West Bexington

Puncknowle ( PUN-əl) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England, situated on the southern slopes of the Bride Valley approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Bridport and 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north of Chesil Beach on the Jurassic Coast. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the coastal settlement of West Bexington to the south—had a population of 466.Puncknowle village has a Jacobean manor house, which in 1906 Sir Frederick Treves described as "one of the daintiest and most beautiful manor houses in the county". The Napier family, who came to Puncknowle from Merchiston in Scotland, were lords of the manor for three centuries, until the early 18th century. In the early 19th century the manor was occupied by Colonel Shrapnel, inventor of the shrapnel shell.Puncknowle parish church, dedicated to St Mary, has a 12th-century chancel arch and west tower, though the latter was altered in 1678. The nave and the rest of the chancel were largely rebuilt at various dates in the 19th century. The church contains memorials to the Napiers and has an unusual font, composed of a Norman bowl on top of another font from West Bexington church, which French forces destroyed in the 16th century.There is a single public house in the village called The Crown Inn, and many holiday properties.

Holy Trinity Church is a Church of England church in Swyre, Dorset, England. The oldest part of the church has been dated to the early 15th century, with a partial rebuild and additions later made in the 19th century. The church is a Grade I listed building.

Swyre ( ) is a small village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated in a valley beside Chesil Beach 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Bridport. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 102.The village church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and was largely rebuilt in 1843, though the west tower and chancel arch date from about 1400. The church contains a memorial to members of the local gentry, namely the families of Napier, Squibb, Gollop and Russell. The Napiers, originally from Scotland, included Sir Robert Napier, Chief Baron of the Irish Exchequer (died 1615) whose descendants became the Napier Baronets of Middlemarsh. In the 1881 Census, the rector of the church was Orlando Spencer Smith. He lived with his wife, Theodosia, and their two children, along with 4 servants.

Abbotsbury Castle is an Iron Age hillfort in south west Dorset, England, situated on Wears Hill above the village of Abbotsbury, seven miles west of Dorchester and the famous hill fort at Maiden Castle. It is situated on a high chalk hill overlooking the English Channel, and in its day was the front line of defence from invasion. The earthworks cover an area of about 10 acres (4.0 ha), of which about 4.5 acres (1.8 ha) are inside the ramparts.The fort was occupied by the Celtic Durotriges tribe, but when the Romans invaded in AD 43, the second Augustian legion of Vespasian took the fort quickly with little struggle before moving on to Maiden Castle. There is no evidence that the Romans settled at Abbotsbury Castle as they did at some other hill forts.

The Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens is a visitor attraction near the village of Abbotsbury, Dorset, southern England. They are Grade I listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.The garden originates in 1765. In the late eighteenth century, the Fox-Strangeways family (the Earls of Ilchester) built a new house on the location; when it was burnt down in 1913, they returned to their family seat at Melbury House, but the walled garden was maintained—it remains in the ownership of the family. Since then, particularly after the contributions of the 4th Earl of Ilchester, the gardens have developed into an 8 hectares (20 acres) site with exotic plants, many of which were newly discovered species when they were first introduced. There are formal and informal gardens, with woodland walks and walled gardens; in addition, the gardens also contain certain "zones" that exhibit plants from different geographical areas.The gardens are in a wooded and sheltered valley, leading down towards the sea at Chesil Beach; this combination produces a microclimate in which more delicate plants than are usually grown in southern England can flourish, and plants that would otherwise need a greenhouses can be grown outside. However, in spite of its location, the plants remain vulnerable to bad winters, and the frost that they can bring; in 1990, violent storms damaged many of the rare specimens, which have since been replaced by younger plants. In 2010, Abbotsbury employed the chainsaw artist Matthew Crabb to carve a 200-year-old oak tree that had fallen after a particularly bad winter. The gardens won the Historic Houses Association/Christie’s Garden of the Year award for 2012, the first time that a subtropical garden has gained the award.

Litton Cheney is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies 9 miles (14 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited beneath chalk hills in the valley of the small River Bride. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 359.On Pins Knoll, to the west of the village, was once an Iron Age settlement, excavated in 1959. On the same site, in the 4th century, there was also a Romano-British building.The parish church of St Mary was substantially restored in 1878, though it retains features—notably the tower, chancel arch and parts of the nave and porch—from the 14th and 15th centuries and has a font bowl which is probably Norman; the site originated at this time or earlier.From 1953 until 1979, The Old Rectory was the home of noted English engraver, designer, typographer and painter Reynolds Stone. Litton Cheney has a small primary school 'Thorner's Church of England VA Primary School'. The school has a 'Good' OFSTED rating.

Chilcombe is a hamlet and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset unitary authority administrative area about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of Bridport and 10 miles (16 km) west of the county town, Dorchester. It comprises a church, an 18th-century farmhouse with farm buildings, and a couple of cottages. In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 10.In 1086 in the Domesday Book Chilcombe was recorded as Ciltecome; it had 14 households, 3 ploughlands, 25 acres (10 ha) of meadow, 20 acres (8.1 ha) of pasture and one mill. It was in Uggescombe Hundred and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Brictwin the reeve.The manor of Chilcombe together with the manor and rectory of Toller Fratrum formerly comprised an estate of the Knights Hospitaller, returned as the 'camera' of Chilcombe (camera meaning in this context an estate with no community and farmed out to a tenant) in 1338, when it was valued at £4 5s. 4d. and paid 30 marks into the Order's treasury at Clerkenwell Priory.Parts of Chilcombe parish church — the south wall of the nave and probably also the chancel — date from the 12th century. The Tudor manor house was demolished in 1939.

St Catherine's Chapel is a small chapel situated on a hill above the village of Abbotsbury in Dorset, England. It is dedicated to Saint Catherine. It is now in the guardianship of English Heritage, and became a Grade I listed building in 1956. The chapel is also scheduled together with the field systems and quarries on the hill.The chapel is best seen from the viewpoint on the B3157 Abbotsbury to Bridport road, with Chesil Beach in the background. The medieval strip lynchets etched into the side of the hill are known locally as the Chapel Rings.

Long Bredy is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in the valley of the small River Bride, beneath chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 208.The environs of Long Bredy have some prehistoric history, including a burial chamber known as The Grey Mare and her Colts. The village itself is thought to have been established around the 9th century, and in 1086 was recorded in the Domesday Book as 'Langebride', which would have been pronounced 'Langabridda'. To the east of the village is Kingston Russell house, a 17th-century mansion. Bottle Knap Cottage, owned by the National Trust, is a Grade II listed building. In May 2013 human skeletal remains were discovered near the cottage which dated back to approximately 800 to 600 BC, according to radiocarbon dating. Martin Papworth, an archaeologist with the National Trust, said, "The remains are of three teenage or young adults, probably crouched, are all from around the period when the first iron was being used in this country. No other burials in Dorset have been identified from this time."

Kingston Russell House is a large mansion house and manor near Long Bredy in Dorset, England, west of Dorchester. The present house dates from the late 17th century but in 1730 was clad in a white Georgian stone facade. The house was restored in 1913, and at the same time the gardens were laid out.

The Shipton Hill Settlement is an archaeological site, a defended settlement of the Iron Age, near Shipton Gorge in Dorset, England. It is a scheduled monument.