Charminster is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in west

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of ...

, England, situated on the River Cerne and A352 road north of the county town Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 2,940 and also contains the hamlet of

Charlton Down Charlton Down is a new village in Dorset, England, situated approximately north of the county town Dorchester. It lies within the civil parish of Charminster Charminster is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated on ...

. The village name derives from the River Cerne and the small 'minster' church of St Mary, resulting in "Cerneminster" (recorded in 1223), which eventually evolved into Charminster. The village, which includes Wolfeton House, was the place of origin of Richard Norman and family, one of the Planters of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

in America, who arrived there in ca. 1626. Scientist Margaret Bastock died in the village in 1982, aged 62. Charminster is in the Charminster and Cerne Valley electoral ward, which stretches from the northern outskirts of Dorchester through

Cerne Abbas Cerne Abbas () is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Dorset Council administrative area in the Cerne Valley in the Dorset Downs. The village lies just east of the A352 road north of Dorche ...

Minterne Magna Minterne Magna is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated midway between Dorchester and Sherborne. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 184. The village is sited near the source of the River Cerne among the chal ...

. The total population of this ward at the 2011 census was 4,768.

Facilities

As a relatively large village Charminster has an abundance of amenities, with three pubs, a village hall Retrieved 29 July 2022 and a community center with the former having seating capacity in the main hall of 100 seated 120 standing and a further 10 or so in other rooms, as well as a village green at Charminster house used for fetes and community celebrations, beyond this the village has a park and a numerous variety of shops and business with a previously mentioned church and a

First school Three-tier education refers to those structures of schooling, which exist in some parts of England, where pupils are taught in three distinct school types as they progress through the education system. Terminology In a three-tier local educa ...

References

External links

Villages in Dorset Geography of Dorchester, Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub