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Dorset |
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 Nearby places |
The parish of Marnhull is situated in the deanery of Shaftesbury and the hundred, petty sessional division and unions of Sturminster Newton; it is bounded on the north and east by Fifehead Magdalen, Todber and Margaret Marsh, then West Orchard with Manston on the south east, on the south is Hinton St Mary with a very small section of Sturminster Newton, to the west is Stalbridge; the north western corner of the parish forms part of the Dorset/Somerset border. The whole parish lies within the level area known as the Vale of Blackmore which has always been noted as a prime area for dairy farming. The parish is bordered on nearly three sides by the River Stour and two streams, the Cale and the Lyddon join the Stour in the parish. Marnhull, itself is a scattered village, spreads along several roads. There are said to be 42 miles of roads and lanes in the parish and many footpaths. Early Iron Age settlements have been excavated in the parish and Roman artifacts have been found. Thornton in Marnhull was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Torentone. For a long time, until the Dissolution the parish was under the jurisdiction of Glastonbury Abbey and was part of the Manor of Gillingham. Today it is still an attractive and quiet agricultural area, many visitors are attracted to Marnhull due to it featuring in Thomas Hardy's Tess of D'Urbervilles as 'Marlott'.
The main burial ground in the parish is at St Gregory's church. Some headstones in the Burial Ground at St Gregory's can be seen on-line at the OPC Marnhull page of photographs.
War Memorial. Information on those from Marnhull who were commemorated for their service in the two World Wars is available on-line, inscription details and a photograph are included.
The parish church is located in the village of Marnhull and is dedicated to St Gregory. The earliest surviving parts of the church date from the Norman period, but it has been much added to and altered throughout the centuries. Today it comprises a chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch with a square embattled tower with four pinnacles containing 5 bells. The nave roof is a very fine example of 15th century Tudor woodwork. The church underwent the usual Victorian restoration in 1887, two bells were recast at that time and a clock placed in the tower.
Roman Catholic Church of St Mary. There is a long history of Catholocism in the parish. What happened between the Dissolution and the 17th century is not certain, but from 1651 when the Hussey's bought Nash Court there was always a Catholic priest in Marnhull or the adjacent area. A meeting room existed from 1725 and the present church was built in 1832. In 1886 the adjoining Priory of St Joseph was constructed.
Methodists. A Wesleyan Chapel was built in New Street in 1829 on the site of a woolcombing shed which had been the previous meeting place. In the middle of the 19th century the Primitive Methodists began to meet in various houses at Pilwell, a chapel was built, but when this became too small a larger one was constructed in 1899. The Congregationalists started to meet and a large loft opposite the Post Office was initially used as a chapel, this had an inscription 'Independent Chapel 1849'. A chapel was constructed in Sackmore Lane from 1852.
Rectors. There is a list of rectors of the parish dating from 1254 on line and priests of the Roman Catholic church from 1725 on line.
Michael Day provides pictures and bibliography for Marnhull church dedicated to St. Gregory as a part of UKOLN: The UK Office for Library and Information Networking, University of Bath. There are also photographs of St Gregory's on the Marnhull Photographs page of the OPC site.
The Dorset Record Office holds the following registers:- Baptisms 1559 - 1992, Banns 1754-1969, Marriages 1560 - 1984, Burials 1560 1992
The LDS Church has film of the Bishop's Transcripts 1731 1880 Film No. 1239211, and film of a transcript of the Roman Catholic register 1772-1826 Film No. 599721.
The parish of Marnhull fell within the Old Sturminster Registration District. These registers are now held at the North Dorset Register Office at Blandford.
"The Dorset Page" for Marnhull provides some information on the parish. The page of Marnhull Photographs on the OPC site provides views of the church, village and area.
The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a web site with a considerable number of parish transcriptions on it, there is a search engine. Further assistance is often available from the OPC by e-mail contact. This service only started in April 2003, so available information may be limited, all OPC are volunteers giving their time freely to this project in order to help fellow researchers. The OPC for Marnhull is Lynda Mudle-Small, she may be contacted from the Marnhull page on the OPC site.
There are various militia and muster rolls at the Dorset Record Office. The Militia List for Marnhull for 1799 is on-line.
Marnhull was part of the Sturminster Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief. Visit the The Workhouse web site for details and photographs of the Sturminster Workhouse. The Overseers Accounts date from 1699 and the Churchwarden's Accounts for 1781-1881 survive, there are lists of rates paid in the former accounts. There are settlement, apprenticeship and bastardy papers from other parishes that mention Marnhull (see A2A site). There is also one of the Rector's own account books which dates from 1727 as well as some other rents books including those for the Sherborne School which held lands in the parish. The Dorchester Museum holds invoices sent to the Marnhull Overseers by various tradesmen. Churchwardens Accounts have been filmed by the LDS, Film No. 1565580 and Overseers Accounts Film No. 1526227
There is a further explanatory Leaflet about the Poor Law available.
The parish comprises 3751 acres of land.
Land Tax Assessments from 1780 to 1832 are available at the Dorset Record Office. Some of these have been transcribed and are on the Marnhull Land Tax Records page on the OPC site.
Tithe maps and the apportionments are also available at the DRO.
Marnhull inhabitants also feature in the Hearth Tax records held at the National Archives and the DRO.
There is an extract of the names of the men from Marnhull who were eligible to vote and are in the 1807 Poll Book, on line. The Dorset Record Office also holds an annual list of voters 1838 - 1844 and the electoral roll for 1901 - 1922