Symondsbury, Dorset

Description
Symondsbury, a parish in Dorsetshire, 1 1/2 mile W by N of Bridport station on the G.W.R. Post town, Bridport. Acreage, 3893; population, 1186. There is a parish council consisting of nine members and a chairman. The manor belongs to the Earl of Ilchester. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; gross value, £823 with residence. The parochial church is Perpendicular and cruciform. Two churches have been erected at Broadoak and Eype.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5

Parish Church
The church of St. John the Baptist is an ancient cruciform edifice of stone, in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave, transepts, south porch and a central embattled tower containing a clock and 5 bells: William Gulston, bishop of Bristol, d. 1684, is buried in the church: there are two stained windows: the church affords 450 sittings.

The register dates from the year 1558.