Shapwick, Dorset
Historical Description
Shapwick, a parish, with a village, in Dorsetshire, on the river Stour, 3 miles from Bailey Gate station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, and 4¼ SSE of Blandford. It has a post office under Blandford; money order and telegraph office, Spettisbury. Acreage, 2683; population of the civil parish, 355; of the ecclesiastical, 402. A Carthusian Priory, a cell to Sheen in Surrey, was founded here in 1414. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £270 with residence. The church is ancient but good, and was restored in 1879-80. There is a Primitive Methodist 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 - |
| Hundred | Badbury | |
| Poor Law union | Wimborne | 1835 - 1836 |
| Poor Law union | Wimborne and Cranborne | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Wimborne | |
| Registration sub-district | Wimborne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Census Records
We have transcribed the 1901 census for Shapwick
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1559. 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. Bartholomew (parish church)
The parish church of St. Bartholemew is an ancient edifice of stone in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, aisle, north and south porches, and a low western tower, containing 4 bells: it was thoroughly restored in 1879-80 at a cost of £1,300, under the direction of Mr. Frederick Keith Rogers, architect, and affords 200 sittings.
Civil Registration
Shapwick was in Wimborne Registration District from 1837 to 1937, Blandford Registration District from 1937 to 1956, and Poole Registration District from 1956 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Shapwick from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Shapwick 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.