Shipton Gorge, Dorset
Historical Description
Shipton George or Gorge, a parish, with a village, in Dorsetshire, 2 miles E by S of Bridport station on the G.W.R. Post town, Bridport. Acreage, 1464; population, 318. There is a parish council of seven members and a chairman. The manor belongs to the Earl of Ilchester. Shipton Beacon is a hill crowned with an irregular ancient camp supposed to be Saxon. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to Burton Bradstock. The church, excepting the tower, was rebuilt in 1862.
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 | Godderthorne | |
| 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 1675. 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 Burton Bradstock with Shipton Gorge, 1614-1812 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. Martin (parish church)
The church of St. Martin, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt in 1862, in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave, north aisle, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 4 bells: there are 220 sittings.
Civil Registration
Shipton Gorge was in Bridport Registration District from 1837 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Shipton Gorge from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Shipton Gorge 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.