West Stour, Dorset
(West Stower)
Historical Description
Stower, West, a parish in Dorsetshire, 3½ miles SW of Gillingham station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town, Gillingham. Acreage, 1040; population, 165. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to Gillingham. The church is good. There are Baptist and Primitive Methodist chapels.
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 | Redlane | |
Poor Law union | Shaftesbury | 1836 - |
Registration district | Shaftesbury | 1837 - 1937 |
Registration district | Sturminster | 1937 - 1974 |
Registration sub-district | Gillingham |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1654. 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 a building of stone, consisting of Decorated chancel, modern nave, south porch, and an embattled western tower of Perpendicular date, containing 3 bells.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
West Stour was in Shaftesbury Registration District from 1837 to 1937 and Sturminster Registration District from 1937 to 1974
For births, marriages, and deaths in West Stour from 1837 to 1937 you should search for the Shaftesbury Registration District.
For births, marriages, and deaths in West Stour from 1937 to 1974 you should search for the Sturminster Registration District.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for West Stour from the following:
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of West Stour 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.