The coastline of Dorset and Hampshire 200 - 300 years ago was as beautiful as it is today, but life was harsher for the seafaring community who lived and worked there.

Smuggling became more commonplace on the coast after taxes were massively increased on commodities coming into Britain to improve the country's struggling finances.

"Bournemouth did not exist in the early days of the smugglers but was a desolate place of heath land and gorse. The only building then was Decoy Pond House or Bourne House at Bourne Bottom, on the site of today's war memorial by the Town Hall", said John Needham, Bournemouth author of Dorset Smugglers which was published as part of this year's Christchurch Heritage Festival.

"The area between Middle and Alum Chine, as well as Hengistbury Head, sparsely covered in gorse and heath, presented a perfect landing and hiding place for the smugglers. Often teams of packhorses would wait on the barren cliff tops for cargoes of illicit goods to arrive and carry them away into the night".

One of the most famous smugglers to land his cargo of contraband by the mouth of the River Bourne near where Bournemouth Pier now stands was Isaac Gulliver. It is said that the line of wagons leaving the area was two miles long. Pardoned by King George III in 1782, he later became a banker and civic leader.

Edward Beake was another to smuggle goods on a regular basis at the Chines. He was one of 19 smugglers involved in a violent affray at Bourne Heath in 1770 when smugglers got upset with custom officers from Christchurch seizing a wagon containing 60 tubs of spirits. One officer, Jasper Bursey, was thrown over the wagon but managed to chase the smugglers and shot one of their horses. After being confined for two hours, the other officers found Jasper on the beach with a further 25 casks. Jasper was later murdered on his doorstep by two of the smugglers.

The routes smugglers took across the heath land became, over the years, well-trodden paths and eventually became the main routes throughout the town. Glenferness Avenue was a lonely desolate barren heath land and just off the main road was Pug Hole where smugglers hid their wares.

One of the routes the smugglers took was Redhill Common to get to Kinson and St Andrew's Church. The goods would be hidden within the tower of the church or a false tomb where the sides would open to reveal a safe hiding place where officers would not want to be seen to disturb and desecrate a tomb or violate a sacred building.

Also buried at St Andrew's Churchyard is Robert Trotman, the leader of a smugglers gang running a cargo of tea at Poole in 1765 when they were discovered by the cutter Folkestone. During the ensuing battle Trotman was killed and the inquest returned a verdict of 'Wilful Murder by person or persons unknown'.

Redhill was then a small hamlet of a few scattered mud cottages on open heath land. The gorse and furze offered protection for smugglers and a good hiding place for contraband. The cottage residents were also sympathisers of smugglers as the stories of the time show.

"One cottage on the northern edge of the common had its own hiding place. The walls of these cottages were made of mud and straw 2ft thick. When two cottages were demolished to make way for the road that now cuts through the common, one cottage was found to have a hiding place within the wall of the cottage under the window sill", said John.

Another landing place used by smugglers was around the Haven, at the entrance to Christchurch Harbour. Made up of gravel and ironstone, it was an ideal place for smugglers to land. Hannah 'Mother' Sillers, landlady of the Haven Inn, Mudeford, also known as the Angel of the Marsh, would signal to smugglers when it was safe to bring cargo ashore by wearing a red cloak.

Many were killed or injured when smugglers and revenue officers clashed at nearby Avon Beach in the Battle of Mudeford one night in 1784, including officer William Allen.The battle went on for hours as revenue men dug in on the beach and smugglers retreated to Haven House. A reward of £200 was offered for the identification of person who shot Allen. Three men were arrested and one smuggler George Coombes was found guilty of his murder and hanged. His body was hung in chains at Haven point as a warning to the smugglers.

Ye Olde George Inn, Christchurch High Street, a favourite smugglers haunt, was also used to house and transport prisoners abroad.

Dorset Smugglers by John Needham is £14.95 from Natula Ltd, 5 St Margaret's Avenue, Christchurch, BH23 1JD or call 01202 470261.