Wareham town centre (free of traffic)

It is unusual to see Wareham without traffic passing through. This photo shows a de-cluttered West Street - on the left of the enlarged photo you can see the large REX sign - and was taken from the traffic light controlled crossing at the town centre.

The town has a predominantly Georgian (late 18th century) look.

All the buildings in the town centre postdate the 1762 Great Fire of Wareham. Most of the houses had until then been timber framed and with thatched roofs: 133 buildings were destroyed.

That year a special Act of Parliament was passed for the rebuilding of Wareham. The replacement buildings were required to be, so far as possible, of non-combustible materials, and thatching was prohibited. An appeal fund was launched, and raised £7,400 of the £10,000 which were needed for the work. King George III donated £500. Wareham's Saxon Church of St. Martin’s (on the town's North Walls) was temporarily turned into a hostel for families who had lost all their property.

In 1783 the Red Lion Hotel was being advertised in the Salisbury Journal as "newly built within these 20 years".