Tarrant Monkton
| Tarrant Monkton | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Tarrant Monkton | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | ST945088 |
| Location: | 50°52’45"N, 2°4’50"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 1,986 |
| Post town: | Blandford Forum |
| Postcode: | DT11 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Dorset |
| Website: | Village website |
Tarrant Monkton is a village in northern Dorset, in the Tarrant Valley about four miles east of Blandford Forum.[1] Within the parish boundary, a mile and a half over hills to the west, lies the major part of Blandford Camp army base (including the Royal Signals Museum).
The village is centred on the All Saints Parish Church, opposite which is the Langton Arms, a public house and restaurant.
The 2011 census found the parish, including the army base, to have a population of 1,986.
History
Evidence of prehistoric human activity within the parish includes three round barrows, traces of a possible Iron Age or Romano-British settlement, a dyke 590 feet long on the south-western edge of the army camp and a linear dyke on Luton Down. The barrows previously numbered thirteen; ten others were destroyed after the construction of the camp in 1914.
The Roman road between Badbury Rings and Bath also passed through the parish.[2]
In 1086 in the Domesday Book Tarrant Monkton is recorded as Tarente, and by 1280 it was Tarent Moneketon, the latter part of the name – derived from the Old English manne and tan – referring to ownership by the monks of Tewkesbury Abbey.[3] The Domesday entry states that Tarente had 28 households, 8 ploughlands, 35 acres of meadow and one mill. It was in Pimperne Hundred and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Cranborne Abbey.[4]
In the village the River Tarrant is crossed by a packhorse bridge that probably dates from the 17th century.[2][5] The bridge was part of an old route between Blandford Forum and Moor Crichel.[5]
The Tarrant Valley was agriculturally prosperous in the early 19th century due to high wheat prices and low labour costs. Wealthy farming squires built large farmhouses that survive to this day, though their workers often lived in mud-walled cottages that, according to Dorset-born broadcaster and agriculturist Ralph Wightman, "were no more improvable than old pigsties", and these generally have not survived.[6]
Until the end of the 19th century the neighbouring parish of Tarrant Launceston was part of Tarrant Monkton parish. All Saints parish church is built of flint and ashlar and has a chancel dating from around 1400, and a 15th-century nave and west tower, though the building was substantially altered in the 18th century and in 1873.[2]
About the village
Tarrant Monkton has a public house called The Langton Arms and a village hall, which hosts events organised by the Village Hall Committee and is also available for hire.[7]
References
- ↑ "Tarrant Monkton". Dorset OPC. http://www.opcdorset.org/TarrantFiles/T.Monkton/TarrantMonkton.htm. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 pp107-110: An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 4,
- ↑ David Mills, ed (2011). A Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. p. 450. https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA450&lpg=PA450&dq=tarrant+monkton+tewkesbury+abbey&source=bl&ots=D1kj63zvvJ&sig=v8qLQ9lyjtYawSlp5RqE1IM3dx0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=paECVeHVKYGv7AbA8ICgDw&ved=0CDwQ6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=tarrant%20monkton%20tewkesbury%20abbey&f=false.
- ↑ "Place: Tarrant [Monkton"]. Open Domesday. domesdaymap.co.uk. http://www.domesdaymap.co.uk/place/ST9408/tarrant-monkton/. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 North Dorset District Council (1982). North Dorset Official District Guide. Home Publishing Co. Ltd. p. 51.
- ↑ Wightman, Ralph (1983). Portrait of Dorset (4 ed.). Robert Hale Ltd. p. 119. ISBN 0-7090-0844-9.
- ↑ "Village Hall". tarrantmonkton.wordpress.com
Outside links
. https://tarrantmonkton.wordpress.com/village-hall/. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Tarrant Monkton)
