Walditch is a small village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of

Bothenhampton Bothenhampton is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, just outside the town of Bridport. It is separated from the town only by the River Asker and the A35 Bridport by-pass. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes ...

, in the

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 ...

district, in the ceremonial county of

, England. It is situated about to the east of the town of Bridport. The name Walditch is derived from an older term Waldyke, which alludes to the village's location: Walditch is located in the valley of a curved hill that encompasses the village; the hill has a dry stone wall still partially in place, which continues over towards Bothenhampton. In 1891 the parish had a population of 175. In 1897 the parish was abolished and merged with Brothenhampton and Bridport. Walditch has a

real tennis Real tennis – one of several games sometimes called "the sport of kings" – is the original racquet sport from which the modern game of tennis (also called "lawn tennis") is derived. It is also known as court tennis in the United Sta ...

court, on the site of which

Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort ...

played during his visits to the area. Walditch is composed of Old Walditch (the original Walditch) and lower Walditch, a housing estate built around 1998. The village no longer has a stated member of clergy; the last person to fill this role being the Rev. Maureen Alchin, who was a local figure. Walditch formerly lay within the Hundred of Godderthorne.

References

Villages in Dorset Real tennis venues Former civil parishes in Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub