Sturminster Marshall, Dorset
Historical Description
Sturminster Marshall, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands on the river Stour, near Bailey Gate station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, 4 miles W of Wimborne Minster, was once a market-town, and has a post and money order office under Wimborne; telegraph office, Bailey Gate railway station, and an eight-arched bridge. The parish contains Coombe Almer tithing, and comprises 3995 acres; population, 806. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £156 with residence. Patron, Eton College. The church is an ancient structure of stone.
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 | Sturminster-Marshall St. Mary | |
| Hundred | Cogdean | |
| 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.
Church Records
The register dates from the year 1563 and has been printed. 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 is an ancient edifice of stone, partly Norman, and consisting of chancel, nave of six bays, north aisle, south porch, and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells, which were rehung in 1911 in a new steel frame at the expense of C. E. Parke esq.; two new bells were given by the late Mrs. S. T. Courtney and the late R. Courtney esq.: a new organ was provided in 1907, at a cost of about £450: the church was restored in 1860, and affords 468 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Sturminster Marshall 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 Sturminster Marshall from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Sturminster-Marshall (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 Sturminster Marshall 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
CogdeanCoombe Almer
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.