Askerswell, Dorset
Historical Description
Askerswell, a parish in Dorset, on the Asker, an affluent of the river Brid, 2 miles from Powerstock station on the G.W.R., and 5 from Bridport, under which it has a post office, and at which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage, 1724; population of the civil parish, 230; of the ecclesiastical, 194. The surface is a pleasant valley surrounded by hills. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £140. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1858, but has a tower which belonged to a previous edifice.
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 - |
| Ecclesiastical parish | Askerswell St. Michael | |
| Hundred | Eggerton | |
| Poor Law union | Bridport | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Bridport | |
| Registration sub-district | Burton Bradstock |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1558. 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 Askerswell, 1560-1812 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael (parish church)
The parish church of St Michael is a stone edifice in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 5 bells, one of which was added in 1747, and two were recast in 1886: on the base of the tower is an ancient stone carved with a representation of the "Crucifixion:" with the exception of the tower the whole structure was rebuilt in 1858: the font is Norman: in 1897 a brass cross for the alter table was presented by Mrs Bryan in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the accession of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria: there are 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Askerswell was in Bridport Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Askerswell from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Askerswell (St. Michael))
- 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 Askerswell 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.