West Parley
| West Parley | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Parley Cross road junction | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SZ081984 |
| Location: | 50°47’10"N, 1°53’10"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 3,585 (2011) |
| Post town: | Ferndown |
| Postcode: | BH22 |
| Dialling code: | 01202 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Christchurch |
West Parley is a village in south-eastern Dorset, situated on the River Stour, beside the border with Hampshire. (The farmstead or hamlet known as East Parley is in Hampshire.) West Parley is about four miles from the nearest town, Bournemouth, between Bournemouth and Ferndown (and contiguous with the latter), off of the B3073 road.
West Parley has a primary school, a post office, a garden centre and a church. The 2011 census recorded a parish population of 3,585.
History
West Parley is older than both Bournemouth and Ferndown, it features in the Doomsday Book when it had 60 inhabitants. At that time it had a Saxon Church, replaced by the present All Saints Church in the 12th century. There is evidence of West Parley being much older as Dudsbury Rings, to the south-west of West Parley is the remains of a hill fort dated to the Iron Age, it can be seen as a defensive site that overlooks the River Stour. The walls of the fort can still be seen today.[1]
The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales in 1894-5 describes the village:[2]
Parley, West, a parish in Dorsetshire, on the river Stour, contiguous to Hants, 3 miles from Herne station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town and telegraph office, Wimborne; money order office, Long Ham. Acreage, 3959; population of the civil parish, 334; of the ecclesiastical, 129. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. A large portion of the parish is heath. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £190. The church is ancient.
In the 1800s the main source of materials were gravel and clay and these were important in helping build within West Parley, the materials enabled the local community to create tracks that were passable and the clay meant that the workers could use the bricks to build houses within West Parley as well as supplying the growing town of Bournemouth with bricks for the construction.[3]
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about West Parley) |
- West Parley Parish Council
- West Parley Residents Association
- Parley Sports Football Club
- Parley Cricket Club