Charminster 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in west

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, situated on the

River Cerne The River Cerne is a river in Dorset, England, which rises in the Chalk hills of the Dorset Downs at Minterne Magna, between High Stoy and Dogbury Hill, flows down a valley through Cerne Abbas and Charminster, and flows into the River Frome, ...

and

A352 road List of A roads in zone 3 in Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the la ...

north of the county town Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 2,940 and also contains the hamlet of Charlton Down. The village name derives from the River Cerne and the small 'minster' church of St Mary, resulting in "Cerneminster" (recorded in 1223), which eventually evolved into Charminster. The village, which includes

Wolfeton House Wolfeton House (sometimes Wolveton House) is an early Tudor and Elizabethan manor house in Dorset, England. It is situated amongst water-meadows north-west of Dorchester not far from the confluence of the rivers Frome and Cerne. It is near t ...

, was the place of origin of Richard Norman and family, one of the Planters of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1628–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around Massachusetts Bay, one of the several colonies later reorganized as the Province of M ...

in America, who arrived there in ca. 1626. Scientist

Margaret Bastock Margaret Bastock Manning (22 March 1920 – 10 June 1982) was an English zoologist and geneticist. She carried out influential work in the 1950s, establishing links between genes and behaviour. Life and career Margaret Bastock was born on 22 Ma ...

died in the village in 1982, aged 62. Charminster was in the Charminster and Cerne Valley electoral ward, which stretches from the northern outskirts of Dorchester through

Cerne Abbas Cerne Abbas () is a village and civil parish in Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Dorset Council administrative area in the Cerne Valley in the Dorset Downs. The village lies just east of the A352 road north of Dorchester. At the ...

Minterne Magna Minterne Magna is a village and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Dorset, England, situated midway between Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and Sherborne. In the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census the parish had a population of 184 ...

. The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,768. After

2019 structural changes to local government in England Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, Charminster is part of the Charminster St Mary's ward for elections to Dorset Council.

Facilities

As a relatively large village Charminster has an abundance of amenities, with three pubs, a village hall Retrieved 29 July 2022 and a community center with the former having seating capacity in the main hall of 100 seated 120 standing and a further 10 or so in other rooms, as well as a village green at Charminster house used for fetes and community celebrations, beyond this the village has a park and a numerous variety of shops and business with a previously mentioned church and a

First school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educa ...

References

External links

Villages in Dorset Geography of Dorchester, Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub