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Marnhull

Dorset

Marnhull is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Blackmore Vale, three miles (five kilometres) north of Sturminster Newton. The resort towns of Bournemouth and Weymouth are approximately 30 miles (50 kilometres) south. Marnhull is sited on a low ridge of Corallian limestone above the valley of the River Stour, which forms the northern and western boundaries of the parish. In the 2011 census the parish had 962 dwellings, 905 households and a population of 1,998.Marnhull consists of several conjoined hamlets, connected by a network of minor roads. The village presents a mix of architectural styles, with post-war developments existing alongside properties dating back to Tudor times and earlier. It has three churches (Anglican, Roman Catholic and Methodist), two primary schools, two public houses, a GP surgery, a village hall and a recreation ground, as well as various small shops and services. The parish church of St Gregory has a 15th-century tower which is a landmark and has been described as "the finest in the Vale."The Bottle Inn on the outskirts of Marshwood is home to the world stinging nettle eating championships. It is also the 2016 Regional (Dorset, Hampshire, Wiltshire & the Channel Islands) CAMRA winner for its range & quality of ciders & ales.The names of places in this area are frequently muddled, with published sources providing different information. Melcombe Bingham is the name of the current village, though in the fields near the church there is an abandoned medieval village called Bingham's Melcombe, and this latter name is sometimes used to describe the church and its adjacent manor. Writing in 1980, writer Roland Gant stated "whichever form I use, I always find that the person to whom I am speaking uses the other". Either way, the name of both the civil and ecclesiastical parishes is Melcombe Horsey. There are two manor houses within the parish: the one by the church owned for six hundred years (until the late 19th century) by the Bingham family and another a couple of miles to the west in a coombe at Higher Melcombe (which is also called Melcombe Horsey by some sources). Between the two manors is another settlement, situated along the road running north into the neighbouring parish of Hilton. This settlement is called either Hartfoot Lane or Ansty (including Lower Ansty, Ansty Cross, Higher Ansty, and Little Ansty), and, according to the Ordnance Survey, at its southern end it merges into part of Melcombe Bingham.Melcombe Horsey parish has an area of 2,151 acres. Its population in 1871 was 190 and in 1911 only 151. The parish church, St. Andrew's, is located at the southeastern edge of the parish and its records date to 1690.Merley has a Non-League football club Merley Cobham Sports F.C. who play at Cobham Sports and Social Club.Thomas Hardy described Milborne St Andrew as "Millpond St Jude's" in his novel Far From the Madding Crowd. Weatherby Castle is the 'tower' of Hardy's novel Two on a Tower.Every two years, villagers recreate their historic country fair to celebrate the rebuilding of the present village over 225 years ago. The fair attracts thousands of visitors and has become one of Dorset's key summer events. The main street is closed to traffic, and residents and stall holders dress in 18th-century costume. The day includes traditional music and dancing, local crafts people, stalls and demonstrations, a Dorset farmers' market, children's entertainment, Morris dancing, and local food and ale.The district was notorious for smuggling as early as 1680, and a preventive officer of the Revenue Service was already stationed 'att the haven of Christchurch in 1719, in addition to the officer stationed in the town. Orders were issued in 1725 for two officers to be stationed 'at the Havens Mouth' and provided with a boat. There being no other buildings there, it is likely that these officers occupied some of the Haven House buildings from this time. Certainly, sometime after the foundation of the Coastguard service in 1822 the whole of the Haven House was leased by the Government from the manor of Somerford to house a Chief Officer, Boatmen, and their families. In 1784 the Inn played a central role in the Battle of Mudeford, a violent conflict between a gang of smugglers and naval Revenue officers. This period saw the growth of Mudeford as a fashionable seaside resort for the well-to-do and Humby refurbished and enlarged the Haven House as a sea-bathing lodging-house.

Wikipedia: The free encyclopedia. (2004, July 22). FL: Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.wikipedia.org

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