Year

Event

1608

Lulworth Castle built

1665

Charles II visits Lulworth Castle

1707

Dorothy Pickering bequeaths £600 to found a charity which divides its income each year on 9 May between 12 poor protestant widows and maidens

1770

Map & Survey of East Lulworth undertaken

1777

Stables rebuilt south-west of the Castle

1785

Thomas Weld presents Royal Arms to St. Andrew’s Church

1785-1787

Roman Catholic Chapel built

1789

Aug 3: The King and Queen of England, as part of the Royal tour, landed at Lulworth Cove and went from there to see East Lulworth Castle.

[Information extracted from West Lulworth Parish Registers]

1796

Thomas Weld offers refuge to Trappist Monks fleeing from France

1810

Thomas Weld dies and eldest son Thomas Weld inherits the estate

1817

Trappist Monks return to France

1820

William Baring and Rev. John Bain drown at Arish Mell  - see newpaper report

1824

Henry Rolls, shoemaker, begins his Journal of Events in and around East Lulworth

1829

Thomas Weld becomes a Cardinal in Rome and passed estate to his brother Joseph

1830

Joseph Weld loans Castle to Charles X in exile from France

1831

Reform Riots

1837

Valley north of Home Farm dammed by Joseph Weld to form The Lake

1840

Tithe Map of East Lulworth produced showing residents of properties

1840

National School built

1841

Jun 7: Census

1851

Mar 30: Census

1860

Aug 30: Dorchester Rifle Corps came to the Castle and then went on to West Lulworth.

1861

Apr 7: Census

1862

Catholic cemetery on Common Hill railed around and wooden cross erected; John Crocker was the first to be buried there on 8 February 1863

1863

Joseph Weld dies and son Edward inherits estate

1864

St. Andrew’s Church rebuilt (except the tower which dates from the late 15th Century)

1871

Apr 2: Census

1877

Catholic School built

1881

Apr 3: Census

1891

Apr 5: Census

1900

Estate workmen photographed on Castle steps

1900

Co-Operative Stores opens

1901

Mar 31: Census

1902

Apr 3: King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra visited Lulworth Castle, after sailing into West Lulworth on his yacht.

1909

Mar 4: Snow depths at East Lulworth reached 9 inches (Source:Dorset Weather Book)

1911

Apr 2: Census

1914-1918

The Great War

1919

German POWs build 8 houses at Lulworth Camp

1923

Land eastwards of East Lulworth licensed for tank firing

1928

Apr 26: King George V visited the Army Camp

1929

Aug 29: Fire destroys much of Lulworth Castle

1935

Herbert Weld dies and cousin Joseph Weld inherits estate

1939-1945

World War 2

1942

Apr 6: Prime Minister Winston Churchill visits Lulworth Camp

1943

Lulworth Ranges extended

1952

May: Estate workmen exhume remains of 26 Cistercian Monks buried at Monastery Farm for re-internment at Mount St. Bernard’s Abbey in Leicester

1959

Pipeline laid from Winfrith to Arish Mell

1968

Catholic School closes

1968

Mar 31: Lulworth Castle reopened to the public

1992

Joseph Weld dies and son Wilfrid Weld inherits estate

2003

Lulworth Castle reopens its doors to the public