Woodlands, Dorset
Historical Description
Woodlands, a parish in Dorsetshire, 2 miles from Verwood station on the L. & S.W.R. Post town, Cranborne, under Salisbury. Acreage, 2594; population, 416. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The property belongs to the Earl of Shaftesbury. The Duke of Monmouth, after the battle of Sedgemoor, was taken here in a ditch, and a tree is still standing near the place, called Monmouth Ash. There is a church, built in 1892, also a Wesleyan chapel.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Dorsetshire | |
| Civil parish | Horton | |
| Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
| Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
| Hundred | Knowlton | |
| Poor Law union | Cranborne | 1835 - 1836 |
| Poor Law union | Wimborne and Cranborne | 1836 - |
| Registration district | Wimborne | |
| Registration sub-district | Cranborne |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The register of baptisms and burials dates from the year 1892. 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
The Ascension (parish church)
The parish church of the Ascension, built in 1892, by Harriet, 8th Countess of Shaftesbury (d. 1898), from the designs of Mr. G. F. Bodley A.R.A. architect, is an edifice of red brick, with stone dressings, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, north porch and an eastern turret containing one bell: under the will of the late Countess of Shaftesbury, two stained glass windows and a carved oak screen and rood, from designs of Mr. G. F. Bodley A.R.A. and executed by Franklin & Co. of Doddington, were added in 1901: the bowl of the font originally belonged to the now destroyed church of Knowlton, and is of ancient date: a new organ was installed in 1906, and carved oak choir stalls in 1911. There are 110 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Woodlands 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 Woodlands from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Woodlands)
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Woodlands 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.