Worth Matravers

Worth Matravers is a small village 3½ miles S.S.E. from Corfe Castle bounded by the English Channel on the south and the nearby seaside Swanage 4 miles east. The parish in 1898 comprised of an area of 2,645 acres and the soil being stiff clay with overlying limestone.

The church, St Nicholas of Myra, stands close to the centre of the stone-built village and is one of the oldest in Dorset. With a Saxon door blocked up in the 12th century the church is memorable for its Norman nave, tower and windows and Early English chancel. It was extensively restored in 1869 after it had become so dilapidated that services had to be held in the village school. In the churchyard is the grave of Benjamin Jesty, a Dorset yeoman reputed to be the first person to inoculate anyone with cowpox to ward off smallpox. View some photos of the church while listening to the bells of St Nicholas.

The 12th Century chapel of St Aldhelm which stands on St Aldhelm's Head overlooking the English Channel is thought to have once been a chantry where a priest would celebrate mass for the safety of sailors. It is also now believed that the chapel may have been built on an earlier timber structure that was the centre of a pre-Conquest Christian enclosure.

Photo displayed with kind permission of Michael Day.

For centuries Worth Matravers was one of the main centres for the quarrying of Purbeck marble, and surface workings of the old quarries can be seen in the hills around the village. The dark grey marble supports the tower and spire of Salisbury Cathedral.

The population of Worth Matravers in 1891 was 229. In 1991 it was 603.

 

The Online Parish Clerk for Worth Matravers is Sue Mills

Any enquiries please contact by email at the following:

I am an unpaid volunteer willing to assist others with their genealogical research
and should in no way be confused with the County Council appointed Parish Clerk.

I live in Western Australia.

*** My photo restoration service Mend My Memories  ***NEW***
Old photos digitally restored

 

 

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17th Century Records

 

Parish Registers - Lookups available for the following years.*

 

  • Burials - 1584 - 1880 - Name Index *

On-line Transcription - Donated by Barry Chinchen

1584 - 1841

Possible Omissions and Corrections
 

  • List of Vicars - 1321 - 1873

 

Militia List -

 

Census Returns -

  • Full transcription of 1803 list of names of inhabitants in preparation for a French Invasion -

Page 1

  • Full transcription of 1841 census -

Page 1 - Page 2

  • Full transcription of 1851 census -

Page 1 - Page 2

  • Full transcription of 1861 census -

Page 1 - Page 2

  • Full transcription of 1871 census - Page 1
     

  • Full transcription of 1891 census - Page 1
     

 

Wills -

  • Abstracts of PCC Wills - Page 1

  • Calendar of Wills and Administrations
    - Archdeaconry and Consistory Court - 1664 - 1852

  • Abstracts of Archdeaconry Court of Dorset Wills - Page 1

 

Directories -

  • Post Office Directory - 1867
  • Kelly's Directory - 1895
  • Kelly's Directory - 1915 

Maps -

  • Tresswell's Map C 1586
  • Worth Matravers Village Auction - 1919

 

Photos -

 

  • Worth Matravers of Olde - ***More added***
  • Memorial Inscriptions - 1
  • Purbeck Folk  - 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 *** NEW 

  • Worth Matravers Village Auction - 1 - 2 - 3 - Plan ***NEW***
      
     Special thanks to Martin Ayres and Jean Smith

 

Suggested Reading -

 

Researchers -    

  • List of those researching in Purbeck
    To be added to the list contact

     

Links -

  • List of Purbeck Stone Mines - 1896
  • List of Dorset Mines - 1908

 

Other OPC Parishes - Swanage - Langton Matravers - Studland - Church Knowle

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