West Knighton, Dorset

West Knighton is a village and civil parish in south Dorset, England, situated 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of the county town Dorchester. It has an 11th-century church and a village pub. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 375.[1]

West Knighton

West Knighton
West Knighton
Location within Dorset
Population375 [1]
OS grid referenceSY733875
Unitary authority
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDorchester
Postcode districtDT2
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

The village name derives from the Old English cniht and tūn, meaning the village or farmstead of the young men or retainers.[2] At Little Mayne Farm 0.5 miles (0.80 km) southwest of the village is the site of a deserted medieval village, which was recorded in the Domesday Book as Maine[3] and in 1201 was known as Parva Maene.[4]

West Knighton parish historically developed out of the amalgamation of four medieval settlements within the ancient hundred of Cullifordtree:[5] the existing main village, the previously mentioned Parva Maene, another medieval settlement at Friarmayne to the south—also deserted and now within neighbouring Broadmayne civil parish[6]—and the fourth at Lewell to the north (now just a farmhouse).[7]

References
  1. "Area: West Knighton (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  2. David Mills, ed. (2011). A Dictionary of British Place Names. Oxford University Press. p. 281. ISBN 978-0-19-960908-6. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  3. http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SY7286/mayne/ Open Domesday: Mayne
  4. West Dorset, Holiday and Tourist GUide. West Dorset District Council. c. 1982. p. 21.
  5. Open Domesday: Cullifordtree
  6. Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 map
  7. "'Knighton, West', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 2: South East (1970), pp. 135-140". British History Online. University of London & History of Parliament Trust. November 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2014.


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