Sixpenny Handley, Dorset
Historical Description
Handley or Sixpenny Handley, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands near the boundary with Wiltshire, 5 miles NW of Cranborne, and 8 from Verwood station on the L. & S.W.R. It was once a market-town, and has a post and money order office under Salisbury; telegraph office, Salisbury. The parish includes also the villages of Newton and Deanlane, and contains the tithings of Gussage, Minchington, and Woodcutts. Acreage, 6014; population, 869. The manor belongs to Lord Rivers. The living is a vicarage, united with the chapelry of Gussage St Andrew, in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £265 with residence. Patrons, the Dean and Chapter of Windsor. The church is ancient, was well restored in 1879, and has an embattled tower. 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 - |
| Hundred | Sixpenny Handley | |
| Poor Law union | Cranborne | 1835 - 1836 |
| Poor Law union | Wimborne and Cranborne | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Wimborne | |
| Registration sub-district | Cranborne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1736. 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, restored and enlarged in 1879 at a cost of £3,000, is an ancient Gothic edifice of stone and flint, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles and north transept, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing 3 bells : within the communion rails is a tomb to John Alye esq. d. Dec. 1579, and his wife, Dorothy. d. May 1577, beside, other members of the family; a stained window was erected in 1901 by Mrs. Cartwright as a memorial to the late Mrs. Parke, of Henbury, Dorset, and in 1914 a brass was erected to the memory of Mr. James Isaac, the last to hold the position of parish clerk, that position having been held by his family continuously for 138 years: there are 396 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Handley 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 Sixpenny Handley from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Handley (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 Sixpenny Handley 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
DeanlaneGussage St Andrew
Minchington
Newton (Handley)
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.