Hills. There is
always deep water at the eastern extremity of the island, to which
boats can be taken. Here are Branksea (or Brownsea) Castle, an
enlarged and improved edition of one of Henry's coast forts, and a few
cottages. Other small islands, populated by waterfowl, lie between
Brownsea and the Purbeck shore, where on a small peninsula is the
pretty little hamlet of Arne, remote, forgotten and very seldom
visited by tourist or stranger, but commanding the most exquisite
views of the harbour and surrounding country. It is possible that in
the near future the amenities of Poole Harbour may disappear or at
least change their quiet aspect of to-day, for at the time of writing
a scheme is afoot to deepen the channels and render the harbour
capable of taking the largest ships within its sheltered anchorage.

Six miles north of Poole, in the valley of the Stour where that river
is joined by the Allen or Wim, stands Wimborne Minster surrounded by
the pleasant old town that bears the full name of its only title to
renown. This is another claimant for a Roman send-off to its history,
and with better grounds than Poole, though here again authorities
differ, some maintaining that Badbury Rings, the scene of the great
defeat of the West Saxons by the British, was the original
Vindogladia. A Roman pavement has been discovered within the area
covered by the Minster Church; whether this is a remnant of a
considerable station or only of a solitary villa is unknown.

[Illustration: WIMBORNE MINSTER.]

The beautiful Minster, one of the "sights" of Bournemouth, and,
although farther afield, almost as popular as Christchurch, was
founded at an early date in the history of Wessex, but the actual year
is unknown. It must have been very early in the eighth century that
the two sisters of King Ine, Cuthberga and Cwenburh, joined in forming
a sisterhood here. Both were buried in the original building and
eventually became enrolled in that long list of Saxon Saints whose
names have such a quaintly archaic sound and whose lives must have
been a matter of high romance, considering the experiences through
which they lived. St. Boniface asked for the help of the Wimborne
sisterhood to carry on his missionary labours among the benighted
tribes of Germany, and several establishments in the marshes and
woodlands along the shore of the Baltic Sea were the daughter houses
of this mid-Wessex abbey. The Saxon church was probably destroyed
during t