England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Powerstock St Mary

The Parish

The parish of Powerstock lies in southwestern Dorset about 5 miles northeast of the port & resort of Bridport. Powerstock is a small and compact village which sits within an area devoid of significant major roads, the closest such being the A35, over 3 miles to the south, which connects Bridport with Dorchester. Powerstock sits within the incised upper valley of the Mangerton River which restricts most of the village properties to the northern banks where a wider flood-plain exists, lanes leading in all other directions being steep and climbing markedly. In addition to the main village subsidiary settlements further up-valley can be found at Nettlecombe and down at West Milton. The parish's economy would have been dominated by pastoral farming with both sheep, on higher downland, and cattle, in the valley being dominant, some arable, largely for cereals, was also present, a more dominant land use today. Modern developments have come and gone from Powerstock, a branch railway line from Bridport to Maiden Newton cut through the parish but has been closed and largely dismantled. The Mangerton River drains the parish westwards before turning south through Bridport to join the Brit just short of reaching the English Channel. Powerstock is sited at between 50 & 80 metres above the sea, its lane climbing to the north lined by cottages, land rises steeply away from the Mangerton River onto high downland where local heights of 252 metres are met on nearby Eggardon Hill. Powerstock parish was large by Dorset standards, covering roughly 4,100 acres it would have supported a population of around 1,000 parishioners. In Domesday times both Powerstock & Nettlecombe were recorded, the latter was a holding of Cerne Abbey, the former of Roger Arundel; collectively their assets totalled 10 ploughs with extensive meadows, pastures & woodland

The Church

St Mary's church sits at the heart of Powerstock village on the eastern side of the complex junction of School & Dugbery Hills with Kings Lane. The church is notable for its Norman chancel arch, a thankful relic considering the chancel, itself, was completely rebuilt in the 1850s. Pevsner describes this 12th century Norman Romanesque piece as "the most elaborate" in Dorset and gives a tentative date of before 1150. Since the Norman times there have been two main waves of rebuilding, the first from the great church building era of the 14th & 15th centuries saw the arcade of the Decorated style from the early 14th century whilst the southern doorway and western tower are typical Perpendicular pieces of the latter half of the same century. The second wave came with the Victorians who besides rebuilding the chancel in an Early English Gothic style also added a northern aisle to complete today's building. There are ample street parking places along School Hill. The church site is elevated some considerable distance above road level with a tall wall buttressing the side facing School Hill, the main entrance sits around to the east where an elaborate stone arched gateway grants access, the churchyard has a few close trees to both southwest and southeast limiting the angles normally favoured but enough remain for the photographer.