Place:Fordington, Dorset, England

the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Fordington is now a part of the town of Dorchester, Dorset; originally a separate parish and village; it became a part of the municipal borough in 1900. Taking its name from a ford across the River Frome, it grew up around the church of St. George, though the parish was much larger and surrounded Dorchester on three sides. It was part of the liberty of Fordington.

A Vision of Britain through Time provides the following description from John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales of 1870-72:

"FORDINGTON, a suburban village, a parish, and a liberty, in Dorset. The village is suburban to Dorchester; stands on Icknield street and the river Frome, adjacent to branches of the Southwestern railway; partakes in the trade and interests of Dorchester; and was itself, at one time, a market-town. The parish is in Dorchester district, and partly within Dorchester borough; and contains Dorchester workhouse. Post town: Dorchester. Acres: 2,749. Real property: £9,200. Population: 3,258. Houses: 538. Population of the part within Dorchester borough: 3,172. Houses: 533.

"The manor was held, in the time of Edward III., by the queen dowager, Isabella; passed to the Black Prince, as Duke of Cornwall; and, with nearly all the land, belongs now to the Prince of Wales. Fordington Field here comprises 1,657 acres; continues to be unenclosed; and affords pasturage, on its stubbles, to large flocks of sheep. A Roman camp, and a well preserved amphitheatre, are in the parish; and a road in it has, from time immemorial, been called Icen-lane; and seems to have got that name from its connexion with Icknield street or the Via Iceniana. A raised causeway, 1,980 feet long., in improvement of a bad road into the village, was formed, in 1747, by Mrs. Pitt, of Kingston House, at a cost of £1,500; and, at the same time a three-arched bridge was constructed over a branch of the Frome. A Roman bath, some coins, and a great number of skeletons were found at the forming of the causeway. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value: £325. Patron: the Prebendary of Fordington. The church is noticed in our article on Dorchester. The The vicarage of West Fordington is a separate benefice.

"The liberty is partly in Dorchester [registration] division, and partly in Cerne [registration] division. Acres: 3,041. Population: 405. Houses: 53."