Coombe Keynes is a hamlet,
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 authority ...
and
depopulated village in the
Purbeck district of
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 (unitary authority), Dors ...
, England. The village is about south of
Wool
Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool.
As ...
and about west-south-west of
Wareham.
In 2013 the population of the civil parish was estimated to be 80. There are 22 houses in the hamlet and 37 properties in the parish as a whole.
History
Coombe Keynes was part of
Winfrith Hundred
Winfrith Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes:
*Coombe Keynes
* East Lulworth
* East Stoke
*Moreton (part)
* Owermoigne (later a separate liberty)
*Poxwell
*Warmwell
* Watercombe (from 1858)
*W ...
. The
Domesday Book
Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
of 1086 records it as Cume, held by
Gilbert de Magminot
Gilbert Maminot, or Magminot, (d. August, 1101), was a Norman bishop in the eleventh century. He was born of 'a substantial Norman family of the middle rank', in Courbépine, his father being the knight Robert of Courbépine. He was known to his ...
,
Bishop of Lisieux
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
. The name Keynes derives from the later
Lords of the Manor
Lord of the Manor is a title that, in Anglo-Saxon England, referred to the landholder of a rural estate. The lord enjoyed manorial rights (the rights to establish and occupy a residence, known as the manor house and demesne) as well as seigno ...
, the de Cahaignes family, who also held
Tarrant Keyneston
Tarrant Keyneston is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated in the Tarrant Valley, southeast of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had 152 dwellings, 145 households and a population of 310.
On the hills nor ...
.
Later Coombe Keynes' population declined until it is now only a hamlet. The lost part of the settlement was immediately east of the parish church. The area is now a field what appear to be platforms where cottages stood and a hollow way that would have been a lane. This depopulated area is now a
Scheduled Ancient Monument
In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change.
The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...
.
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of the
Holy Rood
Holyrood may refer to:
Religion
*Holyrood (cross), a Christian relic alleged to be part of the True Cross on which Jesus died
*Feast of the Cross, or Holy Rood day, in the Christian liturgical calendar
Places United Kingdom
* Holyrood, Edinburgh ...
was formerly the centre of a large parish that included the village of Wool. In 1844 Wool was made into a separate parish. The two ecclesiastical parishes were recombined in 1967.
The
chancel
In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may terminate in an apse.
Ove ...
arch and west tower of Holy Rood church is 13th-century. The rest of the church was rebuilt in 1860–61 to designs by Thomas Hicks. It is a
Gothic Revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic, neo-Gothic, or Gothick) is an architectural movement that began in the late 1740s in England. The movement gained momentum and expanded in the first half of the 19th century, as increasingly ...
building with nave, chancel and north porch. It was deconsecrated in 1974 and is now used as a secular function room managed by the Coombe Keynes Trust.
The Coombe Keynes Chalice, a rare pre-
Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
chalice
A chalice (from Latin 'mug', borrowed from Ancient Greek () 'cup') or goblet is a footed cup intended to hold a drink. In religious practice, a chalice is often used for drinking during a ceremony or may carry a certain symbolic meaning.
Re ...
with an octagonal foot with embellished angles on the stem, is now kept in the
Dorset County Museum
The Dorset County Museum is located in Dorchester, Dorset, England. Founded in 1846, the museum covers the county of Dorset's history and environment. The current building was built in 1881 on the former site of the George Inn. The building wa ...
.
References
Further reading
*
*
External links
*
Coombe Keynes Community web site{{Purbeck
Civil parishes in Dorset
Hamlets in Dorset