Radipole (St. Mary)

RADIPOLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Weymouth, hundred of Culliford-Tree, Dorchester division of Dorset, 2 miles (N. N. W.) from Weymouth; containing 487 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the river Wey, near its influx into the sea; and comprises by measurement 1245 acres, of which the portions of arable and pasture are nearly equal. Prior to the dissolution of monasteries, the manor belonged to the convent of Cerne-Abbas. The living was formerly a separate discharged rectory, valued in the king's books at £11. 5. 5., but the church at Melcombe-Regis was made parochial in the 1st of James I., and the living of this parish was then annexed to it: the tithes have been commuted for £280, and the glebe comprises 3½ acres. The church was rebuilt in 1817, and is a large and handsome edifice. A mineral spring was discovered in 1830. Several skeletons, numerous pieces of pottery, and other relics of antiquity, were found in the parish in 1844.