Holnest, Dorset

Historical Description

Holnest, a parish in Dorsetshire, 5 miles from Sherborne station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town, Sherborne. Acreage, 2270; population of the civil parish, 127; of the ecclesiastical district, 448. Holnest Park is the chief residence. The parish is a meet for the Blackmore Vale hounds. The living is a chapelry annexed to the vicarage of Long Burton, in the diocese of Salisbury. The church consists of chancel, nave, S aisle, S porch, and W tower.

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

We have transcribed the Baptisms 1589-1812, Marriages 1589-1812, and Burials 1589-1812.

The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1589. 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 (parish church)

The parish church of St. Mary is a building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, south porch and a western tower containing 3 bells: there are 74 sittings: in the churchyard is a mausoleum, erected by the late J. S. W. Sawbridge-Erle-Drax esq.

Civil Registration

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

Holnest 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 Holnest from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Holnest (St. Mary))
• 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 Holnest 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.