Witchampton

Human settlement in England

Witchampton

District

East Dorset

Dorset

Region

South West

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townWIMBORNEPostcode districtBH21Dialling code01258PoliceDorsetFire Dorset and Wiltshire Ambulance South Western UK Parliament

North Dorset

List of places: UK; England; Dorset

50°51′25″N 2°01′05″W / 50.857°N 2.018°W / 50.857; -2.018

Witchampton is a village and civil parish in East Dorset, England, situated on the River Allen 5 miles (8 km) north of Wimborne Minster. The 2011 census recorded a population of 398.^[1]

Witchampton lies close to where the dip slope of the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase is overlain by newer deposits of London Clay. Although Witchampton is sited within the area of the chalk, where cob and thatch are the traditional building materials, the nearness of the clay has resulted in many of the older houses in the village being built from brick.^[2] The early 16th-century Abbey House contains some of the earliest brickwork in the county.^[3]

To the northeast of the village there used to be a paper mill by the river. In 1980 it was described by writer Roland Gant as a "discreet industrial oasis in an agricultural plain".^[4] It had been in operation since the early 18th century, but has now been converted to residential accommodation.^[3]

11th-century whalebone chess pieces have been found within the parish, and are some of the best surviving early English chess pieces.^[5]

References

^ "Neighbourhood Statistics. Area: Witchampton (Parish)". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 6 June 2013.
^ Ralph Wightman (1983). Portrait of Dorset (4 ed.). Robert Hale Ltd. pp. 63–64. ISBN 0 7090 0844 9.
^ ^a ^b Clive Hannay (September 2012). "Witchampton: Short walk with Clive Hannay". Dorset Life. Retrieved 24 May 2013.
^ Roland Gant (1980). Dorset Villages. Robert Hale Ltd. pp. 34–5. ISBN 0 7091 8135 3.
^ Chessays - When There is no End to a Good Game