Corscombe

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Corscombe
Dorset
Corscombe Village - geograph.org.uk - 260462.jpg
Corscombe village
Location
Grid reference: ST518053
Location: 50°50’47"N, 2°41’11"W
Data
Population: 445  (2011)
Post town: Dorchester
Postcode: DT2
Local Government
Council: Dorset
Parliamentary
constituency:
West Dorset
Website: corscombe.org

Corscombe is a village in Dorset. The wider civil parish includes the small settlements of Benville and Toller Whelme to the south and in the 2011 census had a population of 445.

Corscombe village is sited "into hollows and along sunken lanes"[1] on the northern scarp slope of the Dorset Downs, approximately eight miles south of Yeovil in Somerset.

On the higher ground in the village stands the 15th-century parish church of St. Mary, which was restored in 1875–7.[1] In 1905 Sir Frederick Treves Bt described the church as a "handsome building" with an "exceedingly fine" situation.[2] Nearby Corscombe Court dates from the 13th century and is partially surrounded by a moat. It has a 15th-century tithe barn which was once used by the monks of Sherborne Abbey.[3]

About the village

Evidence of early occupation within the parish includes lynchets and, south of the village, three standing stones.[4]

About a mile south of Corscombe village, across the A356, is Toller Down, one of the highest hills in Dorset, with good views of the surrounding countryside.

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References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Gant, R. 'Dorset Villages' (1980) p105
  2. Treves, Sir F., Highways and Byways in Dorset, Macmillan, 1905, p286
  3. West Dorset District Council, Holiday and tourist guide, c.1983, p6
  4. Corscombe: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, pages 105-108