North Wootton, Dorset
Historical Description
Wootton, North, a parish in Dorsetshire, 1½ mile SSE of Sherborne station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town, Sherborne. Acreage, 668; population, 77. The manor belongs to the Digby family. The living is a perpetual curacy in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £54;. The church is a small building of stone in the Perpendicular style, and was entirely rebuilt in 1883 at the expense of the Digby family.
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 - |
| Hundred | Sherborne | |
| Poor Law union | Sherborne | 1835 - |
| Registration district | Sherborne | |
| Registration sub-district | Yetminster |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1560. 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 Magdalene (parish church)
The church, formerly a chapel of ease to Sherborne, was entirely rebuilt in 1883 at a cost of about £1,000, defrayed by the late G. D. Wingfield-Digby esq, and is a building of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and a bell-cote over the vestry containing one bell: there are two memorial tablets in the church, one to those connected with the parish who fell in the Great War, 1914-18, and the other to those who served: there are 100 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
North Wootton was in Sherborne Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Sturminster Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for North Wootton from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wootton, North)
- 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 North Wootton 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.