 Written in 1914 by notable antiquarian Harry Pouncy in large format paper typescript, it provides a fascinating account of one of the… Read more Hotel History – The Kings Arms, Dorchester<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10,7],"tags":[82,57,599,270,109,598],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4135"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4144,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4135\/revisions\/4144"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}