Kingston, Dorset
Historical Description
Kingston, an ecclesiastical parish in Dorsetshire. It was formerly a chapelry, but was separated from the mother parish of Corfe Castle in 1877. In ancient documents it was called Kingston Abbess, the manor having belonged to the Abbess of Shaftesbury. The village stands 1½ mile from Corfe Castle station on the L. & S.W.R. It is pleasantly situated on an eminence, and has a post office under Wareham; money order and telegraph office, Corfe Castle. Population of ecclesiastical parish, 405. By the Parish Councils Act, Kingston is joined with Corfe Castle. Encombe, the seat of the Earl of Eldon, is a splendid mansion of Purbeck stone, standing in large and tastefully laid-out grounds, and commanding a noble view of the English Channel. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £350 with residence. Patron, the Earl of Eldon. The church is a very handsome structure of stone in the Early English style, and was erected during the years 1874 to 1880, at the sole cost of the Earl of Eldon. The interior is richly decorated. There is a small Wesleyan chapel.
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 - |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1877. 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. James (parish church)
The church of St. James, erected during the period 1874 to 1880, at the sole cost of the Earl of Eldon, is a cruciform building of stone, in the Early English style, from designs by the late George E. Street esq. R.A., consisting of apsidal chancel, nave, aisles, transepts, west porch and a lofty central tower containing 8 bells: the chancel has a stone-groined roof, treble sedilia and a piscina of Purbeck marble: the screen, also of Purbeck marble, is surmounted by elaborate open wrought iron work: the pulpit is of elaborately wrought iron work mounted upon a pedestal of Purbeck stone: all the windows, including a large rose window at the weat end, are stained: there are two rolls of honour in the church erected in memory of those parishioners who served and those who fell in the Great War, 1914-18: there are 300 sittings.
The old church of St. James, still standing and in good preservation, is a cruciform edifice of stone, in the Perpendicular atyle, and has an embattled northwestern tower with pinnacles, containing one bell, and there are two stained windows; it is now used as a village hall.
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Kingston 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.