Fifehead Magdalen
| Fifehead Magdalen | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Parish church of St Mary Magdalene | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST782215 |
| Location: | 50°59’33"N, 2°18’48"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 80 (est.) |
| Post town: | Gillingham |
| Postcode: | SP8 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Dorset |
Fifehead Magdalen is a small village in Dorset by the west bank of the River Stour. It stands within the Blackmore Vale, about three miles south of Gillingham and five miles west of Shaftesbury.
The name 'Fifehead' means "[place of] five hides" and the suffix 'Magdalen' is or the parish church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene.[1] It is one of three like-named villages in Dorset, but with no apparent relation to Fifehead Neville and Fifehead St Quintin further up the Vale.
In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 80.
The village was a venue for stave dances.[2]
The Hardy Way, a long-distance walking route around Dorset, passes through the village.
Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene
The Parish Church, dedicated to St Mary Magdalene, which gives the village part of its name. The church dates mostly from the 14th century. However its most striking feature is the small "Newman chapel" built onto the north side of the nave sometime around 1693. It is believed to cover a vault containing the mortal remains of several members of the Newman family who had leased the Fifehead estate from the Abbey of St Augustine's of Bristol, perhaps since 1408.[3] The chapel was almost certainly commissioned by Richard Newman (1620 - 1695) whose father Richard (1584 - 1664) and grandfather Thomas (d.1649) are memorialised on plaques mounted on the chapel's east wall, and whose son Richard (1650 - 1682) who predeceased him, is memorialised on the west wall.[4]
On the north wall of the chapel is a later and much larger monument to Richard's grandson Sir Richard Newman of Fifehead, Preston Hall and Evercreech (1676 - 1721), his wife Frances, his son Sir Samwell Newman (c.1696 - 1747) and three daughters, Frances, Barbara and Elizabeth. This magnificent monument was created by the famous Westminster sculptor Sir Henry Cheere and dates from between 1747 (when Sir Samwell Newman died) and 1763 (when his sister Barbara died).
In the churchyard, nearby the entrance gate, is the tombstone of Thomas Newman who died in April 1668, believed to be the great-uncle of Sir Richard Newman.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Fifehead Magdalen) |
References
- ↑ Treves, Sir F.,Highways and Byways in Dorset, Macmillan, 1906, p25
- ↑ Dommett, Roy. "Stave Dances". The Stave Dance Material. Archived from the original on 2 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120402064322/http://ds.dial.pipex.com/town/avenue/pd49/morris/workshop/rdstav01.htm. Retrieved 8 October 2011.
- ↑ "Fifehead in the 1840s". Chris Newman. http://newman-family-tree.net/Fifehead-in-the-1840s.htm.
- ↑ Fifehead Magdalen - Church and Manor House: Chris Newman