Bourton, Dorset
Historical Description
Bourton, a parish in Dorsetshire, on the verge of the county, 3 miles SW of Mere, 4 NNW of Gillingham station on the L. & S.W.R., and 4 from Wincanton. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Bath. Acreage, 922; population of the civil parish, 782; of the ecclesiastical, 761. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £277 with residence. The church is good; it was rebuilt in 1878-79. There are Baptist and Wesleyan chapels; also a large iron foundry, engine and boiler works, and two brickyards.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Dorsetshire | |
Civil parish | Gillingham | |
Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
Liberty | Gillingham | |
Poor Law union | Shaftesbury | 1894 - |
Registration district | Shaftesbury | |
Registration sub-district | Gillingham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1812. 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).
Churches
Church of England
St. George (parish church)
The parish church of St. George, rebuilt in 1878-9, is in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave, south porch and an incomplete tower containing 6 bells: there are sittings for 314 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Bourton was in Mere Registration District from 1837 to 1896, Shaftesbury Registration District from 1896 to 1937, and Sturminster Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bourton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bourton)
- Hunt & Co.'s Directory of Dorsetshire, Hampshire, & Wiltshire 1851
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Bourton 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.