Wikipedia

Cheselbourne

Cheselbourne
Parish Church of St Martin - Cheselbourne (2) - geograph.org.uk - 887187.jpg
Parish Church of St Martin
Cheselbourne is located in Dorset
Cheselbourne
Cheselbourne
Location within Dorset
Population296 [1]
OS grid referenceSY763997
Unitary authority
  • Dorset
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDorchester
Postcode districtDT2
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Cheselbourne (sometimes spelled Chesilborne[2] or Cheselborne) is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Downs, 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Dorchester. The parish is at an altitude of 75 to 245 metres (approximately 250 to 800 feet) and covers an area of 1,175 hectares (2,900 acres); the underlying geology is chalk.[3] In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 296.[1]

The village, which contains a mix of buildings of different ages and styles, is spread along four lanes which meet here. It has a public house called the Rivers Arms. The 13th- to 14th-century parish church has a pinnacled tower with battlements, numerous gargoyles[4] and a canonical sundial.

Canonical sundial on the parish church

In 1086, in the Domesday Book Cheselbourne was recorded as Ceseburne;[5] it had 36 households, 10 acres (4.0 ha) of meadow and one mill. It was in the hundred of Hilton and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Shaftesbury Abbey.[6]

Cheselbourne used to be the site of a tradition known as "Treading in the Wheat", in which young women from the village would walk the fields on Palm Sunday, dressed in white.[4]

At Lyscombe Farm in the northwest of the parish are the remains of an early 13th-century chapel. The nave was once used as a bakehouse and then a farmworker's dwelling. In 1957, a Dutch barn was built over the ruins.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b "Area: Cheselbourne (Parish). Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 20 January 2014.
  2. ^ Ralph Wightman (1983). Portrait of Dorset (4 ed.). Robert Hale Ltd. pp. 107–8. ISBN 0 7090 0844 9.
  3. ^ "'Cheselbourne', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 3: Central (1970), pp. 73-79". British History Online. University of London & History of Parliament Trust. November 2013. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  4. ^ a b c Roland Gant (1980). Dorset Villages. Robert Hale Ltd. pp. 88–9. ISBN 0 7091 8135 3.
  5. ^ "Dorset A-G". The Domesday Book Online. domesdaybook.co.uk. Retrieved 27 February 2015.
  6. ^ "Place: Cheselbourne". Open Domesday. domesdaymap.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2015.

External links


This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.