Bettiscombe, Dorset
Historical Description
Bettiscombe, a parish in Dorsetshire, 5 miles W of Beaminster, and 5 from Chard Road railway station on the L. & S.W.R. The area is 650 acres; population, 59. Post town, Charmouth (R.S.O.); money order and telegraph office, Broadwinsor. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £159 with residence. The church was rebuilt in 1862, and is in the Early Perpendicular style.
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 - |
| Liberty | Frampton | |
| Poor Law union | Beaminster | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Beaminster | |
| Registration sub-district | Netherbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1746. 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. Stephen (parish church)
The parish church of St Stephen, rebuilt in 1862, is an edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, south porch, and an embattled western tower containing one bell: the stained east window was presented in 1864 by the late J. Tatchell-Bullen esq. of Marshwood Manor: there are memorial windows to the Rev. James Woodward Scott, a former rector, and Mrs. Scott and their two children: the church affords 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Bettiscombe was in Beaminster Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Bridport Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Bettiscombe from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bettiscombe)
- 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 Bettiscombe 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.