Chedington, Dorset
Historical Description
Cheddington or Chedington, a parish in Dorsetshire, at the sources of the rivers Axe and Parret, 3½ miles N of Beaminster, and 4¼ SE of Crewkerne station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town, Crewkerne. Acreage, 785; population, 112. The land is high and hilly, and most of its eminences command superb views. Cheddington Court is the residence of the Peto family. The living is a rectory in the diocese-of Salisbury; value, £169. The church is modern, and in the Tudor style. Hare, the translator of Horace, was rector
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 - |
Hundred | Beaminster Forum and Redborne | |
Poor Law union | Beaminster | 1836 - |
Registration district | Beaminster | |
Registration sub-district | Evershot |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1756. 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 Cheddington, 1756-1812 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. James (parish church)
The parish church of St. James is a modern building of stone, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch, vestry and a western turret containing one bell of the date 1610, which was taken from the old church: the church was restored in 1898 by Sir Henry Peto bart. when a new organ chamber, baptistery and south porch were erected, the church reseated and heating apparatus fixed under the direction of the late Mr. George Vialls F.R.I.B.A.: the stained windows (except the west window in the baptistery, of which Miss Creed, formerly of Cheddington, was the donor, in memory of her parents) have been given by Sir Henry and Lady Peto, the east window in 1889, in memory of their parents, and the north window in commemoration of Queen Victoria's reign: the old churchyard is now enclosed within the gardens of Chedington Court: there are 150 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Cheddington 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 Chedington from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Chedington 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.