After the battle of Worcester on September 3rd 1651, the future King Charles II fled from the field attempting to reach the continent of Europe. Heading south he arrived in West Dorset where almost every town and village now has a story about the Prince.

His pursuers first came to the house of the Royalist judge, Sir Hugh Wyndham, at Pilsdon thinking he was hiding there. They ransacked it as Sir Hugh fumed and raged in the Hall. Intelligence was at fault, the prince being at the Manor house of Sir Hugh’s nephew, Colonel Francis Wyndham, at Trent

Charles arrived at Trent, which has changed little disguised as the servant of Jane Lane. The Prince’s hiding place off Lady Wyndham’s room is still preserved. It is said that Charles became petulant when the ringing of the church bells disturbed him, and even more angry when he told the villagers had rung them because, mistakenly, they had thought he had been captured.

 On September 22nd he set out for Charmouth and a promised boat that would take him to France. The party consisted of Col. Wyndham, Lord Wilmot, Juliana Coningsby and the poor Prince in his now established role as lady’s servant. The elopement of Wilmot and Juliana was their cover story, should they be stopped.

Arriving at Charmouth the royal party are thought to have taken lodgings at the Queen’s Armes, The same house originally built for an abbot of Forde where Catherine of Aragon had stayed on her arrival in England in 1501. The promised boat however did not materialise and the party were forced to return to Trent, having narrow escapes from capture at Bridport and Broadwindsor. It was in the little village inn at Broadwindsor that one of most hilarious episodes took place.

Charles and Wilmot were finally able to leave Trent in October and made there way to Shoreham in Sussex where they were able to take passage on a coal boat. Incidentally the collier was bound for Poole and made a detour across the channel to drop the Prince in France, which is probably just as well or the prince could have once again found himself back in Dorset.

After the restoration, the Prince, as King Charles II, paid many visits to his friends in Dorset and tradition has it that during one of these visits the King stopped at a blacksmith’s forge in the small village of Godmanstone and requested of the smithy a glass of porter. Quoth the blacksmith, ‘I cannot oblige you Sire, as I have no license.’ Then said the King, ‘From now on you have a license to sell beer and porter.’ So was born the Old Smiths Arms in the old forge. Built of mud and flint, at 20ft by 10ft it was for many years claimed to be the smallest public house in England.