Allington is a neighbourhood of

Bridport Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, England, immediately north-west of Bridport town centre on the west bank of the

River Brit The River Brit is a river in west Dorset in south-west England, which rises just to the north of Beaminster. It then flows south to Netherbury and Bridport, where it is joined by tributaries: the River Simene and River Asker. South of Bridpo ...

. Formerly a separate 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

, Allington and Bridport had grown to be contiguous by the end of the 19th century. Allington Hill rises to above the town; it is managed by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland heritage. It has planted over 68 million trees since 1972. The Woodland Tru ...

. The hill is characteristic of the

Upper 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 ...

hills and ridges found in the

Marshwood and Powerstock Vales The Marshwood and Powerstock Vales form a natural region in southwest England reaching to the Dorset coastline. The region is recognised as a National Character Area (No. 139) by Natural England, the UK Government's advisors on the natural envi ...

National Character Area A National Character Area (NCA) is a natural subdivision of England based on a combination of landscape, biodiversity, geodiversity and economic activity. There are 159 National Character Areas and they follow natural, rather than administrative, b ...

. In 1086 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 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

Allington was recorded as ''Adelingtone''; it had 21 households, 3

ploughland The carucate or carrucate ( or ) was a medieval unit of land area approximating the land a plough team of eight oxen could till in a single annual season. It was known by different regional names and fell under different forms of tax assessment. ...

s, of meadow and one mill. It was in Goderthorn Hundred and the lord and

tenant-in-chief In medieval and early modern Europe, a tenant-in-chief (or vassal-in-chief) was a person who held his lands under various forms of feudal land tenure directly from the king or territorial prince to whom he did homage, as opposed to holding them ...

was Turstin son of Rolf. The parish church at North Allington, dedicated to

St Swithun Swithun (or Swithin; ; ; died 863) was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester and subsequently patron saint of Winchester Cathedral. His historical importance as bishop is overshadowed by his reputation for posthumous miracle-working. Accordin ...

, was designed by Charles Wallis of Dorchester and built in 1826–27, and is a Grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. It is in classical style, and is unusual for the survival of a high proportion of the original internal fittings, including the pews, gallery, a pulpit (of two originally present) and glazing.

Governance

At the lower tier of local government, Allington is in Bridport

. It is part of Bridport West and Allington

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

, which elects five of the 20 members of Bridport

Town Council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

. The upper tier of local government is the Dorset unitary authority. Allington is in Bridport electoral ward, which elects three of the 82 members of Dorset Council. Before the creation of the Dorset unitary authority, Allington was in

West Dorset West Dorset was a Non-metropolitan district, local government district in Dorset, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester ...

district from 1974 to 2019. Before this, Allington civil parish was in

Bridport Rural District Bridport is a market town and civil parish in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the River Asker, Asker. Its origins are Anglo-Saxons, Saxon and it has a long history as a ...

from 1894 to 1974, though much of the built-up part of Allington had already transferred to Bridport Municipal Borough. For elections to the UK national parliament, Allington is within the West Dorset parliamentary constituency.

Allington parish

Historically, Allington was a civil parish separate from Bridport. Over time, much of the built-up area of the Allington neighbourhood, including the area around St Swithun's Church, transferred to Bridport Municipal Borough or later Bridport civil parish, leaving only a suburban fringe and rural hinterland in Allington parish. When the parish was abolished on 1 April 2024, rural parts of the parish area which weren't taken into Bridport parish went to

Symondsbury Symondsbury () is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, west of Bridport and west of Dorchester. The A35 road runs through the parish to the south of the village. The village has a pub (the Ilchester Arms), a pottery and ...

parish. In the 2011 census, Allington civil parish had 371 dwellings, 339 households and a population of 766.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Dorset Hill forts in Dorset Former civil parishes in Dorset Bridport