Wraxall, Dorset
Historical Description
Wraxall, a parish in Dorsetshire, 2½ miles NW of Maiden Newton station on the G.W.R. Post town, Maiden Newton, under Dorchester. Acreage, 968; population, 62. The living is a rectory, annexed to Rampisham, The church is a small edifice of stone in the Norman style.
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 | Wraxall St. Mary | |
Hundred | Eggerton | |
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 1650. 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 Wraxall, 1710-1812 is online.
Churches
Church of England
The Holy Trinity (parish church)
The parish church of the Holy Trinity is a small edifice of stone in the Transition Norman style, consisting of chancel and nave, south porch and a western turret containing one bell; there are 50 sittings.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Wraxall 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 Wraxall from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Wraxall (St. Mary))
- Kelly's Directory of Dorset, 1889
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Wraxall 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.