Wakeham

Coordinates: 50°32′34″N 2°25′51″W / 50.542706°N 2.430769°W / 50.542706; -2.430769

Wakeham is a hamlet near the village of Easton, in Tophill on the Isle of Portland in Dorset, England. It is situated between the Straits part of Easton, and Pennsylvania Castle. As with the rest of Portland's villages and settlements, Wakeham has been designated as a conservation area, as it is a place of special architectural and historic interest. Easton, Wakeham and Reforne were designated pre-1974. The hamlet features a distinctively wide road running through it, once built to allow space for horse-drawn carts transporting stone by road. Many of Wakeham's older buildings of the 17th and 18th century survive.

History

Wakeham was established around a natural watercourse and various springs, which the Romans are likely to have developed. Among the archaeological finds of Wakeham are Roman stone sarcophagi, and Iron Age underground chambers. The original settlement was situated within the small valley at the south of the hamlet, and this land later became part of the grounds of Pennsylvania Castle. In 789 AD, the first recorded Viking attack within British Isles, including Ireland, occurred on Portland's coast. It is believed that Church Ope Cove was the location, and at the time would have shown Wakeham above it. The exposed location was later defended by the Norman 12th-century Rufus Castle. Wakeham was home to Portland's first parish church, St Andrews Church, which was probably first established above the cove by the Saxons, and rebuilt in the 12th century. The church was later replaced in the 18th century by the new parish church St George's. During the construction of the new church, between 1754 and 1766, a temporary place of worship was established within Wakeham.

Wakeham (surname)

Wakeham is an English surname, and may refer to: