Fifehead Magdalen, Dorset

Historical Description

Fifehead Magdalen, a parish in Dorsetshire on the river Stour, 4 miles from Gillingham station on the L. & S.W.R.,. and 6 W by S of Shaftesbury. Post town, Bath. Acreage, 973; population, 130. The manor belonged to St Augustine's in Bristol, and now belongs to Lord Wimborne. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £247 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church contains monuments of the Newmans, and is good.

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.

Church Records

The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1565. 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).

We have transcribed the Marriages at Fifehead Magdalen from 1837-1921.

Churches

Church of England

St. Mary Magdalene, Fifehead Hill (parish church)

The church of St. Mary Magdalene is a small and plain building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel, nave, north aisle and porch, and an embattled tower containing 3 bells, rehung in 1904: the interior of the church was thoroughly restored in the year 1884, and in 1904 a complete restoration was carried out under the direction of Mr. E. Doran Webb, architect, of Salisbury, when the roof was renewed in oak and raised to its original height; the interior reseated in oak, a new reredos and organ provided at the sole cost of the late Col. P.J. Browne C.B., J.P.; there are 100 sittings.

Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Fifehead Magdalen was in Sturminster Registration District from 1837 to 1974

For births, marriages, and deaths in Fifehead Magdalen from 1837 to 1974 you should search for the Sturminster Registration District.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Fifehead Magdalen from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Fifehead-Magdalene (All Saints))
• 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 Fifehead Magdalen 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.