West Stour | |
---|---|
The Ship Inn, West Stour | |
Location within Dorset | |
Population | 200 |
OS grid reference | ST785226 |
Unitary authority | |
Shire county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | Gillingham |
Postcode district | SP8 |
Police | Dorset |
Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
West Stour is a village and civil parish situated in the Blackmore Vale area of North Dorset, England. It is one of a group of villages known as The Stours, located in the River Stour Valley, five miles (eight kilometres) south of Gillingham. West Stour has a village hall, one public house and a service station on the main A30 road.
West Stour is one of four parishes—the others being East Stour, Stour Provost and Todber—under the governance of The Stours Parish Council. [1] It has a population of about 200. [2]
The nearest railway station is at Gillingham. Trains run on the Exeter to Waterloo line.
In 1086 in the Domesday Book two settlements were recorded in the parish: West Stour and Little Kington. The latter remained small but West Stour developed into a village. West Stour's open fields were enclosed in 1779. [3]
St Mary's Church, at the north end of Church Street, is a Grade II* listed building. [4]
The chancel dates from the 13th century, with some alterations in the late 18th century. The nave and the tower (south of the nave) were rebuilt in 1840; the rebuilding used the original foundations, and so the chancel is not quite aligned with the nave, being slightly to the south. The stone font is of the 13th century. The tiled floor and seating were fitted in 1912. [3] [5]
There are three bells in the tower, one of the late 15th century, the others dated 1635 and 1733. [3]
A commemorative plaque in the north wall records the names of three men from the village – George Beale, Charlie Trim and Tom Wilson – who died in the Great War. [5]
Kington Magna is a village and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England, about 3 1⁄2 miles southwest of Gillingham.
East Stour is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies within the North Dorset administrative district, about two miles south of the town of Gillingham. The village is 1⁄2 mile from the east bank of the River Stour in the Blackmore Vale and two miles west of the broadly conical local landmark Duncliffe Hill. Above the west bank of the river, about one mile away, is the village of West Stour. The A30 London to Penzance road passes through the village. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 573.
Fifehead Magdalen is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies within the Blackmore Vale, about three miles south-southwest of Gillingham and five miles west of Shaftesbury. It is sited on Corallian limestone soil and surrounded by Oxford Clay, about 1⁄4 mile from the west bank of the River Stour. Its name means "the place of five hides dedicated to [St] Magdalene". In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 80. The village was a venue for stave dances.
Lydlinch is a village and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale in north Dorset, England, about three miles west of Sturminster Newton. The village is sited on Oxford clay close to the small River Lydden. The parish – which includes the village of King's Stag to the south and the hamlet of Stock Gaylard to the west – is bounded by the Lydden to the east and its tributary, the Caundle Brook, to the north.
Manston is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, lying next to the River Stour in the Blackmore Vale, two miles east of Sturminster Newton. The geology of the parish consists mostly of Kimmeridge clay, with a thin strip of Corallian limestone in the west.
Okeford Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated in the Blackmore Vale three miles south of the town of Sturminster Newton. It is sited on a thin strip of greensand under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes the hamlet of Belchalwell to the west and most of Fiddleford to the north—had 404 dwellings, 380 households and a population of 913.
South Perrott is a village and civil parish in northwest Dorset, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Crewkerne. In 2012 the estimated population of the parish was 220. Figures from the 2011 census have been published for South Perrott parish combined with the neighbouring parish of Chedington; the population in these areas was 367.
Spetisbury is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour and the A350 road, four miles southeast of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the civil parish had 224 households and a population of 555.
Todber is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Blackmore Vale, about five miles southwest of Shaftesbury. The underlying geology is Corallian limestone. In the 2011 census the parish had 55 households and a population of 140.
Winterborne Houghton is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in a winterbourne valley on the Dorset Downs, five miles southwest of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had 82 households and a population of 183. In 2001 the population was 195.
Winterborne Zelston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in a winterbourne valley on the A31 road eight miles south of Blandford Forum and 10 mi (16 km) northwest of Poole. The parish had a population of 141 in 2001. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.
St Mary's Priory Church, Deerhurst, is the Church of England parish church of Deerhurst, Gloucestershire, England. Much of the church is Anglo-Saxon. It was built in the 8th century, when Deerhurst was part of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. It is contemporary with the Carolingian Renaissance on mainland Europe, which may have influenced it.
Shrewton is a village and civil parish on Salisbury Plain in Wiltshire, England, around 6 miles (9.7 km) west of Amesbury and 14 miles (23 km) north of Salisbury. It lies on the A360 road between Stonehenge and Tilshead. It is close to the source of the River Till, which flows south to Stapleford.
Shellingford, historically also spelt Shillingford, is a village and civil parish about 2 1⁄2 miles (4 km) south-east of Faringdon in the Vale of White Horse in Oxfordshire, England. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 Local Government Act transferred it to Oxfordshire. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 173.
Pillerton Hersey is a village and civil parish about 5.5 miles (9 km) north of Shipston-on-Stour in Warwickshire, England. The village is on a stream that flows northwest to join the River Dene. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 170.
St Mary the Virgin is the Church of England parish church of Lytchett Matravers in Dorset. Its parish is part of the Diocese of Salisbury. The building is Grade I listed.
Hammoon is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, sited on a river terrace of alluvial silt by the River Stour, about two miles east of the small town of Sturminster Newton. Its name is derived from the Old English ham, meaning dwelling, and the surname of the Norman lord of the manor. In 2001 the parish had 19 households and a population of 49. In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 40.
Sparsholt is a village and civil parish about 3 miles (5 km) west of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse district of Oxfordshire. The parish includes the hamlet of Westcot about 1⁄2 mile (800 m) west of the village. Sparsholt was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire.
The Church of St Candida and Holy Cross is an Anglican church in Whitchurch Canonicorum, Dorset, England. A Saxon church stood on the site but nothing remains of that structure. The earliest parts of the church date from the 12th century when it was rebuilt by Benedictine monks. Further major rebuilding work took place in the 13th century and in the 14th century the church's prominent tower was constructed. The church features some Norman architectural features but is predominantly Early English and Perpendicular. George Somers, founder of the colony of Bermuda, is buried under the vestry and the assassinated Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov is interred in the churchyard. It is an active Church of England parish church in the deanery of Lyme Bay, the archdeaconry of Sherborne, and the diocese of Salisbury. It is one of only two parish churches in the country to have a shrine that contains the relics of their patron saint. The relics belong to St Candida to whom the church is dedicated. The church been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building.
St John's Church is a Church of England parish church in Enmore Green, Dorset, England. The church was designed by George Alexander and built in 1842–43. It is a Grade II listed building.
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