ALUM CHINE - DORSET.



ALUM CHINE SUSPENSION BRIDGE

Alum Chine near Westbourne at Bournemouth in Dorset derives it's name from an unsuccessful attempt to mine and manufacture Alum during the late 16th century. The deposits proved uneconomic and by the mid 17th century all mining had ceased.
In 1892 a young Winston Churchill fell from a bridge in the Chine nearly losing his life and it is often thought that the Suspension bridge was the bridge in question. In actual fact the bridge from which he fell was a Rustic bridge located further up the Chine. That bridge was replaced in 1922 with a Spandrel/Arched bridge.
The Suspension bridge was built by David Rowell & Company in 1903 at a cost of £480