Batcombe

Batcombe is a parish and small straggling village 12 miles north west of Dorchester. The name Batcombe derives from the Old English Bata, a man's name, and cumb, meaning valley. The church of St Mary Magdalene is on an ancient site, with a Saxon inscription and early Norman font; there has probably been a church here from the 11th century.

Above the village rises Batcombe Down and, further east, Gore Hill, near the top of which is a small stone pillar known as the Cross-in-Hand (or Cross and Hand). The pillar, a Grade II listed structure and a Scheduled Ancient Monument, is a little over 1 metre in height and may date from before the Norman Conquest. Thomas Hardy used the pillar in his novel Tess of the D'Urbervilles, in a scene in which Alec d'Urberville instructs Tess to "put your hand upon that stone hand, and swear that you will never tempt me by your charms or ways." The pillar also features in Hardy's poem "The Lost Pyx".

The register only dates from 1813, it is presumed earlier registers have been lost. The Minterne family were for a long time the Lords of the Manor  and Newlands Farm was the Manor House between the 16th and 18th centuries. The parish covers 1109 acres and population has always been low, 227 in 1851, 123 in 1891 and 54 adults in 2002

The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Batcombe is Mari Viertel

Donations of transcriptions are always welcome. If you wish to contact me please use the above link.
Please place the words 'OPC Batcombe' as your subject for e-mails.
I do not live in or near Batcombe