The Custom House (formerly known as the King's Custom House) is a

Grade II* listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ire ...

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

, England. It is a Georgian building located in the oldest part of

Poole Quay Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...

, and is currently used as a restaurant.

History

The original Custom House building was built in 1747. In the same year, the Custom House was the site of a burglary, in which 30 smugglers, led by members of the

Hawkhurst Gang The Hawkhurst Gang was a notorious criminal organisation involved in smuggling throughout southeast England from 1735 until 1749. One of the more infamous gangs of the early 18th century, they extended their influence from Hawkhurst, their base i ...

, raided the house and took two tons of smuggled tea and 39 barrels of rum, worth over £500, that had previously been confiscated. The raid happened at night, with the gang reaching Poole at 11pm. The tea was then taken through

Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,000 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England, near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest, famed for its late mediev ...

. Four men were convicted at the Old Bailey in 1749, during which they argued that "there was no crime in smuggling" and that they were just "recovering their own goods". Three of the four men convicted were hanged at

Tyburn Tyburn was a manor (estate) in the county of Middlesex, one of two which were served by the parish of Marylebone. The parish, probably therefore also the manor, was bounded by Roman roads to the west (modern Edgware Road) and south (modern ...

. In 1788 the Custom House produced a report on notorious smuggler Isaac Gulliver, noting he focused mainly on wine smuggling. The current Custom House in Poole was built in 1813, during a time in which Poole and Bournemouth were growing; the old Custom House building was destroyed by fire. In the nineteenth century, the Custom House was used for collecting extra taxes for boats entering

Poole Harbour Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley ( ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being th ...

. In 1838, the building was run by Gartside & Co. The Custom House was closed by

HM Treasury His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...

in 1883, with the customs being transferred to Weymouth's custom house. In 1954, the Custom House became a

Restaurant

The Custom House was restored and originally opened as a seafood restaurant in 1997 before changing to the Custom House Cafe in 2018. It overlooks

with views of

Brownsea Island Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public an ...

. On summer Thursdays, the restaurant hosts live music as part of the Poole Quay fireworks displays.

References

External links

British Listed Buildings

Official website
{{coord, 50.71227, -1.98899, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Grade II* listed buildings in Dorset

Grade II* listed government buildings Government buildings completed in 1813 Buildings and structures in Poole