West Stafford 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 southwest
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 in the
Frome valley
The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. At 30 miles (48 km) long it is the major chalkstream in southwest England. It is navigable upstream from Poole Harbour as far as the town of Wareham, Dorset, Wareham.
Geography ...
east of
Dorchester. In the
2011 census the parish had a population of 291.
The village contains the
public house
A pub (short for public house) is a kind of drinking establishment which is licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term ''public house'' first appeared in the United Kingdom in late 17th century, and was ...
'The Wise Man Inn', and St Andrew's Church. The river Winterbourne runs beside the village and 2 miles south lies the village of
West Knighton.
Thomas Hardy
Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry of William Word ...
, when training as an architect, assisted in the design of Talbothays Lodge and the cottages opposite. The village is also accepted as the setting for part of Hardy's novel ''Tess or the D'Urbevilles'', during the period when Tess works at the Talbothays Dairy.
Reginald Bosworth Smith
Reginald Bosworth Smith (1839–1908) was an English academic, schoolmaster, man of letters and author.
Background and early life
Born on 28 June 1839 at West Stafford rectory, Dorset, he was the second son in the large family of Reginald Southwel ...
, schoolmaster, author and
President of the Oxford Union
Past elected presidents of the Oxford Union are listed below, with their college and the year/term in which they served. ''Iterum'' indicates that a person was serving a second term as president (which is not possible under the current Union rule ...
, was born in West Stafford on 28 June 1839.
His father, Reginald Southwell Smith, was the fourth son of
Sir John Wyldbore Smith, Baronet, of
Sydling St Nicholas, Dorset.
References
External links
Villages in Dorset
West Stafford website
https://www.west-stafford.com
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