Stoke Abbas or Stoke Abbot, Dorset
Historical Description
Stoke Abbas or Stoke Abbot, a parish, with a village, in Dorsetshire, 5 miles N of Bridport station on the G.W.R., and 6 from Crewkerne station on the L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Beaminster; money order and telegraph office, Broadwindsor. Acreage, 2327; population, 499. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £320 with residence. Patron, New College, Oxford. The church is a building of stone in the Early English style, and contains an ancient Norman font. There is a Congregational chapel. The Beaminster Union House is situated in this parish.
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 | Stoke-Abbas St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Beaminster Forum and Redborne | |
| Poor Law union | Beaminster | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Beaminster | |
| Registration sub-district | Netherbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The Phillimore transcript of Marriages at Stoke Abbot, 1560-1837 is online
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin, originally Norman, is a building of stone, consisting of an Early English chancel, nave of three bays, north aisle, south porch and a western tower containing 5 bells with chimes: the church was partly restored in 1913, when the bells were rehung, The font is of Norman date, with carvings in good preservation, and there is a small Norman window on the north side: a stained window was erected in the chancel by Mrs. Symes, of Charmouth, in memory of her husband, and there is another to William Udal esq, and Mary Anne, his wife: on December 8, 1828, the church was struck by lightning, but was restored in 1878, and now has sittings for 210 persons.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Stoke Abbott 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 Stoke Abbas or Stoke Abbot from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Stoke-Abbas (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 Stoke Abbas or Stoke Abbot 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.