Chideock
| Chideock | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 The main road in Chideock | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SY423928 |
| Location: | 50°43’57"N, 2°49’15"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 550 (est.) |
| Post town: | Bridport |
| Postcode: | DT6 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
West Dorset |
| Website: | chideockandseatown.co.uk |
Chideock (tʃɪdək) is a village in south-western Dorset, close to the English Channel coast between Bridport and Lyme Regis.
Chideock's economy mostly comprises agriculture (both arable and pastoral) and tourism. The parish includes part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site.
The village once had a castle, Chideock Castle, which served as a manor house. It was destroyed in the Civil War and now only the earthworks remain.
During much of its history Chideock has had a strong tradition of recusancy: in the late 16th century, four Chideock men were executed for high treason for their connections, and became honoured by the Roman Catholic Church as the Chideock Martyrs. There is a memorial to the men in the village.
The A35 trunk road passes through the village, which means the main street can have high volumes of traffic.
Churches
- Church of England: St Giles
- Roman Catholic: Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and St Ignatius
The Church of England parish church is St Giles. Its age is uncertain and much of the structure as it stands today is the result of an extensive Victorian restoration carried out between 1884 and 1885. Much of the stonework is mediæval. The oldest part of the church is the nave which dates from the 12th Century. The twelfth century chancel however is that built in the restoration.
In the 14th Century the north transept was added, (where the organ now stands). This appears to have been a private chapel for the lords of the manor. There used to be a door (by the side of the present pulpit) which would have given access across the churchyard to the castle.
In the 15th Century the south aisle, the Arundell Chapel, the tower and the porch were all added. The Arundell Chapel was built by the lords of the manor, of the Arundell family who held the manor from 1450 to 1802, and their family tombs are here.
The village's Roman Catholic church, Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, and St Ignatius, was built in 1870-2 by Charles Weld, the lord of the manor, its name a reference to the "Chideock Martyrs" of the seventeenth century. It is still owned by a Weld family trust.
History
Chideock is recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Cidihoc.[1]
In 1379–80 John de Chideock, a manorial lord, built Chideock Castle just north of the village.[1][2][3]
During the Middle Ages ownership passed to the Arundell family, who were themselves Roman Catholic recusants and who used their ownership of the manor to provide refuge for priests and followers during subsequent religious persecution.[3] During the Protestant reign of Elizabeth I, the Arundell estate became Dorset's main centre of Roman Catholicism,[4] and the locality witnessed considerable religious strife.[1] In 1594, a Roman Catholic Priest, John Cornelius, was arrested at Chideock Castle, accused of high treason: he had trained in France and returned to England against a legal ban. Three others who supported him, Thomas Bosgrave, John Carey and Patrick Salmon, were arrested with him. All were tried in the main hall of what is now Chideock House Hotel and they were executed in Dorchester. The men became known as the Chideock Martyrs.[1][3] A fifth man, Hugh Green, who became Chideock's chaplain in 1612, was tried and executed in 1642. All five were beatified by the Pope on 15 December 1929.[3]
During the Civil War, Chideock was a royalist stronghold,[3] and the castle changed hands more than once before it was ultimately left ruinous in 1645 by Parliamentarian forces under the Governor of Lyme Regis, Colonel Ceeley.[1][2][3] Chideock House Hotel may have been the headquarters of General Fairfax as he planned the castle's overthrow. Parts of the castle remained standing until at least 1733[2] but only some of the moat can be seen today; it is in a field, accessed by Ruins Lane, and marked by a crucifix as a memorial to the martyrs.[1][2]
In 1802 the Arundells were succeeded by the Weld family of Lulworth Castle who in 1810 built Chideock Manor.[1] The Welds were also Roman Catholic and in 1870-2 Charles Weld designed and built the village's Roman Catholic church in an unusual Romanesque style. It is dedicated to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, and St Ignatius and remains in trust to the Weld family.[1][5]
Geography
Chideock is to be found two and a half miles west of Bridport, five miles east of Lyme Regis and three quarters of a mile from the sea. The parish includes the coastal hamlet of Seatown, which is on the coast, part of the stretch of coastline known as the 'Jurassic Coast', a World Heritage Site. Seatown has a long shelving pebble beach, with views up towards the hill which forms Golden Cap, which at 627 feet is the highest cliff on the south coast of Britain. Fossilised ammonites and belemnites can often be found on the beach due to continued coastal erosion of the soft blue lias clays which make up the cliffs. Iron-rich rocks such as lodestone and magnetite can also be found on the beaches near the village – these are thought to have been transported down the coast from Chesil Beach. Similar collections of these rocks can be found on beaches along the Jurassic Coast and in the neighbouring counties of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.
Transport links
The A35 trunk road between Honiton and Southampton passes through Chideock. (In 1997, this was the first village in Britain to have two speed cameras installed in response to perceived excessive speed.)[6]
The National Trust refused permission for a prospective bypass[6] over land it owns to the north of Golden Cap, citing its importance as an area of natural beauty. On 4 May 2010 a protest against the lack of a bypass was initiated by some residents and involved constant operation of a pedestrian crossing at the centre of the village for one hour's duration every week.[7] This campaign continued for a year and may result in restrictions on heavy goods vehicles in the village.[8]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Chideock) |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Roland Gant (1980). Dorset Villages. Robert Hale Ltd. pp. 122–3. ISBN 0 7091 8135 3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Reginald J W Hammond (1979). Dorset Coast (4 ed.). Ward Lock Ltd. pp. 36–7. ISBN 0 7063 5494 X.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 Peter Booton (May 2012). "Booton Foot Trails: Chideock, Golden Cap and Seatown". Dorset Life Magazine. http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2012/05/booton-foot-trails-chideock-golden-cap-and-seatown/. Retrieved 22 January 2014.
- ↑ J.H. Bettey (1974). Dorset. David & Charles. p. 99. ISBN 0 7153 6371 9.
- ↑ "History - Chideock Martyrs Church". http://www.chideockmartyrschurch.org.uk/history/. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Clive Aslet (2011). Villages of Britain: The Five Hundred Villages that Made the Countryside. Bloomsbury Publishing. ISBN 9781608196722. https://books.google.com/books?id=wZvjPhec6M8C&pg=PT48&lpg=PT48&dq=1997+chideock+speed+cameras&source=bl&ots=RMihugBdZ5&sig=8vpmit8fLudUYVpxNZsYWr_WEGA&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t0KpU-6NHaKt0QWLzoGwBA&ved=0CFkQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=1997%20chideock%20speed%20cameras&f=false.
- ↑ "Protest pensioner halts traffic". 5 May 2010. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/8661477.stm. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ↑ "Light at the end of tunnel for Dorset road campaign?". 3 June 2011. http://www.thisisdorset.co.uk/Light-end-tunnel-Dorset-road-campaign/story-12700984-detail/story.html. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
