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 below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
in west
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, situated on the
River Cerne
The River Cerne is a ten mile long 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 t ...
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 northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island ...
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
Charlton Down is a new village in Dorset, England, situated approximately north of the county town Dorchester. It lies within the civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It i ...
.
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 to ...
, was the place of origin of Richard Norman and family, one of the Planters of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...
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 is 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 the county of 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 Dorchest ...
to Minterne Magna
Minterne Magna is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated midway between Dorchester and Sherborne. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 184. The village is sited near the source of the River Cerne among the chalk ...
. The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,768.
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 houseFirst 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 educ ...
References
External links
Villages in Dorset
Geography of Dorchester, Dorset
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