Knowlton is a hamlet in the civil parish of Woodlands, Dorset,

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It is about 6 miles north of town

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of Pool ...

, and about 1 mile south of the village of

Wimborne St Giles Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, north of Wimborne Minster and north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earls of Shaftesbury, Earl of Shaftesbury. ...

. Its most recognizable features are a ruined Norman church built within a

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

henge A henge can be one of three related types of Neolithic Earthworks (archaeology), earthwork. The essential characteristic of all three is that they feature a ring-shaped bank and ditch, with the ditch inside the bank. Because the internal ditches ...

monument.

Knowlton Circles

The henge enclosing Knowlton Church is only one of three henges (known as Knowlton Circles) and associated earthworks. However, Church Henge is the best preserved, and is maintained by

English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, a battlefield, medieval castles, Roman forts, historic industrial sites, Lis ...

. Nearby is Great Barrow, the largest round barrow in Dorset. Aerial photographs reveal a large number of ploughed-out barrows in the immediate vicinity.

Knowlton Church

Knowlton Church is a ruined building of unknown dedication standing near the centre of Church Henge. The earliest parts of the building are the 12th-century chancel and nave and there are 15th and 18th century additions and alterations.KNOWLTON CHURCH
Pastscape, retrieved 12 November 2013 The church was in use in 1550, however lack of use led to calls to demolish it in 1659. But it saw a revival after this time, and a north aisle was built in 1730. Later in the 18th century the roof fell in and the church was abandoned. The church is a Grade II* listed building. The nearby Victorian-built Church of the Ascension at Woodlands has a 12th-century circular stone font originally from Knowlton Church.

History of Knowlton

Early Christian activity at Knowlton is indicated by a mid-to-late

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

inhumation cemetery which was discovered to the east of Church Henge in 1958.MONUMENT NO. 213814
Pastscape, retrieved 12 November 2013 Excavations located sixteen burials within chalk-cut graves, some aligned east-west. Knowlton is recorded 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 ...

of 1086–87 as ''Chenoltone''.

Winfrith Newburgh Winfrith Newburgh (), commonly called just Winfrith, is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is about west of Wareham and east of the county town Dorchester. It was historically part of the Winfrith hundred. In the 2011 Census ...

, East or West

Lulworth Lulworth is the popular name for an area on the coast of Dorset, South West England notable for its castle and cove. However, there is no actual place or feature called simply "Lulworth", the villages are East and West Lulworth and the coastal f ...

, "Wintreborne" and Knowlton were held by

King William King William may refer to: People Bimbia * William I of Bimbia * William II of Bimbia () Britain and Ireland * William of England (disambiguation), multiple kings * William I, King of Scots (–1214), also known as William the Lion German Empir ...

; they were previously held by

King Edward King Edward may refer to: Monarchs of England and the United Kingdom * Edward the Elder (–924) * Edward the Martyr (–978) * Edward the Confessor (–1066) * Edward I of England (1239–1307) * Edward II of England (1284–1327) * Edward III o ...

. The Domesday Book also records two hides of the land of the

Count of Mortain The County of Mortain was a medieval county in the Duchy of Normandy in France centered on the town of Mortain, disputed between France and England during parts of the Hundred Years' War. A choice landholding, usually either kept within the family ...

in Knowlton, named as ''Chenoltune'' in the book, held by Ansgar, which was held by Æthelmær in the time of

. This land paid geld, was enough for one plough with one slave and one bordar, a mill paying 12s6d, and was worth 25s. The site of the ancient village of Knowlton (as opposed to the present day hamlet) is located 500 metres west of Knowlton Church along Lumber Lane at the banks of the River Allen.KNOWLTON
Pastscape, retrieved 12 November 2013 There is little to be seen on the ground, but aerial photos do show the village layout.

References

External links

{{Commons category, Knowlton, Dorset
Knowlton Church and Earthworks
English Heritage Hamlets in Dorset East Dorset District