Margaret Marsh, Dorset
Historical Description
Margaret Marsh, a parish in Dorsetshire, 4 miles NE of Sturminster Newton station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, and 4 SW of Shaftesbury. Post town and money order and telegraph office, Shaftesbury. Acreage, 552; population of the civil parish, 60; of the ecclesiastical, 226. The living is a vicarage, annexed to the vicarage of East Orchard, in the diocese of Salisbury; joint net value, £210. Patron, the Vicar of Iwerne Minster. The church is a small building, and was rebuilt in 1873.
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 | Margaret-Marsh St. Margaret | |
| Hundred | Sturminster Newton Castle | |
| Poor Law union | Shaftesbury | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Shaftesbury | 1837 - 1937 |
| Registration district | Sturminster | 1937 - 1974 |
| Registration sub-district | Fontmell |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1563. 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. Margaret (parish church)
The parish church of St. Margaret, rebuilt (with the exception of the tower) in 1873, at a cost of £800, is an edifice in the Early Decorated style, and consists of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower, containing 4 bells: there are sittings for 80 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Margaret Marsh was in Shaftesbury Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Sturminster Registration District from 1937 to 1974
For births, marriages, and deaths in Margaret Marsh from 1837 to 1937 you should search for the Shaftesbury Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in Margaret Marsh from 1937 to 1974 you should search for the Sturminster Registration District.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Margaret Marsh from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Margaret-Marsh (St. Margaret))
- 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 Margaret Marsh 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.