Evershot
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Evershot 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 authorit ...
in the
county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposes Chambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...
of
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 , ...
in southwest England, situated approximately south of
Yeovil Yeovil ( ) is a town and civil parish in the district of South Somerset, England. The population of Yeovil at the last census (2011) was 45,784. More recent estimates show a population of 48,564. It is close to Somerset's southern border with ...
in Somerset. It is the second highest village in the county at above sea-level. Evershot parish encompasses part of the nearby hamlet of Holywell, east of Evershot 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 parish population is 210. The village has connections with the writer Thomas Hardy.


Toponymy

There are several theories on the origins of the name Evershot. One is that it derives from 'Eafor's Holt', 'eafor' meaning wild boar and 'holt' meaning wood. A similar theory places the origin at 'eafor sceat,' meaning 'wild boar thicket.' This fits in with the history of the village, but does not account for other names the village has had in the past. In 1202, the village was referred to as 'Teversict,' and in 1268 'Theuershet.' This likely refers to the colour of the soil – the Old English word 'teofor' meaning red lead. Another theory is that the name derives from 'Varia', an alternative name for the River Frome, and 'shot', the Saxon word for a brook.


History

It is hard to trace the history of the village before the Norman conquest, but it is believed Evershot began as a boar pen approximately 1,100 years ago., 101 things to do in and around The Acorn Inn. Due to its close proximity to the River Frome a settlement was built nearby. The oldest remains to be found in Evershot are three standing stones named the Three Dumb Sisters, now a bench. Local legend says that these are three sisters turned to stone for dancing on the Sabbath. It is believed that they originate from a plot of land close to the village, but it is not known when they were built or moved. They are possibly Bronze Age in origin. In 1628 Christopher Stickland founded Stickland's School "...for reading, writing and grammar... for the instruction and breeding of men children ... a schoolmaster there for ever to train up, instruct and teach the same child in good learning, true religion and the fear of God."
Evershot Official Website
Stickland's School Deeds In the 18th and 19th centuries economic activities in the village included Tanning (leather), tanning,
turnery Woodturning is the craft of using a wood lathe with hand-held tools to cut a shape that is symmetrical around the axis of rotation. Like the potter's wheel, the wood lathe is a simple mechanism that can generate a variety of forms. The operator ...
and coopery. Local timber supplies provided raw materials for these industries, such as oak bark for tanning. Products such as tanned hides, bowls, ladles and cheese vats were sent for sale as far away as
Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...
, and subsidiary trades evolved to support the village's population, which reached 600 in 1851. In 1857 the
Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway The Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth Railway (WS&WR) was an early railway company in south-western England. It obtained Parliamentary powers in 1845 to build a railway from near Chippenham in Wiltshire, southward to Salisbury and Weymouth in Dors ...
(later the Great Western Railway) opened a line through the parish with a station for the village at Holywell, though difficulties were encountered in constructing a tunnel through the area's
greensand Greensand or green sand is a sand or sandstone which has a greenish color. This term is specifically applied to shallow marine sediment that contains noticeable quantities of rounded greenish grains. These grains are called ''glauconies'' and co ...
. A fire in the village in 1865 destroyed eighteen buildings and left more than a hundred people homeless. Three fire engines were required to extinguish the blaze. It is likely that, had there not been the river nearby, the entire village would have been destroyed. Not a single person was killed during the 'Great Fire of Evershot,' and a considerable amount was raised to help the homeless (£70 in two days, the equivalent of over £3000 today).


Geography

Evershot village is sited on greensand approximately above sea-level, among
chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...
hills of the
Dorset Downs The Dorset Downs are an area of chalk downland in the centre of the county Dorset in south west England. The downs are the most western part of a larger chalk formation which also includes (from west to east) Cranborne Chase, Salisbury Plain, H ...
. It is the second highest village in the county, the highest being
Ashmore Ashmore is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England, southwest of Salisbury. The village is centred on a circular pond and has a church and several stone cottages and farms, many with thatched roofs. It is ...
in
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, ...
. The area forms the watershed between the drainage basins of the River Yeo, which flows north to the Bristol Channel, and the River Frome, which flows southeast to
Poole Harbour Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley (ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being t ...
. The village hall is the starting point for the Frome Valley Trail. Evershot is south of Yeovil, northwest of Dorchester and northeast of
Bridport Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and wit ...
.


Demography

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 parish population is 210. In the 2011 census the population of Evershot parish combined with the small neighbouring parishes of West Chelborough and East Chelborough was 334. No data from 2011 has been published for Evershot parish alone. The historic population figures in the censuses between 1921 and 2001 are shown in the table below. Evershot parish is also shown separately for these census returns.


Landmarks


St Osmund's Church

The parish church of St Osmund is built on the site of an earlier chapel, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, dating back to the time of
Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...
. The first rector of Frome St Quintin and Evershot is listed in the church simply as Herveus, in 1115. Only the font basin, chancel arch and part of the tower arch of this earlier chapel remain within the current church, which was renovated to some extent in the 15th century, again in 1765, before a final rebuilding in 1852—3 and 1864. It features a
Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...
tower and arcades. In 1889 the organ was also restored, renovated, and added to. The church clock was gifted in 1853 by the 3rd Earl of Ilchester at a cost of £150. It was designed by Edmund Beckett Denison and built by
Edward John Dent Edward John Dent (1790–1853) was a famous English watchmaker noted for his highly accurate clocks and marine chronometers. He founded the Dent company. Early years Edward John Dent, son of John and Elizabeth Dent, was born in London on 1 ...
. It is hand-wound once a week. Between 1783 and 1787, the poet
George Crabbe George Crabbe ( ; 24 December 1754 – 3 February 1832) was an English poet, surgeon and clergyman. He is best known for his early use of the realistic narrative form and his descriptions of middle and working-class life and people. In the 177 ...
was rector of the church. The church is Grade II*
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
. The source of the River Frome is in Back Lane, close to the church. Next to it is St John's well, which was restored in 2000 and features information on local geology and history. The names of villagers were put on a plaque. The village is the starting point for the Frome Valley Trail
long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway (landscape), greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking (wilderness), backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-cou ...
. Summer Lodge Country House Hotel was built in 1798 as a
dower house A dower house is usually a moderately large house available for use by the widow of the previous owner of an English, Scottish or Welsh estate. The widow, often known as the "dowager", usually moves into the dower house from the larger family ...
by
Henry Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester Henry Thomas Fox-Strangways, 2nd Earl of Ilchester (29 July 1747 – 5 September 1802), known as Lord Stavordale from 1756 to 1776, was a British peer and Member of Parliament. Life Ilchester was the eldest son of Stephen Fox-Strangways, 1st E ...
. It was enlarged in 1893 and in 1979 became a hotel. The village hall was given to the village after being used by the military during the Second World War. It is mostly used for music and art events. To the west is a prominent rounded summit known as West Hill which is high.


Thomas Hardy

Evershot has connections with the writer Thomas Hardy, who called it 'Evershead' in his fictional
Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...
. The Acorn Inn featured as 'The Sow and Acorn' in several of his works, including '' Tess of the d'Urbervilles''. Tess Cottage in the village is named after that novel's eponymous heroine, who stayed in a fictional version of it when visiting 'Evershead'. Hardy was also an architect and in 1893 he designed an extension for what is now the Summer Lodge Country House Hotel in the centre of the village. Hardy's mother, Jemima Hand, was born and married in the neighbouring village of Melbury Osmond. The Hardy Way lond-distance footpath runs through the village.


References


External links


Census dataEvershot Official Website
{{Authority control Villages in Dorset