Castleton, Dorset
Historical Description
Castleton, a parish in Dorset, on the L. & S.W.R., adjoining Sherborne on the east, which is the post town. Acreage, 71; population, 51. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £81.
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 | Castleton St. Mary Magdalene | |
| Hundred | Sherborne | |
| Poor Law union | Sherborne | 1835 - |
| Registration district | Sherborne | |
| Registration sub-district | Sherborne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1715. 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. Mary Magdalene (parish church)
The parish church of St. Mary Magdalene is a small building of stone, consisting of nave or four bays and aisles, and a western bell turret containing one bell: the material for the building is supposed to have been taken from the castle ruins: there are 220 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Castleton was in Sherborne Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Sturminster Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Castleton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Castleton (St. Mary Magdalene))
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Castleton 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.