{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | static_image_name = Batcombe, parish church of St. Mary - geograph.org.uk - 500397.jpg |static_image_caption = Batcombe parish church of St Mary | official_name= Batcombe | country= England | region= South West England | population = 120 | population_ref = (2013 estimate) | os_grid_reference= ST617038 | map_type= Dorset | coordinates = {{coord|50.8347|-2.5437|display=inline,title}} | post_town= DORCHESTER | postcode_area= DT | postcode_district= DT2 | dial_code= 01305 | constituency_westminster= [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] | civil_parish= Batcombe <!-- you can use the template {{mi to km|(enter data)|precision=0}} to help convert miles to km automatically; both are displayed --> | unitary_england= [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] | lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] | website= http://www.batcombe.co.uk/ }} [[File:Cross and Hand - geograph.org.uk - 81222.jpg|right|thumb|The "Cross in Hand" on [[Batcombe Down]]]] [[File:Newlands Farm - geograph.org.uk - 489835.jpg|right|thumb|Newlands Farm with its archway dated 1622]]
'''Batcombe''' is a small straggling [[village]] and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in [[Dorset]], [[England]], situated {{convert|12|mi|km}} north-west of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] below the northern [[Escarpment|scarp slope]] of the [[Dorset Downs]]. The name Batcombe derives from the [[Old English]] ''Bata'', a man's name, and ''cumb'', meaning valley. In 1201 it was known as ''Batecumbe''.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&q=batcombe+dorset+dictionary+british+place+names&pg=PA46|title=A Dictionary of British Place Names|editor=David Mills|page=46|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2011|accessdate=2 June 2014|isbn=978-0-19-960908-6}}</ref> The local travel links are located {{convert|3|mi|km}} from the village to [[Chetnole railway station]] and {{convert|31|mi|km}} to [[Bournemouth Airport]]. The main road running through the village is Stile Way. [[Dorset County Council]]'s 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish was 120.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|title=Parish Population Data|publisher=Dorset County Council|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=17 February 2015}}</ref> The civil parish is served by High Stoy Parish Council, which also covers [[Hermitage, Dorset|Hermitage]] and [[Hilfield]] parishes.<ref>[http://www.highstoypc.org.uk/ High Stoy Parish Council]</ref>
== Parish church == The church of St Mary Magdalene is on an ancient site. There has probably been a church there from the 11th century.{{citation needed|date=October 2015}} The current building comprises a [[chancel]], [[nave]] and 15th-century tower. The interior contains a [[Baptismal font|font]] that has a [[Norman architecture|Norman]] column (made from [[Ham Hill, Somerset|Ham Hill]] stone) with a cube-shaped limestone basin (probably made from [[Portesham]] stone); the basin is probably older than the column. The church interior also contains an elaborate stone screen, which is also made from Ham Hill stone.<ref name=bath>{{cite web|url=http://people.bath.ac.uk/lismd/dorset/churches/batcombe.html |title=Batcombe (St. Mary Magdalene) |accessdate=8 October 2015 |url-status = dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20101121171954/http://people.bath.ac.uk/lismd/dorset/churches/batcombe.html |archivedate=November 21, 2010 }}</ref>
== Cross-in-Hand == Above the village rises [[Batcombe Down]] and, further east, Gore Hill, near the top of which is a small stone pillar known as the Cross-in-Hand (or Cross and Hand).<ref name=gant>{{cite book|title=Dorset Villages|author=Roland Gant|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|page=70|year=1980|isbn=0-7091-8135-3}}</ref><ref>Ordnance Survey 1:25,000 Pathfinder map, sheet 1299 (ST60/70), published 1986</ref> The pillar, a Grade II [[Listed building (United Kingdom)|listed]] structure and a [[Scheduled Ancient Monument]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-105331-the-cross-and-hand-batcombe-dorset|title=The Cross and Hand, Batcombe|work=British Listed Buildings|publisher=britishlistedbuildings.co.uk|date=|accessdate=3 June 2014}}</ref> is a little over {{convert|1|m|ft}} in height and may date from before the [[Norman Conquest of England|Norman Conquest]], as do other shafts such as the [[Pillar of Eliseg]].<ref name=bho>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127189|title='Batcombe', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1: West (1952), pp. 15-17|work=British History Online|date=November 2013|publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust|accessdate=3 June 2014}}</ref> At one time there may have been a hand carved on one face, but nothing is visible today,<ref name=bho/> though the pillar has acquired stories about images of a ghostly hand being seen grasping a bowl at its top.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britainexpress.com/attractions.htm?attraction=2850 |title=Batcombe, Dorset - History, Travel, and accommodation information |publisher=Britainexpress.com |date= |accessdate=2015-04-05}}</ref> [[Thomas Hardy]] used the pillar in his novel ''[[Tess of the D'Urbervilles]]'', in a scene in which Alec d'Urberville instructs Tess to "put your hand upon that stone hand, and swear that you will never tempt me—by your charms or ways."<ref name=gant/> The pillar also features in Hardy's poem "The Lost Pyx".<ref name=gant/>
== Manor house == The Minterne family was for a long time the Lords of the Manor and Newlands Farm was the [[manor house]] between the 16th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/BatcombeFiles/Batcombe.htm|title=Batcombe|accessdate=2 June 2014|publisher=Dorset OPC Project}}</ref> The front roadside wall of the farmhouse has an [[ashlar]] [[hamstone]] archway dating from 1622.
== Folklore == The parish church is the subject of one of Dorset's more curious tales, in which the local squire—who was known as '[[Conjuring Minterne]]'—once rode his horse off [[Batcombe Down|Batcombe Hill]] and knocked off one of the pinnacles on the tower.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thedorsetpage.com/locations/place/B020.htm|date=2000|publisher=Thedorsetpage.com|accessdate=|title=(No title)}}</ref> He dabbled in magic and was regarded with a great deal of fear and superstition locally. After setting off to ride over steep Batcombe Hill one day, he suddenly remembered he had left his magic book open on the table, where his servants might find it. To save going back by the road, he turned his horse round and spurred it to attempt a massive leap over the church, knocking off the pinnacle as he soared clear over the tower. The fearful villagers were afraid that they might offend the [[devil]] by repairing the damage, so for a hundred years they left it alone. When it was repaired, they repaired it at a crooked angle. It is said that Minterne vowed that he would be buried neither in nor out of the church, so he was buried half in and half out of the Minterne Chapel. Much of the church was rebuilt by [[John Hicks]] in 1864, which resulted in the loss of the Minterne chapel. The memorial tablets were repositioned on the north side of the tower.<ref name=bath/>{{dead link|date=June 2014}}
A "conjurer" used to be an important character in a [[Dorset]] village, and was generally of good reputation. He was supposed to be gifted with supernatural power, which he exercised for good, and by his incantations and ceremonies he cured many sicknesses.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Batcombe, Dorset}}
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[[Category:Villages in Dorset]] [[Category:Civil parishes in Dorset]]