Langton Matravers, Dorset
Historical Description
Langton Matravers, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands near the coast, 3 miles SE of Corfe Castle, and 2½ from Swanage station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post and money order office under Wareham; telegraph office, Swanage. The parish contains also Acton hamlet, and extends to the coast. Acreage, 2316; population, 773. The higher grounds command views of the channel and the Isle of Wight. Stone is quarried. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £202. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church had anciently a chantry, and was almost wholly rebuilt in 1876. There is a Wesleyan chapel. The Earl of Eldon is Lord of the manor.
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 | Langton-Matravers St. George | |
Hundred | Rowbarrow | |
Poor Law union | Wareham and Purbeck | 1836 - |
Registration district | Wareham | |
Registration sub-district | Swanage |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1670. 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. George (parish church)
The parish church of St. George is a building of stone in the Early English style, and consists of chancel with aisles, clerestoried nave, aisles, south porch and a tower, containing one bell: in 1876 the church, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt at a cost of £4,800, under the direction of Mr. G. R. Crickmay, architect, of Weymouth: there are 450 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Langton Matravers 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 Langton Matravers from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Langton-Matravers (St. George))
- 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 Langton Matravers 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
ActonWilcheswood
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.