Frampton is a

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...

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 ...

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 southern

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 approximately northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in the Frome valley 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 ...

. The village's name is a derivation from "Frome Town". The A356 main road and the Heart of Wessex

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

line run through the village; the nearest railway station is approximately away at

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 ...

. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 524. Frampton was once the centre of a

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

of the same name. Roman tessellated pavements have been found at Frampton, depicting one of the earliest known Christian symbols in England. In 1704 Robert Browne built Frampton Court in the vicinity of the village. The site was where there had at one time been a

cell Cell most often refers to: * Cell (biology), the functional basic unit of life Cell may also refer to: Locations * Monastic cell, a small room, hut, or cave in which a religious recluse lives, alternatively the small precursor of a monastery ...

of the Abbey of Saint-Étienne in Caen,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. In the nineteenth century the

Game Laws Game laws are statutes which regulate the right to pursue and take or kill certain kinds of fish and wild animal ( game). Their scope can include the following: restricting the days to harvest fish or game, restricting the number of animals per p ...

, which govern English field sports, were drafted at the Court. Many of the cottages in the village are from the Frampton estate. Around 1840 the owner of the Court demolished many houses in the village (on the south side of the main road) and replaced them with trees, to improve the view from the Court. Today the legacy of the Court and its park is that the valley around Frampton is still well-wooded, and most of the houses in the village lie to the north of the main road. Frampton Court itself was demolished in 1935. Frampton includes the small hamlet of Southover on the south side of the river. This previously comprised two farms—Southover Farm and Longlands Farm—and accompanying labourers cottages, plus a large private house with tiered gardens and an orchard. Today the agricultural basis of Southover has declined and most of the cottages and houses are in private hands. Nunnery Mead, a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or ...

managed by the

Dorset Wildlife Trust Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) is a wildlife trust covering the county of Dorset, United Kingdom. The trust was founded in 1961 as Dorset Naturalists' Trust, to protect and conserve the wildlife and natural habitats of the county. DWT is one of 4 ...

, is near the village. It includes the site of ''Frampton Roman Villa'', a

scheduled monument In the United Kingdom, a scheduled monument is a nationally important archaeological site or historic building, given protection against unauthorised change. The various pieces of legislation that legally protect heritage assets from damage and d ...

References

External links

Parish Council websiteA village websiteCommunity website
{{Authority control Villages in Dorset

See also

References

External links