Bishop's Caundle is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of the counties of Bristol, Cornwall (including the Isles of Scilly), Dorset, Devon, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Cities ...

. It is situated south-east of

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. ...

. The local travel links are located from the village to

Sherborne railway station Sherborne railway station serves the town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. It is situated on the West of England Main Line, down the line from and is currently operated by South Western Railway. History The station was opened by the Salisb ...

and to

Bournemouth International Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, in southern England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil contr ...

. The main road running through the village is the A3030, connecting Bishop's Caundle to

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

's 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish is 390.

History

Older documents sometimes refer to the village as Caundle Bishop, although the origin of the name is unclear. The original settlements that are still present within Bishop's Caundle parish are Bishop's Caundle and Wake Caundle. Until 1886 the parish contained parts of the neighbouring parish of Caundle Marsh, and there were parts of Bishop's Caundle parish within Caundle Marsh and Folke parishes. Cornford Bridge over Caundle Brook dates from around 1480 and is one of less than 200 medieval multi-span bridges to survive in England. According to

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author and screenwriter, best known for ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (radio series), BBC radio comedy, ''The H ...

' humorous 1983 dictionary "

The Meaning of Liff ''The Meaning of Liff'' (UK Edition: , US Edition: ) is a humorous dictionary of toponymy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983 and the United States in 1984. Content The book is a " ...

", a Bishop's Caundle is "An opening gambit before a game of chess whereby the missing pieces are replaced by small ornaments from the mantelpiece."

Governance

In the United Kingdom national parliament, Bishop's Caundle is in the West Dorset parliamentary constituency, which is currently represented by

Oliver Letwin Sir Oliver Letwin (born 19 May 1956) is a British politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for West Dorset from 1997 to 2019. Letwin was elected as a member of the Conservative Party, but sat as an independent after having the whip removed in S ...

of the Conservative Party. In

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

, Bishop's Caundle is governed by Dorset Council at the highest tier, and Bishop's Caundle Parish Council at the lowest tier. In national parliament and local council elections, Dorset is divided into several

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ward is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil parishes and borough and dist ...

. In county council elections, Bishop's Caundle is in Sherborne Rural Electoral Division, one of 42 divisions that elect councillors to Dorset County Council.

Religious sites

The team rector asserts that parish church has no known dedication although many mistakenly confuse it with the church of St Peter and St Paul at Caundle Marsh a mile and a half away. Parts of the building date from the 14th century and it has been designated as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. The parish is part of the Three Valleys benefice within the Diocese of Salisbury.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Dorset