Description
Sturminster Marshall, a village and a parish in Dorsetshire. The village stands on the river Stour, near Bailey Gate station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, 4 miles W of Wimborne Minster, was once a market-town, and has a post and money order office under Wimborne; telegraph office, Bailey Gate railway station, and an eight-arched bridge. The parish contains Coombe Almer tithing, and comprises 3995 acres; population, 806. There is a parish council consisting of seven members. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £156 with residence. Patron, Eton College. The church is an ancient structure of stone.
Parish Church
The church of St. Mary is an ancient edifice of stone, partly Norman, and consisting of chancel, nave of six bays, north aisle, south porch, and an embattled western tower, with pinnacles, containing a clock and 6 bells, which were rehung in 1911 in a new steel frame at the expense of C. E. Parke esq.; two new bells were given by the late Mrs. S. T. Courtney and the late R. Courtney esq.: a new organ was provided in 1907, at a cost of about £450: the church was restored in 1860, and affords 468 sittings.
The register dates from the year 1563 and has been printed.
Villages, Hamlets, &c.
Cogdean, a hamlet in Dorsetshire. It is in Sturminster-Marshall parish, and lies 2 miles SW of Wimborne-Minster.
Coombe-Almer, a tithing in Sturminster-Marshall parish, Dorsetshire, 4 1/2 miles W of Wimborne-Minster.
