Loders is a village 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 ...

in the English county 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. Covering an area of , ...

. It lies north-east of the town of

Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and wit ...

. It is a linear village, sited in the valley of the small River Asker, between Waddon Hill and Boarsbarrow Hill. In the 2011 census the parish had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

of 518. The village school was opened in 1869 on land owned by the Nepean family of Loders Court. It was originally called Lady Nepean's School.

Description

The parish of Loders comprises three settlements. In the east is

Uploders Uploders is a small village in Dorset, England. It consists mainly of houses, and has a pub, the ''Crown'', a Grade II listed Methodist chapel and a playing field. The River Asker runs through the village. It is a linear village, surrounding the ...

which has a public house, ''The Crown'', and a

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

. To the west of Uploders and separated from it by a few fields is Yondover, where the village road crosses the River Asker. The village playing field and two farms are located here. West of Yondover and separated from it by the river and the disused railway line of the

Bridport Railway The Bridport Railway was a railway branch line that operated in the county of Dorset in England. It connected Bridport with the main line network at Maiden Newton, and opened on 12 November 1857. It was extended to West Bay in 1884, but the ex ...

branch line, is Lower Loders, generally known as just Loders. Lower Loders has a public house, ''The Loders Arms'', a

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a building for Christian religious activities * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian communal worship * C ...

, dedicated to St Mary Magdalen, a

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

, several farms, and a

primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

, which celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2019. In his book ''Portrait of Dorset'',

Ralph Wightman Ralph Wightman (26 July 1901 – 28 May 1971) was an English lecturer, journalist, author, and radio and television broadcaster. He wrote many books on farming and the countryside and in the 1950s and 1960s became a well-known national figure, esp ...

gave an agricultural assessment of Loders as having "more than its share of soil variations but most of them are good soils. The result is a village of fertile fields but with an amazing difference in levels."

History

In 1086 Loders is mentioned in 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 manus ...

as ''Lodres''. During the reign of

Henry I Henry I may refer to: 876–1366 * Henry I the Fowler, King of Germany (876–936) * Henry I, Duke of Bavaria (died 955) * Henry I of Austria, Margrave of Austria (died 1018) * Henry I of France (1008–1060) * Henry I the Long, Margrave of the ...

Baldwin de Redvers Baldwin de Redvers, 1st Earl of Devon (died 4 June 1155), feudal baron of Plympton in Devon, was the son of Richard de Redvers and his wife Adeline Peverel. He was one of the first to rebel against King Stephen, and was the only first rank magnat ...

founded a seat of a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

priory at Loders. The monks were reputedly the first to introduce cider-making into Dorset.

Governance

Loders lies within an electoral ward of the same name, which also includes the surrounding area from the edge of

via

Powerstock Powerstock is a village and civil parish in south west Dorset, England, situated in a steep valley on the edge of the Dorset Downs, north-east of the market town of Bridport. The civil parish includes the village of West Milton to the west and ...

to North Poorton. The population of this ward was 1,697 at the 2011 census. The ward is one of 32 that comprise the West Dorset parliamentary constituency, which is currently represented in the UK national parliament by the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

Chris Loder Christopher Lionel John Loder (born 5 September 1981) is a British Conservative Party politician who has been the MP for West Dorset since the 2019 general election. He succeeded Sir Oliver Letwin, who was elected as a Conservative but sat as ...

, who succeeded

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 ...

in 2019.

In culture

Johnny Coppin John "Johnny" Coppin (born 5 April 1946) is an English singer-songwriter, composer, poetry anthologist and broadcaster. He plays guitar and piano and has written and recorded many albums as a solo artist. He has a weekly one-hour show on BBC Ra ...

's ''Westcountry Christmas'' album includes a song called ''Song for Loders'', which mentions many places around the area, including

Eggerton Eggerton Hundred or Eggardon Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: *Askerswell * Hooke *Long Bredy * Powerstock (part) *Winterbourne Abbas Winterborne Abbas is a village and civil parish i ...

Askerswell Askerswell () is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England. It is sited on the small River Asker. It lies west of the county town Dorchester. The parish has an area of and in the northeast includes the wes ...

and Muckleford, amongst others. :When frost lies thick on Egerton :And every pool begins to freeze :From Muckleford to Nettle Coombe :And hills are hung with sparkling trees :Then to Loders we must go :Before the world is drowned in snow

References

External links

{{Authority control Villages in Dorset