Portesham

The parish of Portesham, also called Portisham in earlier days, is situated in south-west Dorset, a mere two miles from the south coast of England.  It is approximately 8 miles south-west of Dorchester, 7 miles north-west of Weymouth and 2 miles north-east of Abbotsbury. The hills and land surrounding Abbotsbury and Portesham have many prehistoric remains, from the Bronze, Iron and Neolithic ages, with earthworks, barrows, and a reconstructed dolmen.

The village was chartered in 1024, under King Cnut (Canute), who gave the manor there to a Scandinavian thegn (an aristocrat who owned land in several places) by the name of Urk, more usually spelled Orc, and his wife Tola. They took up residence in the area, and founded the abbey at neighbouring Abbotsbury in 1044. At the time of the Domesday Book, it consisted of 34 households, and covered 9.7ha (24 acres) of meadows, and 9 ploughlands, equalling about 45ha (100-120 acres).

When Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, the manor of Portesham was grainted to Wm. Paulet, Lord St John. It has also been held by the Trenchard family, and by Sir Andrew Ricard. When Sir Andrew died in 1672, it passed to the family of John, Lord Berkeley of Stratton, via his wife, Andrew's daughter Christian.

The Portesham church of St. Peter is an ancient Gothic structure with a square tower, with battlements and bells. In the north wall of the church is a recently restored memorial to William Weare, a Royalist supporter during the Civil War who, according to legend, lost all his property and resented it so much, he willed that he be buried neither inside nor outside the church, and so was interred in the wall after his death in September, 1670.

The parish of Portesham includes the whole of the village by that name, together with the hamlets of Waddon, Coryates, Shilvinghampton, as well as the homesteads of Bench, How, Corton, Friar Waddon, Friar Waddon Huish, Corton Huish, Clover and Brick Kiln.

At the time of the 1851 census, the parish of Portesham could boast 146 houses and a population of 767, occupying an area of 4,540 acres.  In 1901 it had 91 occupied households, with a population of 352. There was a Free School at Coryates.  

The new Online Parish Clerk for Portesham is Liz Draper

You can contact Liz by clicking on the link above which should generate a correctly addressed email.
Many thanks to Peter Ferreira for his assistance with Portesham over many years.