An interesting antiquarian find was made in a ditch near Poole a few years ago of the seal of John, Duke of Bedford, under whose rule as Regent of France Joan of Arc was burned. The occurrence of the seal on this spot was due, without doubt, to this noble having been Lord of Canford and Poole. Near the church, a modern building on the site of an older one, is a small gateway which may possibly have been a water gate, as traces of sea-weed were found clinging to it when the adjacent soil was excavated. Older than any other buildings in Poole are the so-called "Town Cellars", referred to variously in the town's remarkable collection of records as the "Great Cellar", the "King's Hall", and the "Woolhouse". The original purpose of the building has not yet been definitely determined. It is largely of fourteenth-century date, and its doorways and windows have a decidedly ecclesiastical appearance. At the same time there is no evidence whatever that it ever formed part of a monastic foundation, or was ever built for religious purposes. The old battered building was the scene of at least one fierce fight, when a combined French and Spanish fleet attacked the town to revenge themselves on the dreaded buccaneer, Harry Paye, or Page, who had been raiding the shores of France and Spain. When the hostile fleets entered Poole Harbour early one morning five hundred years ago, the town was taken by surprise. The intrepid "Arripay", as his enemies rendered the name, was absent on one of his expeditions, but his place was worthily taken by his brother, who was killed in the fighting. The Town Cellars were full of stores and munitions of war, and when the building had been captured and set on fire, the townsmen retired, while the victorious Spaniards, who had been reinforced by the French after a first repulse, returned with a few prisoners to their ships, and sailed out of the harbour, having given the mariners of Poole the greatest drubbing they have ever received in the long history of the place. [Illustration: POOLE HARBOUR FROM CONSTITUTIONAL HILL] Near Poole is Canford Manor, the seat of Lord Wimborne and the "Chene Manor" of the Wessex novels. There was a house here in very early times, and in the sixteenth year of his reign King John, by letter-close, informed Ralph de Parco, the keeper of his wines at Southampton, that it was his pleasure that three tuns "of our wines, of the best sort that is in your custody", should be sent to Canford. In the fifth year of Henry III the King addressed the following letter to Peter de Mauley:-- "You are to know that we have given to our beloved uncle, William, Earl of Sarum, eighty chevrons (cheverons) in our forest of Blakmore, for the rebuilding of his houses (_ad domos_) at Caneford. Tested at Westminster, 28th July."