In February 1844, Charles Castleman, a Wimborne solicitor, proposed that a railway be built to provide Dorset with a link to the London & Southampton Railway, which had reached the latter place in 1840. On July 21st, 1845, the Royal Assent was granted to enable work to begin on construction of the Southampton & Dorchester Railway. At the time, the precise route had not been decided but it had to include Ringwood, Wimborne & Wareham along the way, and attempt a service to Poole.

These requirements, plus the insistence by the New Forest Commissioners that the impact there should be minimal, gave rise to the 'corkscrew' (or 'snake'), a nick-name much mocked by later generations.