{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | official_name = Bishop's Caundle | local_name = | unitary_england = [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset]] | lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] | country = England | region = South West England | static_image_name = Bishop's Caundle - geograph.org.uk - 380051.jpg | static_image_caption = Bishop's Caundle | population = 390 | population_ref = <ref name=dcc>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|publisher=Dorset County Council|title=Parish Population Data|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=24 February 2015|archive-date=26 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181226025552/https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/344882|url-status=dead}}</ref> | os_grid_reference = ST693129 | map_type = Dorset | coordinates = {{coord|50.91554|-2.43697|display=inline,title}} | post_town = Sherborne | postcode_area = DT | postcode_district = DT9 | dial_code = 01963 | constituency_westminster = [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] | civil_parish = Bishop's Caundle | london_distance = {{convert|129|mi|km|0}} | website = }}
'''Bishop's Caundle''' is a [[village]] and [[civil parish]] in [[Dorset]], [[South West England]]. It is situated {{convert|6|mi|km}} south-east of [[Sherborne]]. The local travel links are located {{convert|4|mi|km}} from the village to [[Sherborne railway station]] and {{convert|28|mi|km}} to [[Bournemouth Airport]]. The main road running through the village is the [[A3030 road (Great Britain)|A3030]], connecting Bishop's Caundle to [[Sherborne]]. [[Dorset County Council]]'s 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish is 390.<ref name=dcc/>
==History== Older documents sometimes refer to the village as '''Caundle Bishop''', although the origin of the name is unclear.<ref>{{cite web|title=Bishop's Caundle Parish Plan|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/103904/Bishop-Caundle-Parish-Plan/pdf/Bishop_Caundle_Parish_Plan.pdf|publisher=Dorset County Council|accessdate=26 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160828080327/https://www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk/media/103904/Bishop-Caundle-Parish-Plan/pdf/Bishop_Caundle_Parish_Plan.pdf|archive-date=28 August 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref>
The original settlements that are still present within Bishop's Caundle parish are Bishop's Caundle and Wake Caundle. Until 1886 the parish contained parts of the neighbouring parish of [[Caundle Marsh]], and there were parts of Bishop's Caundle parish within Caundle Marsh and [[Folke]] parishes.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol3/pp13-16 |title='Bishop's Caundle', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 3, Central (London, 1970), pp. 13-16 |publisher=University of London |work=British History Online |accessdate=25 February 2015}}</ref>
Cornford Bridge over [[Caundle Brook]] dates from around 1480 and is one of less than 200 medieval multi-span bridges to survive in England.<ref>{{cite web|title=Cornford Bridge|url=https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1324112|website=National Heritage List for England|publisher=Historic England|accessdate=26 August 2016}}</ref>
According to [[Douglas Adams]]' humorous 1983 dictionary "[[The Meaning of Liff]]", a Bishop's Caundle is "An opening gambit before a game of chess whereby the missing pieces are replaced by small ornaments from the mantelpiece."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Adams|first1=Douglas|last2=Lloud|first2=John|title=The Meaning of Liff: The Original Dictionary Of Things There Should Be Words For|date=2013|publisher=Pan Macmillan|isbn=9780752227597|page=16|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-VMnAAAAQBAJ&dq=Bishop%27s+Caundle+The+Meaning+of+Liff&pg=PA194}}</ref>
==Governance== In the [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|United Kingdom national parliament]], Bishop's Caundle is in the [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset parliamentary constituency]], which is currently [[Member of Parliament|represented]] by [[Edward Morello]] of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]]. In [[local government]], Bishop's Caundle is governed by [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset Council]] at the highest tier, and Bishop's Caundle Parish Council at the lowest tier.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/bishopscaundle-pc |title=Bishop's Caundle Parish Council |publisher=Dorset County Council |work=dorsetforyou.com |date=12 December 2014 |accessdate=5 October 2015}}</ref>
In national parliament and local council elections, Dorset is divided into several [[Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom|electoral wards]].<ref name=electoral>{{cite web |url=http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/76/made |title=The West Dorset (Electoral Changes) Order 2015 |publisher= |work=legislation.gov.uk |accessdate=5 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/councillorgould/west |title=Gould, Robert |publisher=Dorset County Council |work=dorsetforyou.com |date= |accessdate=5 October 2015}}</ref> In county council elections, Bishop's Caundle is in Sherborne Rural Electoral Division, one of 42 divisions that elect councillors to Dorset County Council.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/390881 |title=Electoral division profiles 2013 |publisher=Dorset County Council |work=dorsetforyou.com |date= |accessdate=5 October 2015}}</ref>
==Religious sites== The team rector asserts that parish church has no known dedication although many mistakenly confuse it with the church of St Peter and St Paul at Caundle Marsh a mile and a half away. Parts of the building date from the 14th century and it has been designated as a Grade I [[listed building]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Church of St Peter and St Paul|url=https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1118887|website=National Heritage List for England|publisher=Historic England|accessdate=26 August 2016}}</ref> The parish is part of the Three Valleys [[benefice]] within the [[Diocese of Salisbury]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Bishop's Caundle: (Dedication unknown), Bishop's Caundle|url=https://www.achurchnearyou.com/bishop-caundle-dedication-unknown/|website=A Church Near You|publisher=Church of England|accessdate=26 August 2016}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|position=left|Bishop's Caundle}}
{{Dorset}}
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[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]