Portisham (St. Peter)

PORTISHAM (St. Peter), a parish, in the union of Weymouth, hundred of Uggscombe, Dorchester division of Dorset, 7¾ miles (S. W. by W.) from Dorchester; containing 746 inhabitants, and comprising about 1500 acres. Stone is quarried for farm-buildings. The living is a vicarage, valued in the king's books at £8. 14. 2.; net income, £74; patron, William Mansfield, Esq. There are nearly 5 acres of glebe, and a new vicarage-house has just been erected. The church is a large ancient structure, with a lofty embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. Here is the largest cromlech in the county, consisting of a flat stone ten feet by six, which rests horizontally on nine upright ones; it stands on a tumulus, having on the north-west an avenue leading to it, and to the east is a small barrow.