Wootton-Glanville (St. Mary)

WOOTTON-GLANVILLE (St. Mary), a parish, in the union of Cerne, hundred of Buckland-Newton, Sherborne division of Dorset, 7½ miles (S. S. E.) from Sherborne; containing, with the tything of Wootton-Newland, 342 inhabitants. This parish comprises 1665a. 2r. 26p., whereof about 153 acres are arable, 258 waste (of which more than half is being brought into cultivation), 76 woodland, and the remainder meadow and pasture. The soil is generally a deep clay, interspersed occasionally with chalk, and gravel; and sandstone, in which fossils are imbedded, is found. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £12, and in the gift of the Rev. J. Wickens: the tithes have been commuted for £315, and the glebe comprises 22 acres. The church is principally in the decorated style, with a low embattled tower of later date: it was repaired and newly-pewed in 1741, and contains an altar-tomb with a recumbent figure; also several monuments and inscriptions, and some fragments of ancient stained glass. John Churchill, grandfather of the great Duke of Marlborough, resided in the parish.