Donhead St Mary, Wiltshire
Historical Description
Donhead St Mary, a village and a parish in Wilts. The village stands on the river Nadder, half a mile NE of Don-head St Andrew village, and 2- miles SE of Semley station on the L. & S.W.R. The parish includes also the tithings of Charlton, Dognol, and Haystonc. Post town, Salisbury; money order and telegraph office, Donhead St Andrew. Acreage, 5227; population of the civil parish, 1207; of the ecclesiastical, 1232. The living is a rectory, united with the perpetual curacy of Charlton, in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £535 with residence. Patron, New College, Oxford. The church is old but good, and has a pinnacled tower; it was thoroughly restored in 1885. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Wiltshire | |
Ecclesiastical parish | Donhead St. Mary | |
Hundred | Dunworth | |
Poor Law union | Tisbury |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1678.
Findmypast, in association with the Wiltshire Record Office, have the following parish records online for Donhead St Mary:
Baptisms | Banns | Marriages | Burials |
---|---|---|---|
1622-1880 | 1622-1845 | 1622-1880 |
Churches
Church of England
St. Mary the Virgin (parish church)
The church of St. Mary the Virgin, standing on an eminence called Church Hill, was originally a rude Norman structure, consisting of small chancel and nave: of this, only part of the walls and font remain: towards the beginning of the 13th century the church was enlarged and modified, arches being cut through the Norman walls, apparently at two different periods, a clerestory added as well as aisles, and a large chancel added: about a century later a stone porch was built at the south entrance: in the year 1400 the present western embattled tower was erected and ornamented with pinnacles, and now contains 6 bells: a few years later the north and south chancel aisles were added: the church was again thoroughly restored in the year 1885 at a cost of £2,500, of which sum £1,000 was left by the late rector, the Rev. B. W. Blackmore, the remainder being raised by voluntary contributions: there are four stained windows to the memory of the Rev. R. W . Blackmore and his parents and the late Mrs. Dunston: the church will seat 250 persons.
Congregational
Congregational Chapel, Bird Bush
The Congregational chapel at Bird Bush, founded in 1650, has sittings for 350 persons.
Methodist
Primitive Methodist Chapel, Ludwell
Wesleyan Chapel
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Directories & Gazetteers
We have transcribed the entry for Donhead St Mary from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Donhead (St. Mary))
Maps
Online maps of Donhead St Mary 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 following Wiltshire papers online: