Fifehead Magdalen is a small village 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 ...
in the county of
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 ...
in southern
England
England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...
. It lies within the
Blackmore Vale
The Blackmore Vale (; less commonly spelt ''Blackmoor'') is a vale, or wide valley, in north Dorset, and to a lesser extent south Somerset and southwest Wiltshire in southern England.
Geography
The vale is part of the Stour valley and part of ...
, about south-southwest of
Gillingham and west of
Shaftesbury
Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...
. It is sited on
Corallian limestone
The Corallian Group or Corallian Limestone is a geologic group in England. It is predominantly a coralliferous sedimentary rock, laid down in the Oxfordian stage of the Jurassic. It is a hard variety of " coral rag". Building stones from this g ...
soil and surrounded by Oxford Clay, about from the west bank of the
River Stour. Its name means "the place of five hides dedicated to
tMagdalene". In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 80.
[ The village was a venue for stave dances.]
Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene
The Parish Church, dedicated to St. Mary Magdalene
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
after whom the village is named, dates mostly from the 14th century. However its most striking feature is the small "Newman chapel" built onto the north side of the nave sometime around 1693. It is believed to cover a vault containing the mortal remains of several members of the Newman family who were Lords there for many centuries. At first the family leased the Fifehead Tudor manor house from the Abbey of St Augustine's of Bristol, perhaps since 1408, but then bought the estate in the early 15th century.Evercreech
Evercreech is a village and civil parish in Somerset, England. The village is southeast of Shepton Mallet, and northeast of Castle Cary. The parish includes the hamlet of Stoney Stratton and the village of Chesterblade.
History
The village w ...
(1676–1721), his wife Frances, his son Sir Samwell Newman (c.1696–1747) and three daughters, Frances, Barbara and Elizabeth. This magnificent monument was created by the famous Westminster sculptor Sir Henry Cheere
Sir Henry Cheere, 1st Baronet (1703 – 15 January 1781) was an English sculptor and monumental mason.George Edward Cokayne, ed., ''The Complete Baronetage'', 5 volumes (no date, c.1900); reprint, (Gloucester: Alan Sutton Publishing, 1983), Vol. ...
and dates from between 1747 (when Sir Samwell Newman died) and 1763 (when his sister Barbara died).
In the churchyard, nearby the entrance gate, is the tombstone of Thomas Newman who died in April 1668, believed to be the great-uncle of Sir Richard Newman.
Notable residents
* Sir William Erle
References
External links
*
Villages in Dorset
{{Dorset-geo-stub