Thorncombe, Dorset

Historical Description

Thorncombe, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands 3 miles ESE of Chard Road station on the L. & S.W.R., and 5 ½ NE of Axminster. It has a post and money order office under Chard; telegraph office, Chard Road railway station. The parish includes Ford Abbey, and comprises 5416 acres; population of the civil parish, 941; of the ecclesiastical, 931. Sadborow House is the seat of the Bragge family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £360 with residence. The church was built in 1867, and is a handsome building of stone in the Perpendicular style. There are a Plymouth Brethren chapel and a village Jubilee hall.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient County	Dorsetshire
Diocese	Salisbury
Ecclesiastical parish	Thorncombe St. Mary
Poor Law union	Beaminster (1896-)
Registration district	Beaminster
Registration sub-district	Netherbury

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1540. 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).

The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Thorncombe, 1552-1812 is online.

Churches

Church of England

St. Mary (parish church)

The parish church of St. Mary, built in 1867, at a cost of about £4,000, is a fine stone building in the Perpendicular style, embattled throughout, and consists of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, south transept and a western tower, containing 5 bells: the south transept was built at the sole expense of the late Mrs. Bertram Evans, of Forde Abbey: there is a monument to Sir Thomas Brooke Knt. d. April 10, 1419, and three memorial windows to the Rev. Charles Egerton and Mary, his wife, and John, their son; the stained east window, placed in 1893, is a memorial to Col. Bragge, Margaret, his wife, and Adela, their daughter: there are 400 sittings.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Thorncombe was in Axminster Registration District from 1844 to 1896, Beaminster Registration District from 1896 to 1937, and Bridport Registration District from 1937 to 1974