Spetisbury

Spetisbury (/ˈspɛtsbəri/) is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour and the A350, four miles (six kilometres) southeast of Blandford Forum.

Spetisbury
Village
Church of St John the Baptist
Spetisbury Location within Dorset
Population	590
OS grid reference	ST911026
Unitary authority	Dorset
Shire county	Dorset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Blandford Forum
Postcode district	DT11
Dialling code	01258
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	North Dorset
List of places UK England Dorset 50°49′16″N 2°07′33″W / 50.8212°N 2.1259°W / 50.8212; -2.1259

According to the Domesday Book of 1086, the village had 30 households.^[1][2] According to the 2011 census the parish had 224 households and a population of 555.^[3] According to the 2021 census, the parish had 250 households and a population of 590.^[4]

Spetisbury is a linear settlement, adjacent to the A350 road, which was included in Dorset County Council's response to the Major Roads Network (MRN) consultation, leading to some anticipation of a bypass of Spetisbury and neighbouring Charlton Marshall.^{[5][additional citation(s) needed]} A large solar farm was commissioned near Spetisbury in 2023 to provide energy for the City of London Corporation.^[6][7]

Spetisbury is twinned with Le Vast, a village in the Manche department of Normandy, France. The Manche department is itself is twinned with Dorset.^[8]

Etymology

Spetisbury takes its name from the Old English words speoht (woodpecker) and byrig (a fort).^{[citation needed]} Woodpeckers are commonly found in the village, and there is an Iron Age fort.

Buildings and history

Spetisbury Rings

 

Spetisbury Rings

Spetisbury is home to the Iron Age fortifications known as Spetisbury Rings (previously known as Crawford Castle). Spetisbury Rings is the third in a series of Iron Age earthworks, after Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill, before Buzbury Rings, Badbury Rings, Dudsbury Camp and the port at Hengistbury Head.^[9] In the 1850s, during the construction of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, two mass graves were found contained over 80 skeletons. At least two of these had been killed violently.^[2] Alongside skeletons, a large number of items, including seaxes and spearheads, were discovered.^[10][11][12] The hillfort is a scheduled monument.^[13]

St John the Baptist

 

Inside St John the Baptist

The parish church of St John the Baptist lies on the west side of the A350. The north arcade dates from the late 12th or early 13th century and the tower (with a ring of six heavy bells) from the late 15th or early 16th century. Most of the church was built in 1858, before Thomas Henry Wyatt restored the building in 1895. The church was built with a mixture of building stones, chiefly knapped flint. The early-17th-century pulpit has ornate panelled sides, including cherub heads. The font was made of Purbeck marble, and is likely the same age as the tower. In the north wall, there is an early 17th-century monument to John Bowyer, who died in 1599. In the churchyard, close to the porch, is the three-sided pyramid gravestone of Thomas Rackett, rector of the village and Charlton Marshall for 60 years. The church is a Grade 1 listed building and the Rackett monument and octagonal memorial to the fallen of WWI and WWII are both Grade 2 listed.^{[10][14][15][16][17][18][19]}

Crawford Bridge

 

Crawford Bridge crossing the River Stour

The B3075 crosses the River Stour at Crawford Bridge. The bridge was built in the medieval period and widened in 1819. It has nine semicircular arches and is a Grade 1 listed building.^[20]

St Monica's Priory

Main article: St Monica's Priory, Spetisbury

See also: Spetisbury Priory

In 1800, an 18th-century country house in the village was acquired by some Augustinian nuns (of the Congregation of Windesheim). The priory was then occupied by various religious groups including Brigittines (Syon nuns), Canons Regular of the Lateran and Ursulines. Although most of the original building was destroyed, some still remains and forms part of the village hall. There had previously been a house of Benedictine monks in the village.^[10][21]

Spetisbury Station

 

Spetisbury Station, before restoration

Main article: Spetisbury railway station

The village has a disused railway station on the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The station opened in 1860, but was one of four stations on the Dorset section of the line closed as an economy measure in 1956 before the whole railway closed for passengers in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe. The route is now a footpath.^[2]

Spetisbury School

Dr Charles Sloper, rector of the parish, bequeathed £500 in his will to found a school in Spetisbury. Sloper also funded the construction of the village's rectory. Sloper's bequest complemented money given by John Hall to buy bibles. In 1733, a Christian school was founded in the village. This was before the introduction of compulsory state education. In 1862, it moved to its current building, next to the parish church. It is now called Spetisbury CofE Primary School, formerly Spetisbury (Hall and Sloper) School. During the Second World War, the school building was used as a radar base by the Royal Air Force.^[16][22][23]

The Woodpecker

There have been at least five pubs in the village, but all are now closed. The last was called "The Woodpecker", before it ceased trading in early 2019.^[2][24]

References

1. "Spetisbury". Domesday Book. from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
2. Taylor, Ann. "History of Spetisbury". Spetisbury Parish Council. from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
3. "Spetisbury Parish - Local Area Report". Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics. from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
4. "Spetisbury facts and figures - E04003437 - ONS". Office for National Statistics. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
5. Percival, Richard (19 June 2018). "Bid for northern Dorchester bypass to curb congestion". Dorset Echo. from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
6. Goldman, Andrew (19 June 2023). "Large new solar park unveiled on Dorset farmland". Bournemouth Echo. from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
7. "Dorset solar park starts providing power to buildings 100 miles away". BBC News. 18 June 2023. from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
8. "Members". Dorset Twinning Association. from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
9. Jardine, David E. C. (1 January 1985). Hill Forts of the Stour Valley (1st ed.). Bournemouth Local Studies Publications. ISBN 978-0-906287-60-6.
10. "Spetisbury". British History Online. from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
11. Austin, Matthew (September 2014). "Rethinking Hardown Hill: Our Westernmost Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery?". The Antiquaries Journal. 94: 49–69. doi:10.1017/S0003581514000250. S2CID 163113153.
12. "Collections Online - Spetisbury". British Museum. from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
13. "Slight univallate hillfort called Crawford Castle, Spetisbury - 1004563". Historic England. from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
14. "St John the Baptist Church". Spetisbury Parish Council. from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
15. "CHURCH OF ST JOHN, Spetisbury - 1305220". Historic England. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
16. Hutchins, John (1774). The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. pp. 189–194. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
17. Newman, John; Pevsner, Nicholas (1975). The Buildings of England: Dorset, by J. Newman, N. Pevsner. Penguin Books. pp. 394–5. ISBN 978-0-14-071044-1. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
18. "Spetisbury War Memorial, Spetisbury - 1441320". Historic England. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
19. "RACKETT MONUMENT, IN THE CHURCHYARD, 2 METRES SOUTH OF PORCH OF ST JOHN'S CHURCH, Spetisbury - 1110162". Historic England. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
20. "CRAWFORD BRIDGE, Spetisbury - 1305264". Historic England. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
21. Stead, Sue. "St. Monica's Priory". Google Sites. from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
22. "Hall and Sloper". Spetisbury CofE Primary School. from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
23. "CEDAR COURT, Spetisbury - 1110160". Historic England. from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
24. Bevins, Trevor (6 November 2021). "APPROVED: Former pub to be converted into homes". Dorset Echo. from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Spetisbury.

• Spetisbury Parish Council
• Spetisbury CofE Primary School, founded in 1733
• Spetisbury Station Project
• History of St Monica's Priory
• Archaeological finds from Spetisbury in the British Museum
• Walks around Spetisbury
• Walk to Spetisbury Rings