Preston, Dorset
Historical Description
Preston, a parish in Dorsetshire, on Weymouth Bay, 3½ miles NE of Weymouth station on the G.W.R. It includes the tithing of Sutton Poyntz, and has a post office under Weymouth; money order and telegraph office, Weymouth. Acreage, 2625; population, 678. There is a coastguard station. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £200 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church is old, has been restored, and has a tower. There is a Wesleyan chapel. In a meadow in this parish the remains of a Roman villa were discovered in 1842.
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 - |
| Liberty | Sutton Poyntz | |
| 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 1693. 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).
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Preston cum Sutton Poyntz, 1695-1837 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. Andrew (parish church)
The parish church of St. Andrew is an edifice of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, south aisle, north porch, and an embattled western tower containing 4 bells: there is an ancient font: the church was restored and two stained windows inserted: there are 300 sittings: in 1907 the churchyard was extended by half an acre, and a lych gate was erected in 1911.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Preston was in Weymouth Registration District from 1837 to 1933
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Preston from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Preston 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
Sutton PoyntzVisitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.