Bishop's Caundle is a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

. It is situated south-east of

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo (South Somerset), River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish include ...

. The local travel links are located from the village to

Sherborne railway station Sherborne railway station serves the town of Sherborne in Dorset, England. It is situated on the West of England Main Line, down the line from and is currently operated by South Western Railway (train operating company), South Western Railway ...

and to

Bournemouth International Airport Bournemouth Airport (previously known as Hurn Airport and Bournemouth International Airport) is an international airport located north-northeast of Bournemouth, England. The site opened as RAF Hurn in 1941, but was transferred to civil cont ...

. The main road running through the village is the A3030, connecting Bishop's Caundle to

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council was the county council of Dorset in England. It was created in 1889 and abolished in 2019. Throughout its existence, the council was based in Dorchester. Bournemouth and Poole were made independent from the county counci ...

's 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish is 390.

History

Older documents sometimes refer to the village as Caundle Bishop, although the origin of the name is unclear. The original settlements that are still present within Bishop's Caundle parish are Bishop's Caundle and Wake Caundle. Until 1886 the parish contained parts of the neighbouring parish of Caundle Marsh, and there were parts of Bishop's Caundle parish within Caundle Marsh and Folke parishes. Cornford Bridge over Caundle Brook dates from around 1480 and is one of less than 200 medieval multi-span bridges to survive in England. According to

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

' humorous 1983 dictionary "

The Meaning of Liff ''The Meaning of Liff'' is a humorous dictionary of toponymy and etymology, written by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, published in the United Kingdom in 1983 () and the United States in 1984 (). Content The book is a "dictionary of things ...

", a Bishop's Caundle is "An opening gambit before a game of chess whereby the missing pieces are replaced by small ornaments from the mantelpiece."

Governance

In the United Kingdom national parliament, Bishop's Caundle is in the West Dorset parliamentary constituency, which is currently represented by

Edward Morello Robin Edward Charles Morello is a British politician who has been the Member of Parliament for West Dorset since 2024. A member of the Liberal Democrats, he gained the seat from Chris Loder, a member of the Conservative Party. Morello is an ...

of the Liberal Democrats. In

local government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of governance or public administration within a particular sovereign state. Local governments typically constitute a subdivision of a higher-level political or administrative unit, such a ...

, Bishop's Caundle is governed by Dorset Council at the highest tier, and Bishop's Caundle Parish Council at the lowest tier. In national parliament and local council elections, Dorset is divided into several

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

. In county council elections, Bishop's Caundle is in Sherborne Rural Electoral Division, one of 42 divisions that elect councillors to Dorset County Council.

Religious sites

The team rector asserts that parish church has no known dedication although many mistakenly confuse it with the church of St Peter and St Paul at Caundle Marsh a mile and a half away. Parts of the building date from the 14th century and it has been designated as a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

. The parish is part of the Three Valleys

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

within the

Diocese of Salisbury The Diocese of Salisbury is a Church of England diocese in the south of England, within the ecclesiastical Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers the historic county of Dorset (which excludes the deaneries of Bournemouth and Christchurch, ...

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Dorset