Rampisham, Dorset
Historical Description
Rampisham (popularly Ransom), a parish in Dorsetshire, on the river Frome, 2¼ miles WSW of Evershot station on the G.W.R., and 5½ E by N of Beaminster. It has a post office under Dorchester; money order and telegraph office, Evershot. Acreage, 2095; population of the civil parish, 251; of the ecclesiastical, 313. A Roman pavement, 14 feet by 10, was found in 1799. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Wraxall, in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £300 with residence. Patron, St John's College, Cambridge. The church has been rebuilt and is a stone building in the Perpendicular style. The churchyard contains a curious cross, with sculptures which have occasioned much discussion, but are now nearly effaced. The church at Wrasall, which has been carefully restored, is a specimen of the transition from Norman to Early English.
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 | Rampisham St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Tollerford | |
| Poor Law union | Beaminster | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Beaminster | |
| Registration sub-district | Evershot |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1574. 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 Rampisham, 1574-1741 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. Michael and All Angels (parish church)
The parish church of St. Michael and All Angels, rebuilt in 1846 and 1856, is an edifice of stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, north porch, and an embattled tower on the south side, with pinnacles, containing 5 bells: the east window is stained, and there are memorial windows to members of the Rooke family, and two erected by the late A. Martin esq. in memory of his eldest son and a daughter: in 1906 the large west window was filled with glass as a memorial to Arthur Martin esq. and Mrs. Martin: there are also some brasses; the church affords 200 sittings: in the churchyard are the remains of an ancient cross.
Civil Registration
Rampisham was in Beaminster Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Bridport Registration District from 1937 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Rampisham from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Rampisham (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 Rampisham 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.