Toller Fratrum () is a very small village and
civil parish in
Dorset, England, near
Maiden Newton, anciently in
Tollerford Hundred.
The name is taken from the village's situation on the brook formerly known as the Toller, now called the
Hooke. The addition ''Fratrum'' is the
Latin for ''of the brothers'' and refers to the mediaeval ownership of the manor by the
Knights Hospitaller, which distinguishes it from the other Tollers, namely
Toller Porcorum and
Toller Whelme
Toller Whelme is a small hamlet in Dorset, England, situated in the civil parish of Corscombe approximately east of Beaminster, north of Bridport and north-west of Dorchester. There are seven homes in the hamlet: West Farm, Norcombe Hayes ...
. It is often referred to as ''Little Toller''.
The village has a notable 16th-century farm house, ''Little Toller Farm'', built largely by John Samways, who acquired the estate in 1540. The farm house was later occupied by the Fulford family. The church of
Saint Basil was rebuilt in the 19th century but possesses not only an unusual
Norman font
In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design.
In mod ...
, carved with archaic figures, but also a
relief of Saint
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 cru ...
of the same period. Sir
Francis Fulford, who acquired
Toller Fratrum through marriage into the Samways family, was buried here in 1664.
The independent book publisher, Little Toller Books, is based in the village.
Dorset County Council's latest (2013) estimate of the population of the parish is 10.
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]
References
External links
Dorset Historic Churches Trust - Picture
Village page
Villages in Dorset
{{Dorset-geo-stub