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Boscombe is a suburb of the much larger Bournemouth. Boscombe is by the sea and it has its own pier, which was built in 1888, with a unique aircraft-wings design added in the 1950s at the entrance which is a listed building.

The area upon which Boscombe is situated, between the somewhat older village of Pokesdown and Bournemouth Square was part of the great heathland which covered much of western Hampshire, and extended well into eastern Dorset. It has a long sandy beach and Boscombe Cliff Gardens offers views of the bay that stretches around from Hengistbury Head to Bournemouth and to Alum Chine and the entrance to Poole Harbour.

Boscombe was originally an independent settlement, separated from Bournemouth by dense wood and moorland. Boscombe was incorporated into the boundaries of Bournemouth in 1876 (against the wishes of Boscombe residents).

In 1273 a reference is made to "Boscumbe" suggesting that the name may well have derived from the Old English words meaning a 'valley overgrown with spiky plants' perhaps a reference to gorse.

Reference to Boscombe is included in Christopher Saxton's 1574 survey made of possible enemy landing places on the coast of Hampshire; this mentions... "Bournemouth within the west baye at Christchurch...We finde more a place called Bastowe within the said Baye". Saxton's map of 1575 shows a Copperas House at Bascomb, referring to the manufacture of copperas or ferrous sulphate which took place in the district, particularly in the last quarter of the 16th century.

At the beginning of the 19th century Boscombe was described as an extensive common covered with furze and heath, more the haunt of smugglers than anyone else.

Boscombe Pier

An important development in the establishment of Boscombe as a seaside resort was the building of the pier. A proposal for the pier was launched in 1884, when it felt that this would improve the attractiveness of Boscombe to visitors.

Tenders for the building of the pier were issued and in September 1888 the contract was awarded for £3,813, and for making the pier approach £938. The pier was 600 feet long, and built in spans of 40 feet each with a continuous wrought iron girder frame, which carried timber decking 32 feet wide. The pier head was 120 feet long and 38 feet wide, with a landing stage on each side, at which excursion steamers could call. At the entrance were two toll houses with turnstiles. It was opened with considerable ceremony on 29th July 1889 by the Duke of Argyll. During the decade from 1881 to 1891 Boscombe had grown apace, the population increasing from 1,895 to 6,324. Further developments were made in the 1890's by Archibald Beckett who was responsible for the Salisbury Hotel (now Greens) in 1890, the Royal Arcade in 1892 and the Theatre (now The Opera House) in 1895. In a brief span of about 35 years, 1866 - 1901, Boscombe had grown from a few cottages with a handful of people to an established seaside resort with a population in the 1901 census of 9,648.