Puncknowle, Dorset
Historical Description
Puncknowle or Pucknoll, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands 1½ mile from the coast, 3¼ miles from Abbotsbury station on the G.W.R., and 5¼ SE by E of Bridport, and has a post office under Dorchester; money order and telegraph office, Abbotsbury. The parish extends to the coast, and comprises 1974 acres; population, 427. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £165 with residence. The church is good, and has a tower and spire. A N aisle was added in 1891. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
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 | Puncknowle St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Uggescombe | |
| Poor Law union | Bridport | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Bridport | |
| Registration sub-district | Burton Bradstock |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1630. 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 (parish church)
The parish church of St. Mary is a small edifice of stone, in the Norman and Early English styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and a low tower with a dwarf conical spire containing 3 bells: the font is a double one, probably Norman, the lower half having been saved from Bexington church, which was burnt by the French during the 16th century: over the tower arch towards the nave is the date 1678, and the initials "R. M. N.": on the north wall is a mural monument of freestone, with two columns supporting a pediment bearing the arms of Napper; this monument was erected by Sir Robert Napper, knight and baronet, in memory of his father, Robert Napper or Napier, d. 1686, his mother Anna (Corrance), and his mother-in-law, Katherine (Evelyn), d. 1691: the helmet and gauntlets of a knight of the Napper family stiull hang in the church over the south door: in 1891 the north aisle was added, and there are now 150 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Puncknowle was in Bridport Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Puncknowle from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Puncknowle (St. Mary))
- 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 Puncknowle 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.