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Piddletown
Puddletown is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated by the River Piddle, from which it derives its name, about northeast of the county town Dorchester. Its earlier name Piddletown fell out of favour, probably because of connotations of the word "piddle". The name Puddletown was officially sanctioned in the late 1950s. Puddletown's civil parish covers and extends to the River Frome to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 1450. Puddletown's parish church has significant architectural interest, particularly its furnishings and monuments. It has a 12th-century font and well-preserved woodwork, including 17th-century box pews. Thomas Hardy took an interest in the church, and the village provided the inspiration for the fictional settlement of Weatherbury in his novel ''Far from the Madding Crowd''; Weatherbury Farm, the home of principal character Bathsheba Everdene, is based on a manor house within the parish. Toponymy The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Piddle
The River Piddle or Trent or North River is a small rural Dorset river which rises in the Dorset Downs and flows into Poole Harbour near Wareham. Etymology The river's name has Germanic origins and has had various spellings over the years. In AD 966 it was called the 'Pidelen', and on the church tower at Piddletrenthide—the first village to which it gives its name—it is spelled 'Pydel'. Several villages which the river passes through are named after it: as well as Piddletrenthide there are Piddlehinton, Puddletown, Tolpuddle, Affpuddle, Briantspuddle and Turnerspuddle. Local legend tells that the Victorians changed the spelling to 'Puddle', due to 'piddle' being a slang term for 'urine' (although Puddletown was still called Piddletown into the 1950s), but see for instance the John Speed map of the county from 1610 which has the name 'Puddletown'. Course and characteristics In its upper reaches, the Piddle is a chalk stream flowing south through a steep valley cut into the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
