Fontmell Magna

including Bedchester & Hartgrove

Fontmell Magna is a village and a parish 4 miles south from Shaftesbury and 8 miles north from Blandford. It is on the edge of the Vale of Blackmore with the slopes of Cranborne Chase on the east side of the parish. A chalk stream rising in the hills flows through the village. The village is mentioned in Saxon chronicles and in the Domesday Book.

To the west of the main village, the hamlet of Bedchester is of pre-Conquest origin, though the settlement furthest west in the parish, Hartgrove, wasn't recorded before 1254. Hill Farm, over the chalk hills in the east of the parish, first appears in records in 1333.

The church of St Andrew is on a rise above the village and contains many interesting features, it was restored in 1862 by the Glyn family. The registers date from 1653. A Wesleyan Chapel, which is still in use is believed to be one of the earliest erected in Dorset, being constructed in 1797. It is opposite the War Memorial. A National School was constructed in 1865. The parish covers 2632 acres and the chief crops used to be wheat, barley, oats, beans and carrots as well as a considerable number of apple orchards. The population in 1861 was 875, in 1891 was 637 and is currently about 700.

All photographs © Dorset OPC 2021

The post of Online Parish Clerk (OPC) is currently vacant
If you would like to volunteer for the role, please contact the OPC Project Co-ordinator
Contributions of additional resource materials for the site are always welcome