Osmington, Dorset
Historical Description
Osmington, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands in a wooded valley among lofty hills, three-quarters of a mile N of the coast, and 4 miles NE of Weymouth station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. It dates. from ancient times, and was named after St Osmund, is now a small but pretty place, and has a post office under Weymouth; money order and telegraph office, Weymouth. The parish contains also the hamlets of Osmington Mills, Ringstead, and Upton, and comprises 2209 acres; population, 292. The manor belonged to King Athelstane, and was given by him to Milton Abbey. Osmington House is the chief residence. A peculiar kind of excellent building stone is worked. A figure of George III. on horseback is cut on the steep slope of a chalk hill, occupies nearly an acre, and serves as a landmark to ships at sea. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £150 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church was rebuilt and enlarged in 1846, retains the tower of the previous church, and contains a very ancient monument of the Warhams.
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 | Osmington St. Osmond | |
| Hundred | Culliford Tree | |
| Poor Law union | Weymouth | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Weymouth | |
| Registration sub-district | Upway |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1678. 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. Osmund (parish church)
The parish church of St. Osmund is a building of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and an embattled western tower with turret and pinnacles containing a clock and 4 bells: in the chancel is an ancient monument, with the arms of Warham and an inscription rudely cut upon it: there is a stained window, placed by E. A. Wood esq. to his first wife, and one erected by the parishioners in 1879, to his second wife: the church was rebuilt, with the exception of the tower, in 1846, and the south aisle added: the church affords 220 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Osmington was in Weymouth Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Osmington from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Osmington (St. Osmond))
- 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 Osmington 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
Osmington MillsRingstead
Upton
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.