Directories
Transcribed by Carrie Meerten
1889 1895 1915 1920
Descriptions of Pilsdon – taken from various years in the Kelly’s Directories.
1889 Kelly’s Directory
PILSDON (or Pillesdon) is a parish, 7 mile south-west from Crewkerne, 5 west from Beaminster, 7 miles north from Bridport station on the Great Western railway and 7 from Chard Road station on the London and South Western railway, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Whitchurch, Bridport petty sessional division and county court district, Beaminster union, rural deanery of Bridport Lyme portion, archdeaconry of Dorset and diocese of Salisbury. In this parish there are several feeders of the river Char. The church of St Mary, a building of stone in the Early English style, was almost entirely rebuilt in 1830, and in 1865 a western bell turret containing one bell was erected; it consists of chance, nave and south porch : it was restored in 1875 by Mrs Syndercombe Bower and her son, H Syndercombe Bower esq. in memory of the Rev. Gregory Raymond, late rector of Symondsbury : there is a very ancient piscina, and the original holy water stoop still remains in the porch : there are 80 sittings. The register dates from the year 1760. The living is a rectory, yearly value £76, with 20 acres of glebe, in the gift of H Syndercombe Bower esq. and held since 1870 by the Rev. Frederick Williams m.a. of Jesus College, Oxford, who is also rector of and resides at Bettiscombe. Pilsdon Pen is an old Roman encampment and landmark. The ancient manor house, the residence of the Wyndham family in the time of Charles I is now occupied as a farm house. H Syndercombe Bower Esq. of Fontmell, Child Okeford, is lord of the manor and sole landowner. The soil varies, sandy and strong. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, turnips and hay. The area is 627 acres; rateable value, £589; the population in 1881 was 92.
Parish Clerk, George Mabey.
Letter Box, at Venn, cleared at 3.55. Letters through Beaminster R.S.O. arrive at 10.20am. The nearest money order and telegraph offices are at Broadwindsor and Beaminster.
The children attend the school at Bettiscombe.
1895 Kelly’s Directory
as per 1889 - the only changes are as follows:
The living is a rectory, average tithe rent-charge £55, gross yearly value, £84, net £6, with 22 acres of glebe.
The population in 1891 was 83. Letter Box, at Venn, cleared at 4.40pm.
1915 Kelly’s Directory
as per 1889 - the only changes are as follows:
Pilsdon Pen is the highest hill in the county, serves as a landmark and is the site of a Roman camp; here also is a tumulus.
The soil is various; subsoil, sandy and clay.
The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and turnips and some land in pasture. The area is 672 acres; rateable value, £440.
The population in 1911 was 33.
Wall letter box, cleared at 4.10pm weekdays only. Letters through Whitchurch, Charmouth, arrive at 10am. Broadwindsor, 3 miles distant, is the nearest money order and telegraph office.
1920 Kelly’s Directory
as per 1889 - the only changes are as follows:
The living is a rectory, net income £85, in the gift of H Syndercombe Bower esq. and held since 1920 by the Rev. Herbert Brittain m.a. of Downing College, Cambridge, who is also rector of and resides at Bettiscombe.
Shirley H Jenks esq. of Lyme Regis, is lord of the manor and sole landowner.
The area is 710 acres; rateable value £440