Bloxworth, Dorset
Historical Description
Bloxworth, a parish in Dorsetshire, 3 miles E of Bere-Regis, and 5 NW of Wareham station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Wareham; money order and telegraph office, Bere-Regis. Acreage, 2827; population, 260. Of the surface of the parish, 1100 acres are heath, on which is a British or Danish camp called Woolbarrow. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £263 with residence. The church is very good; the chancel was restored in 1870, and the nave reseated and refitted in 1889.
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 | Bloxworth St. Andrew | |
| Hundred | Coombs Ditch | |
| Poor Law union | Wareham and Purbeck | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Wareham | |
| Registration sub-district | Bere Regis |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1579. 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. Andrew (parish church)
The parish church of St. Andrew was originally a Norman structure, of which the only portion now existing is the entrance doorway: it was rebuilt in the 14th century, and again rebuilt in the 17th century in its present substantial though debased Gothic form, portions of the earlier work being re-incorporated, and it now consists of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 2 bells, one of which is of the 14th century, and has around the rim an inscription which consists of the words "Sancta Maria," in capital letters separated by crosses: there are several memorials to the Trenchard and Pickard families, and a manorial pew adorned with the arms of the Savages, lords of the manor previous to the year 1700: the original hour glass and stand still exists: the chancel was rebuilt in 1870 and the nave reseated in 1887, and there are now 125 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Bloxworth 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 Bloxworth from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Bloxworth (St. Andrew))
- 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 Bloxworth 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.