Affpuddle, Dorset
Historical Description
Aff-Puddle, a parish in Dorset, on the river Piddle, 3½ miles N of Moreton station on the S.W.R., and 8 ENE of Dorchester. It contains the hamlet of Pallington and the tithing of Bryants-Puddle. Post town, Dorchester. Acreage, 3630; population, 434. The manor anciently belonged to Cerne Abbey. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the rectory of Toners-Puddle, in the diocese of Salisbury; value, 196. The church is ancient but good, and was restored in 1878.
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 | Affpuddle or Affpiddle | |
| County Court district | Wareham | |
| Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
| Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Affpiddle St Laurence | |
| Hundred | Hundredsbarrow | |
| Poor Law union | Wareham and Purbeck | 1836 - |
| Registration sub-district | Bere Regis | 1837 - 1911 |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Census Records
We have transcribed the following census returns for Affpuddle:
| Year | Class | Piece | District |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1841 | HO107 | 278 | 8 |
| 1901 | RG13 | 1989 | 6 |
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1731. 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. Laurence (parish church)
The parish church of St Laurence is an ancient edifice of stone and flint, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch, and a Decorated embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 4 bells; it was originally appropriated to the Abbey of Cerne, and at the dissolution of that house the vicarage was given to Thomas Lyllyngton, one of the monks of Cerne, who caused the beautiful carved oak pulpit and seats to be erected in the church, on the end of one of which is a carved inscription with the date 1548: there is also a Norman font; the trefoil arch of the south entrance to the church dates from 1220: the stained east window is a memorial to Henry Frampton esq. of Moreton House: the church was restored in 1878, and has 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Affpuddle was in Wareham Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Poole Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Affpuddle from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Aff Piddle or Puddle)
- 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 Affpuddle 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.
Villages, Hamlets, &c
Bryants PuddlePallington
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.