Whitcombe, Dorset

From Wikishire
Jump to navigation Jump to search
Whitcombe
Dorset

View of Whitcombe from the south
Location
Grid reference: SY717882
Location: 50°41’33"N, 2°24’5"W
Data
Population: 20  (2013 est.)
Post town: Dorchester
Postcode: DT2
Dialling code: 01273
Local Government
Council: Dorset
Parliamentary
constituency:
West Dorset

Whitcombe is a small village in Dorset, standing two miles south-east of the county town, Dorchester. A 2013 mid-year estimate put the parish population at just 20.

Whitcombe village is next to the A352 main road between Broadmayne and Dorchester, between the parishes of West Knighton and Broadmayne to the east, West Stafford to the north, and Winterborne Came to the west.[1] Whitcombe does not form an ecclesiastical parish, although Whitcombe Church has registers dating from 1762. The earlier registers were destroyed in a fire. The church, now redundant, is in a "modest but perfect location" according to Pevsner.[2]

In the surrounding area there are a number of prehistoric earthworks.[1] Whitcombe was originally recorded as Widecome, with a land measurement of two hides. King Athelstan gave it to the Milton Abbey. At the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries, its ownership passed to the King. Around 1600, it was sold to a Mr Hull from Tolpuddle.

Whitcombe Hill is a quarter of a mile west of the church.[2] A Portland stone relief of a bearded man on horseback, dating from 2nd–3rd century AD, was found here in 1963 and subsequently added to the collection of the Dorset County Museum in Dorchester.

The village has a Grade II listed manor house,[3] and also a riding stables and a tithe barn.

Outside links

("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about Whitcombe, Dorset)

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 "Whitcombe". www.weymouth-dorset.co.uk. http://www.weymouth-dorset.co.uk/whitcombe.html. Retrieved 14 April 2013. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Dorset, 1972 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09598-2
  3. National Heritage List 1119216: The Manor House, Whitcombe