Description
Stalbridge, a small town and a parish in Dorsetshire. The town stands on an affluent of the river Stour, with a station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, 116 miles from London, and 6 E by N from Sherborne. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Blandford. It was known at Domesday as Staplebridge, contains a beautiful ancient cross, about 30 feet high, and has four inns, two banks, and a fortnightly market on Thursday, and fairs on 6 May and 4 Sept. The parish includes four tithings. Acreage, 5882; population, 1705. There is a parish council of eleven members and a chairman. The manor belonged to Sherborne Abbey; passed to the Seymours, the Audleys, the Boyles, and the Walters, and belongs now to Lord Stalbridge. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £900 with residence. Patron, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. The church is a stone building in the Perpendicular style, and has been enlarged and restored at great cost. There are Congregational and Wesleyan chapels. Stalbridge gives the title of Baron to a member of the Grosvenor family.
Parish Church
The church of St. Mary is a building of stone, chiefly in the Late Perpendicular style, stands on a commanding position at the north end of the town, and is a conspicuous landmark in the vale of Blackmore; it consists of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, transepts, organ chamber and vestry, south porch and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells: it was considerably enlarged in 1840, and in 1866 the tower was entirely rebuilt at a cost of £2,000 by the late Rev. W. Boucher, of Thornhill: further work to the North and West sides of the church yard, and levelling of ground was carried out by Mr George Curtis, the local master mason, in 1874 at a total cost of £83 13s 0d. The costs were broken down as follows: West Side, £38 14s 0d; North Side, £34 9s 0d, Levelling Grounds, £10 10s 0d., £44 4s 0d having been paid on account in advance, leaving £39 9s 0d due to Mr George Curtis as at 2nd April 1874. In 1926 the bells were rehung and retuned (one being recast), at a cost of £450 by Messrs. Mears and Stainbank: in 1878 the church underwent an entire restoration under the direction of Mr. T.H. Wyatt, architect, when it was reseated with open benches and the length of the nave increased by one bay: in 1928 the roof timbers were extensively replaced and protected against dry rot and beetles; there are 500 sittings.
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Photographs
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| The Swan Inn | High Street | Stalbridge Cross | Red Lion Court formerly Red Lion Inn |
