Belchalwell, Dorset
Historical Description
Bellchalwell, a parish in Dorsetshire, 3 miles from Shillingstone railway station on the Somerset and Dorset railway. Post town, Blandford; money order office, Okeford Fitzpaine; telegraph office, Shillingstone. Population of the ecclesiastical parish, with Ibberton, 298. The living is a rectory, united with that of Ibberton, in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, about £320. The church has a Norman porch and a square tower, and is very good; it was reseated in 1872. The chancel was restored in 1893. The handsome new open roof is a copy of the old one, of which one truss with its mouldings was discovered out of its place within the roof over the nave. The church, like that at Ibberton, is built at one end of the parish on a hill.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Dorsetshire | |
Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
Hundred | Cranborne | |
Poor Law union | Sturminster | 1835 - |
Registration district | Sturminster | |
Registration sub-district | Sturminster |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1842, the earlier registers having been destroyed by fire. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).
We have transcribed the Marriages at Belchalwell, 1843-1922
Churches
Church of England
St. Aldhelm (parish church)
The parish church of St. Aldhelm is a plain building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, and has a fine Norman south porch and a square embattled tower on the south side, containing one bell; it was reseated in 1872, and has subsequently been restored: there are 100 sittings.
Belchalwell parish church | Belchalwell parish church |
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Bellchalwell was in Sturminster Registration District from 1837 to 1884
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Belchalwell from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Belchalwell are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the Dorset County Chronicle and the Sherborne Mercury online.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.