Moor Crichel
| Moor Crichel | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Parish church of St Mary | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST993086 |
| Location: | 50°52’37"N, 2°-0’40"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 140 (2013 est.) |
| Post town: | Wimborne |
| Postcode: | BH21 |
| Dialling code: | 01258 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Dorset |
Moor Crichel is a village in eastern Dorset, on Cranborne Chase five miles east of Blandford Forum. Close by is an associated hamlet, Manswood notable for a terrace of twelve thatched cottages.
In 2013 an estimate of the parish population put it as 140.
History
At first, Moor Crichel was made up of two original settlements with different pieces of land attached to them. These two settlements were Little Crichel towards the north west of the parish where the village was close to Norwood Park; and Moor Crichel (More Crichel) in the south east of the parish which was close to the church of St Mary until the latter part of the 18th century. After this time, to make way for the extension of the park of Crichel House, the settlements were cleared and many of the inhabitants moved on to nearby Witchampton.
Manswood to the west of the parish may be connected to the mediæval settlement Chetterwood from 1215, although the earliest building there now is a farmhouse dated 1725.[1]
Moor Crichel is mentioned in the Domesday Book and is said to have had 38 households. The lord of the manor was the King, as it had been before the Conquest.[2]
Old parish church
The Church of St Mary can be found in the grounds of Crichel House. In 1850, Henry Charles Sturt paid to build the church to replace the building which preceded it.
After 1973, the church was no longer used. However, it continues to be an important part of the Crichel Estate.[3] It is not accessible to the public.
Crichel House
In the 16th century, Crichel House was owned by the Uvedales and then ownership changed to the Sturts. In a fire in 1742, the house was ruined and was rebuilt for Sir William Napier.
When the estate was passed on in 1765 to Humphrey Sturt, the house was modified massively. To make way for new parkland, the village was moved south; due to this the original site of Moor Crichel is now beneath the lake.[4]
In 1870–72 John Marius Wilson described Crichel House as follows:
"Critchell-Moore House is the seat of H.Sturt, Esq. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Long Critchell, in the diocese of Salisbury".[5]
| ("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Moor Crichel) |
References
- ↑ Moor Crichel: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 5, pages 40-44
- ↑ "Open Domesday (Moor Crichel)". University of Hull. http://opendomesday.org/place/ST9908/moor-crichel/. Retrieved 24 April 2016.
- ↑ Day, Michael (27 January 2015). "Moor Crichel (Former Church of St. Mary)". http://www.dorset-churches.org.uk/moor-crichel.html. Retrieved 2016-03-20.
- ↑ "The Parish of Moor Crichel". http://www.opcdorset.org/MoorCrichelFiles/MoorCrichel.htm. Retrieved 2016-03-23.
- ↑ Wilson, John Marius: Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (A. Fullerton & Co., 1870)
