West Chelborough, Dorset
Historical Description
Chelborough, West, a parish in Beaminster, Dorsetshire, 31 miles WNW of Evershot station on the G.W.R., and 5¼ NE of Beaminster. Post town, Evershot. Acreage, 587; population, 57. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury, amalgamated with East Chelborough; gross value, £102 with residence.
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 | Tollerford | |
Poor Law union | Beaminster | 1836 - |
Registration district | Beaminster | |
Registration sub-district | Evershot |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1666. 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 West Chelborough, 1673-1812 is online.
Churches
Church of England
St. Andrew (parish church)
The parish church of St. Andrew is a building of stone in the Gothic style, consisting of chancel and nave, and embattled tower, with pinnacles, on the south side, containing 2 bells: the font is Norman: the church was rebuilt about 1640, and restored in 1894 by the patron: there are 50 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
West Chelborough 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 West Chelborough from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Chelborough, West)
- Kelly's Directory of Dorset, 1889
- 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 West Chelborough 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.