Ten Years in a Portsmouth Slum

Father Robert Dolling was an extraordinary figure who had a profound influence on the society, morals, education and health of the people of Landport, Portsmouth in the 1890s.

Sent to the town to start a mission and revive the influence of the Church, he entered a wild, untamed corner of the kingdom where drinking, violence, prostitution and vice of all sorts proliferated in its dark, tight and stinking streets.

Over a period of ten years, Dolling fought to help families who wanted a better life, building friendships, spreading hope - and raising Saint Agatha's - a large basilica-style church at the very heart of the quarter.

Filled with wonderful Portsmouth characters and vivid descriptions of Landport life told in Dolling's unique voice, Ten Years In A Portsmouth Slum gives a rare insight into the lives of some of the poorest of the poor in this sometimes violent, always vibrant naval town.

With a brand new foreword by Portsmouth historian and writer, Matt Wingett.