Chettle

DistrictShire countyRegionCountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBLANDFORD FORUMPostcode districtDT11Dialling code01258PoliceDorsetFireDorset and WiltshireAmbulanceSouth Western UK Parliament 50°55′13″N 2°04′09″W / 50.9203°N 2.0692°W / 50.9203; -2.0692

Chettle is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies 6 miles (10 kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum.^[2] It is sited at the head of a gently sloping valley on the dip slope of the chalk formation called Cranborne Chase. The A354 trunk road crosses the valley about 1 km to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.^[1]

A 2008 report indicated that the entire village was owned by the Bourke family and operated in the mode of "benevolent feudalism". A news item from 2015 confirmed the ownership and provided the following update about the community:^[3]

The tiny hamlet, with its hotel, manor house, 40 cottages, farms and lumber yard has belonged to the Bourke family for more than 400 years, in a benign throwback to feudal times.

Chettle House, the village manor, is a red brick Baroque mansion designed by Thomas Archer, a pupil of Vanbrugh, and built by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum during the reign of Queen Anne.^[4][5] Pevsner called it "the plum among Dorset houses of the early 18th century, and even nationally outstanding as a specimen of English Baroque".^[6][7] Two rounded ends were added to the house in 1912.^[4]

From the 1950s to 2015 the house was a series of flats. After 2015, extensive renovations were completed by new owners; the house and gardens were closed to the public.^[8][9]

A book about Chettle, "Enduring Village", was published in August, 2008.^[10]

Notes

External links

Media related to Chettle at Wikimedia Commons