Iwerne Steepleton, Dorset
Historical Description
Iwerne Steepleton or Preston, a small village in Dorsetshire, on the rivulet Iwerne, 2½ miles E of Shillingstone station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, and 3½ NW of Blandford Forum. Post town, Iwerne Minster. A stud farm is situated at this place for the rearing of thoroughbred horses.
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 - |
Poor Law union | Blandford | 1835 - |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1755. 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 small edifice of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel and nave, without either tower or steeple: there is a Norman chancel arch: the chancel retains a piscina and there are four stained windows, two of which are memorials to Horace 6th and last Baron Rivers, who died 31 March, 1880: there are 60 sittings.
Civil Registration
Iwerne Steepleton was in Blandford Registration District from 1837 to 1956 and Poole Registration District from 1956 to 1974
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Iwerne Steepleton 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.