Church Knowle, Dorset
Historical Description
Church-Knowle, a parish in Dorsetshire, 1¼ mile WSW of Corfe-Castle station on the L. & S.W.R. It includes the tithings of Bradle and Creech, and the hamlet of Furzebrook. Post town, Corfe-Castle, under Wareham; money order and telegraph office, Corfe-Castle. Acreage, 2922; population, 581. The remains of a Roman villa were discovered at Creech in 1889. Large quantities of pottery clay are raised from the Furzebrook pits, and the marl beds of Knowle Hill yield an excellent material for the manufacture of cement. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £167 with residence. Patron, Lieut-Col. Mansel. The church dates from the 13th century, and has been recently restored.
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 | Church Knowle St. Peter | |
Hundred | Hasilor | |
Poor Law union | Wareham and Purbeck | 1836 - |
Registration district | Wareham | |
Registration sub-district | Corfe Castle |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1547. 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. Peter (parish church)
The parish church of St. Peter is an ancient edifice of stone of the 13th century, partly rebuilt, and consisting of chancel, nave, south transept, south porch and a western tower containing 3 bells: in the nave is a monument to the Clavel family: the chancel was thoroughly restored in 1891: there are 270 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Church Knowle 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 Church Knowle from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Knowle, Church (St. Peter))
- 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 Church Knowle 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.
Villages, Hamlets, &c
BradleCreech
Puddlemill
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.