Marnhull, Dorset
Historical Description
Marnhull, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands 1 mile E of the river Stour, 1½ SE of the boundary with Somerset, and 3 miles N of Sturminster Newton station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint railway. It is large and irregularly built, and has a post, money order, and telegraph office tinder Blandford. The parish contains also the hamlets of Moorside, Hayes, Lambress, and Thorley. Acreage, 8838; population, 1415. Nash Court is the chief residence; it was the birthplace of Giles Hussey, the ingenious painter who drew by the musical scale; and contains some choice paintings of the old masters. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £530 with residence. The church is large and good, and has a tower; it was rebuilt in 1882. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, and Methodist chapels, and a Roman Catholic church. Brewing and malting are carried on.
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 | Marnhull St. Gregory | |
Hundred | Sturminster Newton Castle | |
Poor Law union | Sturminster | 1835 - |
Registration district | Sturminster | |
Registration sub-district | Stalbridge |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Census Records
We have transcribed the 1841 and 1901 census returns for Marnhull
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1559. 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 Marnhull from 1837-1921.
Churches
Church of England
dedication unknown
St. Gregory, New Street (parish church)
The parish church of St. Gregory is a building of stone, chiefly in the Early English style, and consists of chancel, nave of four bays, south porch, and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells, two of which were recast and the whole rehung, and a clock was placed in the tower in 1887: a memorial window has been erected by the Misses Senior to their parents: the stained east window, by Burne-Jones, was given by his late widow in memory of the late R.B. Kennard esq. J.P.; the old east window, now removed to another place in the church, was the gift of the Rev. R.B. Kennard, rector 1858-95, who also inserted two windows in the chancel, one to his first wife, d. 1878, and the other to his second wife, d. 1897; there is also a window given by Mr. John Hunt as a memorial to his wife, who died 13 Feb. 1894: the chancel was rebuilt in 1882, and in 1898 part of the church was restored, revealing several features of interest hitherto covered up: an organ chamber was built and a new organ provided in 1900: there are 650 sittings. The churchyard was enlarged in 1902, the additional land being the gift of Lord Stalbridge.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Marnhull was in Sturminster Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Marnhull from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Marnhull (St. Gregory))
- 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 Marnhull 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
Burton (Marnhull)Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.