Whitcombe, Dorset
Historical Description
Whitcombe, a parish in Dorsetshire, 3 miles SE of Dorchester station on the G.W.R. Post town, Dorchester. Acreage, 745; population, 41. The Earl of Portarlington is lord of the manor. The living is a donative in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £13. The church is small and ancient.
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 | Culliford Tree | |
| Poor Law union | Dorchester | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Dorchester | |
| Registration sub-district | Dorchester |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1596. 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
not dedicated (parish church)
The church (not dedicated) is a small but ancient building of stone, in mixed styles, consisting of chancel, nave, south porch and an embattled western tower containing 2 bells: restorations were carried out in 1912, during the course of which the rood loft stairs were discovered, and the removal of plaster from the north wall disclosed some fresco. There are 60 sittings. The burial ground contains several ancient tombs, including one dated 1625. The church is mentioned in Doomsday Book, and the font is of the 12th century.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Whitcombe was in Dorchester Registration District from 1837 to 1949 and Weymouth Registration District from 1949 to 1974
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Whitcombe from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Whitcombe)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Whitcombe 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.