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

The Parish

The parish of Stratton lies in the southwest of central Dorset about 3 miles northwest of the town of Dorchester. Stratton is a small village lying in the valley of the River Frome, it formerly sat on the route of the busy A37 road which connects Dorchester with the Somerset town of Yeovil but that road now bypasses the village to the north leaving the main street quiet for local traffic. Given its valley site and placement on a former trunk route it is not surprising that Stratton is quite linear being built along the valley for a half mile or so. The main economy of this area at the time of this transcript would have been pastoral farming, cattle on the valley bottom and sheep on the extensive chalk downlands which surround the village to both north and south. The Frome drains the parish towards the southeast to reach the English Channel through Poole Harbour. Stratton is sited at around 70 metres above the sea but sits in a deeply incised valley, rounded chalk downlands rise to local heights in excess of a 100 metres higher with a mile or two of the village. Stratton parish was of a fairly typical size for the area, it covered around 1,700 acres and would have supported a population of just over 300 parishioners. There is no mention of Stratton in Domesday book.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the southern side of the former route of the A37 now the Dorchester Road. The church makes much use of the local stone giving a slightly shaggy appearance. The church's origins lie far back in the late 12th century, Pevsner dating the doorways to the nave to that period, he also places the chancel arch as 13th century. Much else was masked by the restoration of the 1890s which saw the chancel completely rebuilt and many other features renewed to hide their dating evidence, it is likely that much else from the building dates from the 16th century. Internally the wooden cage for the tower stairs is quite a notable feature. The church sits behind a low local stone wall and an arched lychgate grants access, once inside there are few impediments to photography.