Place:Compton Valence, Dorset, England

Watchers
NameCompton Valence
Alt namesContonesource: Domesday Book (1985) p 93
Compton-Vallencesource: former spelling
East Comptonsource: alternate name
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates50.733°N 2.567°W
Located inDorset, England
See alsoFrampton Liberty, Dorset, Englandancient division to which it belonged
Dorchester Rural, Dorset, Englandrural district 1894-1974
West Dorset District, Dorset, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area 1974-2019
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Compton Valence (#7 on map) is a civil parish and a very small village in Dorset, England. It lies within the West Dorset District administrative area, approximately 7 miles (11 km) west of the county town of Dorchester. It is sited at the head of a narrow valley, formed by a small tributary of the River Frome, and is surrounded by the hills of the Dorset Downs, which has led to it having been described as "a pocket of habitation in the downs." Dorset County Council estimated that in 2013 the population of the parish was 50.

The parish church has a 15th-century tower, but the rest of the building was rebuilt in 1838–1839 by Benjamin Ferrey.

The following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72 is provided by the website A Vision of Britain Through Time (University of Portsmouth Department of Geography).

"COMPTON-VALLENCE, or East Compton, a parish in Dorchester [registration] district, Dorset; 2½ miles SW of Grimstone and Frampton [railway] station, and 6½ WNW of Dorchester. It has a post office, of the name of Compton-Vallence, under Dorchester. Acres: 1,296. Real property: £1,498. Population: 136. Houses: 26. The property is all in one estate. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury. Value: £300. Patron: R. Williams, Esq. The church is an edifice of 1840, in the later English style, after designs by Ferrey."

Compton Valence takes its alternate name of East Compton from the fact that it has a neighbouring parish of West Compton (#25), formerly known as "Compton Abbas" although there is another parish of that name in Dorset.

Image:Dorchester RD 1900 small.png

Governance

Compton Valence was originally a parish in the Frampton Liberty, one of the early subdivisions of the county of Dorset. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of the Dorchester Rural District.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, all urban and rural districts across England were abolished and counties were reorganized into metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts. Compton Valence joined the non-metropolitan West Dorset District.

Under the local government reforms adopted on 1 April 2019, West Dorset Dorset District was abolished, and the county of Dorset (excluding Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole) became a single unitary authority. The area is now administered by Dorset Council.

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Compton Valence. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.