Dorset OPC

Chaldon Herring


alias East Chaldon

Dorset OPC


St Nicholas Church, Chaldon Herring
Courtesy Jim Parsons

Known through time as Celvedune, Calvedone (1086 - Domesday Book), Chalvedon (1224), Chaluedon Hareng (1243) and Chaldon Hearynge (1574), the name of this tranquil village is derived from the Old English cealf and dun, meaning 'hill where calves are pastured', with a manorial addition from the Norman family of Harang, established here from the 12th century, and whose coat of arms included three herrings. Set amid chalk hills, it is bounded by the parishes of Owermoigne to the west and north, Winfrith Newburgh to the north-east and West Lulworth to the east. The parish was united with West Chaldon or Chaldon Boys (named for the 13th century de Bosco family) in 1446. Bronze Age barrows, known as the Five Marys, as well as the evocatively named Fossil Farm in the north of the parish, hint at the ancient past of the parish.

The parish church is dedicated to St. Nicholas, patron saint of mariners. Dating from the 15th century, but incorporating elements from an earlier church, including a Saxon font, the Victorians extensively remodelled it. Standing sideways on to the church at the beginning of the path that leads up to it is the Victorian schoolhouse, complete with school bell, which now serves as the Village Hall.

Close by is the Manor House, now Grange Farm, rebuilt by Richard Gostelowe in 1728 and purchased by the Weld family in 1790, who retained it for almost 200 years. Previously, it had been held by Bindon Abbey, and was acquired by the Poynings family of East Lulworth after the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII.

Given the topography of the parish and its proximity to the notorious smuggling villages of Osmington Mills and West Lulworth, it is not surprising that Chaldon Herring is famed for its smugglers, including the Stickland, Squibb and Snelling families, members of whom regularly feature in the registers of the County Gaol. The village pub, "The Sailors Return" - no doubt a centre of smuggling activities in former times - was originally a pair of thatched cottages built in the old Dorset fashion using stone and rubble, and includes a pre-reformation altar stone amongst its flagstones. The pub takes its name from a story of three brothers who left to join the Royal Navy, one of whom found his wife in the company of another man upon his return. It was the setting for the book of the same name, published in 1926, whose author David Garnett used to stay at The Sailors Return when visiting Chaldon Herring. Other literary and artistic residents have included Theodore F. Powys (for whom Chaldon Herring became "Folly Down" in the novel "Mr Weston's Good Wine"), Sylvia Townsend Warner, the poet Valentine Ackland and the sculptress Elizabeth Munz.


Interior View of St Nicholas Church
Courtesy Jim Parsons

The new Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Chaldon Herring is Ivan Gould
Please place the words 'OPC Chaldon Herring' as your subject for e-mails (click on Ivan's name above to generate a pre-addressed email)


Census 1841 Census [Keith Searson]
1851 Census [Ivan Gould]
1861 Census [Royston Clarke]
1871 Census [Dorinda Miles]
1881 Census [Jim Riglar]
1891 Census [Jim Riglar]
1901 Census [Jim Riglar]
1911 Census [Jim Riglar]
Parish Registers Baptisms 1621-1730 1731-1880 [PR] [Kim Parker]
1880-1895 [PR] [Ivan Gould]
Marriages 1621-1734 1735-1860 [PR] [Kim Parker]
1860-1920 [PR] [Jim Riglar]
Burials 1621-1880 [PR] [Kim Parker]
1880-1993 [PR] [Ivan Gould]
Postal Directories  
Photographs  
Monumental Inscriptions St Nicholas Monumental Inscriptions index [Jan Hibberd]
Maps The 1891 Ordnance Survey maps of the parish can be seen at the old-maps site, just enter 'Chaldon Herring' under place search.

View Larger Map
   
Records held at the Dorset History Centre
[Ref PE-CHH]
Registers
Christenings 1621-2011. Marriages 1621-1658, 1668-1776, 1782-2011. Burials 1621-1993. Banns 1754-1812.
Registration District
(for the purpose of civil registration births, marriages & deaths)
1 Jul 1837-31 Mar 1937: Wareham
1 Apr 1937-31 Mar 1997: Poole
1 Apr 1997-30 Sep 2001: South Dorset
1 Oct 2001-17 Oct 2005: South & West Dorset

 

 

 


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