Littlebredy, Dorset
Historical Description
Bredy, Little, or Littlebredy, a parish in Dorsetshire, on the Downs, at the source of the Bredy stream, 2½ miles from Abbotsbury station on the G.W.R., and 6½ W by S of Dorchester, under which it has a post office; money order office, Winterbourne Abbas; telegraph office, Abbotsbury. Acreage, 1613; population, 193. Stone is quarried. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the rectory of Long Bredy, in the diocese of Salisbury. The church is good.
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 - |
| Poor Law union | Dorchester | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Dorchester | |
| Registration sub-district | Maiden Newton |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1717. 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. Michael and All Angels (parish church)
The parish church of St. Michael and All Angels is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south transept, south porch and a central tower containing a clock and 6 bells; there are 150 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Littlebredy from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bredy, Little)
- 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 Littlebredy 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.