Toller Fratrum () is a very small 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 ...

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 , ...

, England, near

Maiden Newton Maiden Newton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies within the Dorset Council administrative area, about north-west of the county town, Dorchester. Geography The village is sited on Upper Greens ...

, anciently in

Tollerford Hundred Tollerford Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: * Chilfrome * East Chelborough * Evershot * Frome St Quintin *Frome Vauchurch *Maiden Newton * Melbury Sampford * Rampisham * Toller Fratrum *To ...

. The name is taken from the village's situation on the brook formerly known as the Toller, now called the Hooke. The addition ''Fratrum'' is the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

for ''of the brothers'' and refers to the mediaeval ownership of the manor by the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic military order. It was headq ...

, which distinguishes it from the other Tollers, namely

Toller Porcorum Toller Porcorum () is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Toller valley northwest of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which also includes the small settlements of Higher and Lower Kingcombe to the n ...

and Toller Whelme. It is often referred to as ''Little Toller''. The village has a notable 16th-century farm house, ''Little Toller Farm'', built largely by John Samways, who acquired the estate in 1540. The farm house was later occupied by the Fulford family. The church of

Saint Basil Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great ( grc, Ἅγιος Βασίλειος ὁ Μέγας, ''Hágios Basíleios ho Mégas''; cop, Ⲡⲓⲁⲅⲓⲟⲥ Ⲃⲁⲥⲓⲗⲓⲟⲥ; 330 – January 1 or 2, 379), was a bishop of Cae ...

was rebuilt in the 19th century but possesses not only an unusual

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

font, carved with archaic figures, but also a

relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...

of Saint Mary Magdalene of the same period. Sir Francis Fulford, who acquired Toller Fratrum through marriage into the Samways family, was buried here in 1664. The independent book publisher, Little Toller Books, is based in the village.

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 latest (2013) estimate of the population of the parish is 10.

References

External links

Dorset Historic Churches Trust - Picture

Village page
Villages in Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub