Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east

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, on

Cranborne Chase Cranborne Chase () is an area of central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. It is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The area is dominated by, ...

, seven miles north of

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Poole ...

and 12 miles north of

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the

Earl of Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his f ...

. A tributary of the River Allen, formerly known as the Wimborne, snakes its way through the village. The village of St Giles was recorded 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 manusc ...

of 1086. Wimborne St Giles was established in 1733, when the St Giles and All Hallows parishes were merged at the request of

Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury PC FRS (22 July 1621 – 21 January 1683; known as Anthony Ashley Cooper from 1621 to 1630, as Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper, 2nd Baronet from 1630 to 1661, and as The Lord Ashley from 1661 to 1 ...

. In 2001 the population was 366, served by the village hall, post office, parish church, and a primary school. Recreational enterprises include commercial shooting, a trout farm, and fly fishing on the River Allen. The village is largely agricultural, with residents generally commuting to nearby cities and towns for employment.

History

Wimborne St Giles is a

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

and parish located in the wooded valley of the River Allen, near the royal hunting ground of Cranborne Chase. As originally divided, various parishes and villages resided within the hundred, including the parishes of West Woodyates, St Giles, and All Hallows. The

tithing A tithing or tything was a historic English legal, administrative or territorial unit, originally ten hides (and hence, one tenth of a hundred). Tithings later came to be seen as subdivisions of a manor or civil parish. The tithing's leader or s ...

of All Hallows is located in the village, as well as the eponymous parish of Wimborne St Giles.

St Giles House

Early property owners in St Giles included the Malmayne family. Matilda Malmayne, heiress of the Malmayne estate, married Edmund Plecy. Ownership of the estate encompassing the present-day St Giles House has not changed hands through purchase since the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Conque ...

. In 1375, the manor estate was known as St Giles Upwymbourne Plecy. The Plecy male line became extinct towards the end of the 14th century, and the estate was transferred to Edmund and Matilda's descendant Joan Plecy, as heiress. Lady Joan Plecy was soon married to Sir John Hamelyn (d. 1399),

high sheriff of Somerset The office of High Sheriff of Somerset is an ancient shrievalty which has been in existence since the 11th century. Originally known as the "Sheriff of Somerset", the role was retitled on 1 April 1974, under the provisions of the Local Government A ...

. When Hamelyn died, there were no male heirs. The estate went to Sir John's daughter Egidia, by his second wife, who married Robert Ashley. The family estate, initially known as the Ashley Manor, has belonged to the Ashleys and Ashley-Coopers ever since. The cornerstone of St Giles House, home to the

Earls of Shaftesbury Earl of Shaftesbury is a title in the Peerage of England. It was created in 1672 for Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Baron Ashley, a prominent politician in the Cabal then dominating the policies of King Charles II. He had already succeeded his f ...

, was laid by Sir Anthony Ashley-Cooper, then 2nd Baronet, later 1st Earl of Shaftesbury] on 19 March 1650. The country house was built on the remains of Ashley Manor. Incorporating late medieval work in the basement and cellars, the continued construction of the main body of St Giles House was initiated in 1651.

Parish church

Wimborne St Giles Church and Alms Houses - geograph

When the Earl of Shaftesbury built a new country house close to St Giles, the writing was on the wall for All Hallows. In 1672, Sir Anthony wrote to the Lord Keeper of the Great Seal of England, Keeper of the Great Seal, offering to give King Charles II a living of his choice in exchange for being allowed to close down the living of All Hallows and concentrate worship at St Giles. The 1st earl's request to the king was granted in 1733, at which time, the St Giles and All Hallows parishes were merged and took the name of Wimborne St Giles. The name is derived from the meadow stream which flows through both villages, from Old English ''winn'' and ''burna''.

Saint Giles Saint Giles (, la, Aegidius, french: Gilles), also known as Giles the Hermit, was a hermit or monk active in the lower Rhône most likely in the 6th century. Revered as a saint, his cult became widely diffused but his hagiography is mostly lege ...

being an 8th-century hermit of

Provençal Provençal may refer to: *Of Provence, a region of France * Provençal dialect, a dialect of the Occitan language, spoken in the southeast of France *''Provençal'', meaning the whole Occitan language *Franco-Provençal language, a distinct Roman ...

origin. In 1742, All Hallows church was demolished, leaving only the

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

and churchyard. While the parish was centralised in Wimborne St Giles, the churchyard at All Hallows continued to be used for burials up to the end of the 19th century, because there was no room for a burial ground at St Giles church. The church was restored in 1852. In the early 20th century a new cemetery was opened on the opposite side of road to the All Hallows graveyard. Many of the Earls of Shaftesbury are buried in Wimborne St Giles church, in the family crypt.

Nearest towns and villages

* Cranborne – 1.5 miles away * Farnham – 5.6 miles away * Tarrant Hinton – 5.8 miles away * Tarrant Rushton – 6.8 miles away * Wimborne Minster – 8.2 miles away * Blandford Forum – 9.7 miles away * Poole – 12.6 miles away * Salisbury – 12.8 miles away

Amenities

The village has a school, a pub called The Bull, a church, a post office and a village hall. The River Allen runs through the village. Every year the village holds a fete, which sometimes features a duck race. The bow of

Eros In Greek mythology, Eros (, ; grc, Ἔρως, Érōs, Love, Desire) is the Greek god of love and sex. His Roman counterpart was Cupid ("desire").''Larousse Desk Reference Encyclopedia'', The Book People, Haydock, 1995, p. 215. In the earli ...

(properly

Anteros In Greek mythology, Anteros (; Ancient Greek: Ἀντέρως ''Antérōs'') was the god of requited love (literally "love returned" or "counter-love") and also the punisher of those who scorn love and the advances of others, or the avenger of u ...

) in Piccadilly Circus, London was originally positioned to point towards Wimborne St Giles, the country seat of the

7th Earl of Shaftesbury Anthony Ashley Cooper, 7th Earl of Shaftesbury (28 April 1801 – 1 October 1885), styled Lord Ashley from 1811 to 1851, was a British Tory politician, philanthropist, and social reformer. He was the eldest son of The 6th Earl of Shaftesbury ...

, in commemoration of his philanthropic works. The church has a plaque in commemoration of

robin Robin may refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), including: **European robin (''Erithacus rubecula'') **Bush-robin **Forest rob ...

s who nested in the

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, churches, and other places of worship. They are used particularly in paga ...

in 1887 and again in 1908.

References

External links

2001 census data

St Giles village website
{{authority control Villages in Dorset Civil parishes in Dorset