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Cheselbourne

Dorset geography stubsVillages in Dorset
Parish Church of St Martin Cheselbourne (2) geograph.org.uk 887187
Parish Church of St Martin Cheselbourne (2) geograph.org.uk 887187

Cheselbourne (sometimes spelled Chesilborne or Cheselborne) is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Downs, 7 miles (11 km) north-east of Dorchester. The parish is at an altitude of 75 to 245 metres (approximately 250 to 800 feet) and covers an area of 1,175 hectares (2,900 acres); the underlying geology is chalk. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 296. The village, which contains a mix of buildings of different ages and styles, is spread along four lanes which meet here. It has a public house called the Rivers Arms. The 13th- to 14th-century parish church has a pinnacled tower with battlements, numerous gargoyles and a canonical sundial. In 1086, in the Domesday Book Cheselbourne was recorded as Ceseburne; it had 36 households, 10 acres (4.0 ha) of meadow and one mill. It was in the hundred of Hilton and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Shaftesbury Abbey. Cheselbourne used to be the site of a tradition known as "Treading in the Wheat", in which young women from the village would walk the fields on Palm Sunday, dressed in white. At Lyscombe Farm in the northwest of the parish are the remains of an early 13th-century chapel. The nave was once used as a bakehouse and then a farmworker's dwelling. In 1957, a Dutch barn was built over the ruins.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Cheselbourne (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.7966 ° E -2.338 °
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DT2 7NP , Cheselbourne
England, United Kingdom
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Parish Church of St Martin Cheselbourne (2) geograph.org.uk 887187
Parish Church of St Martin Cheselbourne (2) geograph.org.uk 887187
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Dorset
Dorset

Dorset ( DOR-sit; archaically: Dorsetshire DOR-sit-sheer, -⁠shər) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south-east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The largest settlement is Bournemouth, and the county town is Dorchester. The county has an area of 2,653 km2 (1,024 sq mi) and a population of 772,268. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, which contains three of the county's largest settlements: Bournemouth (183,491), Poole (151,500), and Christchurch (31,372). The remainder of the county is largely rural, and its principal towns are Weymouth (53,427) and Dorchester (21,366). Dorset contains two unitary districts: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole (BCP) and Dorset. The county did not historically include Bournemouth and Christchurch, which were part of Hampshire. Dorset has a varied landscape of chalk downs, steep limestone ridges, and low-lying clay valleys. The majority of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site due to its geological and palaeontologic significance, and features notable landforms such as Lulworth Cove, the Isle of Portland, Chesil Beach and Durdle Door. The north of the county contains part of Cranborne Chase, a chalk downland. The highest point in Dorset is Lewesdon Hill (279 m (915 ft)), in the southwest. There is evidence of Neolithic, Celtic, and Roman settlement in Dorset, and during the Early Middle Ages the region was settled by the Saxons; the county developed in the 7th century. The first recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in Dorset in 789 AD, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. The county has seen much civil unrest: in the English Civil War an uprising of Clubmen vigilantes was crushed by Oliver Cromwell's forces in a pitched battle near Shaftesbury; the doomed Monmouth Rebellion began at Lyme Regis; and the Tolpuddle Martyrs, a group of Dorset farm labourers, were instrumental in the formation of the trade union movement. During the Second World War, Dorset was heavily involved in the preparations for the invasion of Normandy, and the large harbours of Portland and Poole were two of the main embarkation points. Agriculture was historically the major industry of Dorset, but is now in decline in favour of tourism.

Hilton, Dorset
Hilton, Dorset

Hilton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is sited at an elevation of 135 metres (443 feet) in a small valley which drains chalk hills in the eastern part of the Dorset Downs, approximately 8 miles (13 kilometres) west-southwest of the town of Blandford Forum. The summit of Bulbarrow Hill (274 m or 899 ft) is 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 kilometres) north of the village. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the settlement of Ansty to the west—had 231 dwellings, 206 households and a population of 477.Hilton used to form a part of the estate of the nearby Milton Abbey when it was owned by the rich Hambro family; the Hambros, who often used to entertain Edward VII, planted woods on the surrounding hills, to provide cover for pheasants. However the woods surrounding Hilton today are mostly post-war plantations of beech (Fagus sylvatica) and ash (Fraxinus excelsior) as the hills were cleared during WW2. Large areas are privately owned, although there are open access areas owned and managed by the Forestry Commission.The church of All Saints is a typical Dorset country church and is mainly in the late Gothic style. In the north aisle a fine range of windows from the cloisters of Milton Abbey have been reused. The fan vault in the porch probably comes from the same source. Also from the abbey are a set of 12 panels with paintings of the Apostles: these are of high quality and early 16th century in date.In 1870–72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Hilton like this: HILTON, a parish in Blandford district, Dorset; under Bulbarrow camp, 7+1⁄2 miles [12 kilometres] WSW of Blandford town and r. station. It contains the hamlets of Aller, Anstey, and Hartsfoot-Lane; and its post town is Milton-Abbas, under Blandford. Acres, 2, 974. Real property, £3, 945. Pop., 833. Houses, 162. The property is divided among a few. Orchards and gardens occupy considerable space. Slate, coal, and bog iron abound; and some gold has been found. There are many mineral springs. Druidical remains, Roman urns and coins, early English coins, and other ancient relics have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £.273.* Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church is tolerable, and has a tower.