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

The Parish

The parish of Turnworth lies in north central Dorset about 5 miles west of the market town of Blandford Forum. Turnworth is little more than a hamlet, a straggle of properties along a lane running from north to south along a dry valley within the Dorset Chalk Downs. Turnworth sits about 3 miles west of the A357 road which connects Blandford Forum through to Wincanton in Somerset. The economy of Turnworth would have been underpinned by farming with pastoral in dominance, the chalk hills being natural countryside for sheep grazing. Sitting on porous chalk there is no surface drainage but eventually as the dry valley runs southward the River Winterbourne appears, this joins the Stour near Sturminster Marshall and the English Channel through Christcurch Harbour. Turnworth is sited at around 140 metres above the sea, chalk hills rise all around to reach close to 260 metres on the nearby Wessex Trail at Bell Hill. A relatively small parish of around 1,600 acres Turnworth would only have supported a population of fewer than 100 parishioners. In Domesday times Turnworth was held by one Alfred of Spain and was an equally small place offering 5 ploughs and small meadows, pastures & woodland.

The Church

St Mary's church sits on the western side of the main lane running through Turnworth towards the southern end of the properties. The church consists of two ages having been largely rebuilt during the late 1860s. Only the western tower remains of the mediaeval it being 15th century and Perpendicular in style. The remainder of the building is Victorian and of little architectural interest to Pevsner who's description covers a mere 5 lines of text, only the capitals in French Early Gothic style inspired detailed comment. The church sits in a slightly elevated position behind a mid-height flint & brick wall, the lane is quite narrow but a verge is present permitting careful parking. The churchyard is open and obstruction free for photography.