Manston, Dorset

Historical Description

Manston, a parish in Dorsetshire, on the river Stour, 2 miles ENE of Sturminster Newton station on the Somerset and Dorsetshire Joint railway. It has a post office under Blandford; money order and telegraph office, Sturminster Newton. Acreage, 1373; population, 193. Manston House is the chief residence. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £330. The church is ancient, with a tower, and was restored and beautified in 1885. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

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.

Census Records

We have transcribed the 1841 and 1901 census for Manston

Church Records

The parish register of baptisms, marriages and burials begins in 1614. 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 Manston from 1837-1921.

Churches

Church of England

St. Nicholas (parish church)

The parish church of St Nicholas is an ancient edifice of stone in the style of the 11th century, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, south porch, and a Perpendicular embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 4 bells; over the west door in the tower is the date 1534: the church was thoroughly restored and re-seated in 1885, and has 200 sittings.

St. Nicholas, Manston

Civil Registration

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

Manston was in Sturminster Registration District from 1837 to 1974

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Manston from the following:

• 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 Manston 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.