Melbury Osmond
| Melbury Osmond | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Parish church of St Osmund | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST574077 |
| Location: | 50°52’3"N, 2°36’22"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 199 (2011) |
| Post town: | Dorchester |
| Postcode: | DT2 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
West Dorset |
Melbury Osmond is a village in Dorset, about seven miles south of the Somerset town of Yeovil.
The major part of Melbury Osmond village lies on a dead-end lane which from the church descends past cottages to a stream and ford. The attractive appearance of the village has been noted by commentators: it has been described as "a calendarsmith's dream of thatched cottages"[1] and in 1906 Sir Frederick Treves wrote that it was "the most charming village in these Western backwoods".[2]
The underlying geology is Cornbrash limestone, with adjacent Oxford clay.[3] Within the clay can be found deposits of stone which can take on a very high polish, earning them the name "Melbury marble".[4]
The 2011 census recorded a parish population.
Church
The parish church, St. Osmund's, was totally rebuilt in 1745[2] and restored in 1888, although it has registers dating back to 1550.
The church is a Grade I listed building[5]
History
The village is listed in the Domesday Book as a possession of the Arundell family, and it remained so until the 19th century.
In its history the village has been involved in the trade of plated buckles and horn buttons, and the manufacture of dowlas, a form of rough woollen cloth.[2] During the 19th century, the village possessed the Dorset Ooser, a wooden mask brought out during "Rough Music" ceremonies,[6] when villagers accused of various offences would be dragged out and humiliated all though the village: a common country custom across the nation which has sadly died out almost everywhere.
In literature
Melbury appears as "Little Hintock" in Hardy's novel The Woodlanders, in which the heroine's name is "Grace Melbury". Hardy also incorporated a legend about the Duke of Monmouth taking refuge in one of the village's cottages into his short story "The Duke's Reappearance".
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Melbury Osmond) |
References
- ↑ Roland Gant (1980). Dorset Villages. Robert Hale Ltd. p. 104. ISBN 0 7091 8135 3.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Treves, Sir F., Highways and Byways in Dorset, Macmillan, 1906, pp322-323
- ↑ Ralph Wightman (1983). Portrait of Dorset (4 ed.). Robert Hale Ltd. p. 18. ISBN 0 7090 0844 9.
- ↑ West Dorset District Council, Holiday and Tourist Guide, c.1983, p13
- ↑ National Heritage List 1119242: Church of St Osmund, Melbury
- ↑ Dewar, H. S. L. (1962). "The Dorset Ooser". Proceedings of the Dorset Natural History and Archaeological Society 84: 178–180.