Piddletrenthide, Dorset
Historical Description
Piddletrenthide, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands on the river Piddle, near its head, 8 miles N of Dorchester station on the G.W.R., and has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Dorchester. The parish comprises 4497 acres; population, 673. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. There are several barrows, and the neighbouring hills command some very extensive views. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £95 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Winchester. The church is ancient, the tower being one of the finest in the country, and dating from the 12th century. There are Wesleyan and Baptist chapels.
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 | Piddletrenthide All Saints | |
| Liberty | Piddletrenthide | |
| Poor Law union | Cerne | 1835 - |
| Registration district | Dorchester | |
| Registration sub-district | Cerne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1650. 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
All Saints (parish church)
The parish church of All Saints, situate at the extreme north end of the parish, is an ancient edifice of stone, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, and consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch, and a lofty embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 5 bells: there are several memorial windows to the Bridge, Barkworth, and Collier families, and a stone monument to John Bridge esq. of the city of London, who died in the year 1834: the church was restored in 1853, and has 350 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Piddletrenthide was in Cerne Registration District from 1837 to 1838, Dorchester Registration District from 1838 to 1937, and Weymouth Registration District from 1949 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Piddletrenthide from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Piddletrenthide (All Saints))
- 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 Piddletrenthide 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.