Sturminster Marshall 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 east

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, situated on the River Stour between

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and it ...

and

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council ...

. The parish had a

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using ...

of 1,895 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census and includes the village of Almer () west of Sturminster Marshall, near Winterborne Zelston and the hamlet of Henbury to the south-east of the village. The village is twinned with the French commune of Sainte-Mère-Église in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. The appropriate electoral ward is called 'Stour'. From ''Sturminster Marshall'' the ward goes east to Pamphill, with a total population of 2,582. King Alfred the Great, in his will of 899, a copy of which can be seen at the

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the Briti ...

, left the village to his youngest son Æthelweard (c.880-922). Sturminster Marshall has a 13th century church, St. Mary's. Its predecessor contributed to the village's name; 'Sturminster' meaning "church on the River Stour". The second part of the name came from William Marshall. Until 1857, St. Hubert's Church in Corfe Mullen acted as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ease is deliberately b ...

to Sturminster Marshall.''St Huberts History''
at parishofcorfemullen.com. Retrieved 4 March 2021.

Village amenities

Sturminster Marshall has a playing field with a children's playground in one corner. Nearby is the Memorial Hall which offers a meeting-space for many village societies. There is also an old school hall which is also used as a meeting-space. There are many walks around the village including the

Stour Valley Way The Stour Valley Way is a long-distance footpath in southern England. From Stourton, Wiltshire, the path travels southeast through Dorset to Hengistbury Head near Christchurch. The path uses public rights of way and permissive paths to foll ...

, which follows the Stour right from the source to the sea. The village has two pubs: the ''Red Lion'' within the village and the ''Golden Fox'' on the outskirts. The village has a cricket club with a side in Dorset division 3. There is also a football club with a senior side and several junior teams.

References

External links

2001 Census dataSMYFC
Villages in Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub