Fontmell Magna, a small village in the county of Dorset, lies some 80m above sea level on the eastern side of the Blackmore Vale. The presence of many springs and streams (used as a source of power for mills) was responsible for the development of the village whose origin can be traced back to the…

Prominent among the memorials in the graveyard of St Andrew’s Parish Church is the one erected for Lieutenant Philip Salkeld, V.C. (1830-1857) of the Bengal Engineers, who died on 11th October 1857 at Delhi. He was ‘wounded mortally’ in blowing open the Kashmir Gate, and received the Victoria Cross on the battlefield. In his dispatch…

In several important aspects of village life in the 19th century, Fontmell Magna experienced significant changes. Prominant among these were the establishment of the village school, the development of self-help welfare organizations and the impact of the legislation concerning the care of the poor. An article on the village school will appear later on our…

“It was James, and all those wives caused so much confusion” so said a member of the Edwards family, speaking of James Edwards (1777-1843). He had married four times. His first wife, Dinah Hunt (1780-1810), had four children, and his second, Abigail Spinney (1780-1830), had six. Thus the Edwards family name became very well known…

After the 1914-1918 war Sir Richard Fitzgerald Glyn owned much land and property south of Shaftesbury, mainly in the parishes of Compton Abbas and Fontmell Magna. He had inherited the estate from his father Sir Richard George Glyn who had died in 1918 after 55 years of the economic control of the village. Like many…

The original document of the first meeting of the Parish Council is held at the Dorset County Record Office, Dorchester to whom we are grateful for permission to publish this transcription. The Fontmell Magna Village Archive Society holds a photocopy of the original manuscript. At the first Parish Meeting of Parochial Electors for this Parish…

During his time as Rector of Fontmell Magna the Rev. Charles Pigott Edmonds held annual tea parties for the villagers and their children in the rectory garden, but in August 1923 an additional celebratory party was held for the elders of the village who were 80 years of age or more, and he hired a…

There have been Methodist chapels in three parts of the parish.  Fontmell Village Chapel This is the oldest Methodist chapel still in use in Dorset. Built in 1797, opened 1798, it stands on the corner of Church Street and Lurmer Street, next to the post office, opposite the war memorial. It cost £720 to build,…