England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Shapwick St Bartholomew

The Parish

The parish of Shapwick lies in eastern Dorset about 5 miles southeast of the market town of Blandford Forum. Shapwick is a small village sitting on the eastern banks of the River Stour and a half mile east of the A350 road which connects Blandford Forum with Poole. Most of the properties within Shapwick are aligned upon a rising lane heading east eastwards from the river towards Badbury Rings, a prominent Iron Age fort on the nearest high ground. Shapwick would have had a largely pastoral farming economy, cattle on the watermeadows of the Stour and sheep on the chalky slopes above and east. The Stour drains the parish southeastwards reaching the English Channel through Christchurch Harbour. Shapwick is sited at around 30 metres above the sea but has a valley setting, chalk downs rise to local heights of almost exactly 100 metres on Badbury Rings. Dorset parishes are relatively small and Shapwick at around 3,000 acres was not exceptional, that acreage would have supported a population of close to 450 parishioners. In Domesday times Shapwick was a much larger place, retained by King William, himself, it would have held an impressive 27 ploughs as well as meadows, pastures & woodland and an equally impressive 8 mills, it was one of the largest 20% of settlements recorded in the book and a much more prominent place than today's small rural village.

The Church

St Bartholomew's church sits right beside the Stour at the end of the dead-end lane of Church Street accompanied by pretty thatched cottages. A church of four ages representing the classic architectural styles prevalent in each era. The northern doorway is Norman Romanesque and 12th century, the nave & western tower are later and early 14th century when the Decorated style was in vogue. A northern chapel in Perpendicular style contributes from the late 14th century whilst the chancel is almost entirely a Victorian rebuild. Church Street end in a small car park making access easy, the church sits behind a mixture of hedging and local stone walls with a gravelled path leading to it, the churchyard has few obstructions to photography.