Godmanstone (or Godmanston
) is a village and
civil parish in the
county of
Dorset in southern
England, situated approximately north of the county town
Dorchester. Its name means ''Godman's Farm''
[ and it is sited by the ]River Cerne
The River Cerne is a ten mile long river in Dorset, England, which rises in the Chalk hills of the Dorset Downs at Minterne Magna, between High Stoy and Dogbury Hill, flows down a valley through Cerne Abbas and Charminster, and flows into t ...
amongst chalk hills of the Dorset Downs
The Dorset Downs are an area of chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger chalk formation which also includes (from west to east) Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, Ham ...
. Dorset County Council's latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 130.[ In the 2011 census the population of Godmanstone parish combined with the small adjoining parish of ]Nether Cerne
Nether Cerne is a hamlet and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies within the Dorset unitary authority administrative area, about north of the county town Dorchester and south of Sherborne. The A352 road which connects those ...
was 156.
Godmanstone used to have a pub—The Smiths Arms—which claimed to be the smallest in Britain. The story attached to the claim was that the original licence was granted by King Charles II when he requested that the village smith serve him a glass of porter. The smith refused because he had no licence, so Charles granted him one on the spot and was served his drink. The licence only applied to the smithy; adjacent living quarters, subsequently used by drinkers, were larger. The business has since closed.
Francis Cottington, 1st Baron Cottington (ca.1579–1652) came from Godmonston. He was the English lord treasurer and ambassador and leader of the pro-Spanish, pro-Roman Catholic faction in the court of Charles I.
References
External links
Flight of Prince Charles from Worcester
Villages in Dorset
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