Marshwood 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 authority ...

in west

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, situated on the northern edge of the

Marshwood Vale The Marshwood Vale (or Vale of Marshwood) is a low-lying, bowl-shaped valley of Lower Lias clay, in the western tip of the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies to the north of the A35 trunk road between the towns of Bridport and Lyme R ...

approximately northeast of

Lyme Regis Lyme Regis is a town in west Dorset, England, west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. Sometimes dubbed the "Pearl of Dorset", it lies by the English Channel at the Dorset–Devon border. It has noted fossils in cliffs and beaches on the Herita ...

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 ...

estimate that the parish had a population of 310 in 2013. Figures published from the 2011 census are for Marshwood parish combined with the small neighbouring parish of Bettiscombe: the combined population was 346. The village school was opened in 1842 and covers the catchment areas of Marshwood, Pilsdon, Bettiscombe, and Blackdown Ward of Broadwindsor. Secondary education is provided at Woodroffe School, Lyme Regis. The church of St Mary's was built in 1840-41 and underwent a rebuild in 1883–84.

The Bottle Inn The Bottle Inn is a 16th-century public house at Marshwood in Dorset, England which hosts the World Nettle Eating Championship. History The building started life in 1585 as an ale house, being close to a church where people came to pay their tith ...

on the outskirts of Marshwood is home to the world

stinging nettle ''Urtica dioica'', often known as common nettle, burn nettle, stinging nettle (although not all plants of this species sting) or nettle leaf, or just a nettle or stinger, is a herbaceous perennial flowering plant in the family Urticaceae. Or ...

eating championships. It is also the 2016 Regional (Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire & the Channel Islands) CAMRA winner for its range & quality of ciders & ales. The parish contains the ruins of

Marshwood Castle Marshwood Castle was a motte-and-bailey castle in Marshwood, Dorset, within the Vale of Marshwood. It was built by William de Mandeville following his elevation to Baron Marshwood in 1205 by King John, and is first recorded as a built castle in 12 ...

, which is a scheduled monument.

Notable residents

Peter De Greef Peter De Greef (17 May 1922 – 29 March 1980) was a British actor who made a number of film appearances in the 1940s and 50s including '' Champagne Charlie'' (1944). He was born as Edward Denaston William De Greeff in 1922 in Marylebone in Londo ...

(1922-1980), actor resident in the village for many years and buried in the church yard of St Mary's church

Notes

External links

Parish Church of St Mary
Villages in Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub