# Charborough > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Charborough > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Charborough.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charborough > Source revision: 1345480993 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) **Charborough** is an historic former [parish](/source/Parish) and [manor](/source/Manorialism) in Dorset, England. It survives today as a hamlet, situated on an affluent of the [River Stour](/source/River_Stour,_Dorset), 6 miles west of [Wimborne Minster](/source/Wimborne_Minster),[1] but without any of its former administrative powers, and is today part of the parish of [Morden](/source/Morden,_Dorset). The surviving former parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary.[2] The [manor house](/source/Manor_house) survives as [Charborough House](/source/Charborough_House). ## St Mary's Church The mediaeval church of the former parish of Charborough was situated to the immediate south-west of the [manor house](/source/Manor_house) (in its latest form Charborough House). The mediaeval church was demolished and rebuilt on the same site ([50.78018°N 2.10752°W](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=50.78018_-2.10752)) in 1775 in the [Gothic Revival](/source/Gothic_Revival_style) style,[3] by [Thomas Erle Drax](/source/Thomas_Erle_Drax), and dedicated to [St Mary](/source/St_Mary), and was remodelled in 1837 by John Sawbridge Erle-Drax who in 1826 had married the heiress Sarah Frances Erle-Drax of Charborough,[4] and had assumed her surname and [arms](/source/Coat_of_arms). It faces almost due east, as is usual, whilst the front facade of the house faces north-east. It is a [grade II* listed](/source/Listed_building) building, but the listing relates only to its furnishings.[5] Today it serves as a [mausoleum](/source/Mausoleum) and burial place for the Drax family, the functioning parish church being at Morden. Above the door of a small arched building nearby is an inscription, dated 1686, commemorating the meeting of the "Patriotic individuals who concerted the plan of the Revolution in 1688". ## Charborough Tower Charborough Tower is a Grade II* listed octagonal [folly tower](/source/Folly_tower) dating from 1790, extended in 1839 into a five-storey building. It is situated on a hill southeast of the house ([50.77753°N 2.10178°W](https://geohack.toolforge.org/geohack.php?params=50.77753_-2.10178)),[6] with the vista of a triumphal way running between them.[7] Charborough with its tower is the model for "Welland House" in the novel *[Two on a Tower](/source/Two_on_a_Tower)* by [Thomas Hardy](/source/Thomas_Hardy).[8] ## Descent of the manor The manor is listed in the [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086.[9] It was later acquired during the reign of Queen [Elizabeth I](/source/Elizabeth_I_of_England) (1558–1603) by the Erle family whose eventual heiress Frances Erle married [Sir Edward Ernle, 3rd Baronet](/source/Sir_Edward_Ernle,_3rd_Baronet) (c.1673–1729). It descended by various further female lines to the present (notional)[10] [lord of the manor](/source/Lord_of_the_manor) [Richard Drax](/source/Richard_Drax),[11] the [Conservative](/source/Conservative_Party_(UK)) [Member of Parliament](/source/Member_of_Parliament) for [South Dorset](/source/South_Dorset_(UK_Parliament_constituency)) since 2010, a member of the [quadruple-barrelled surnamed](/source/Compound_surname) family of [Plunkett](/source/Baron_of_Dunsany)-[Ernle](/source/Ernle)-Erle-Drax. The Erle (*alias* Earl, Earle, etc.) family originated in east [Devon](/source/Devon) and moved to neighbouring Dorset in about 1500, but soon died out in the male line. Female co-heiresses brought the Erle estates to various other families. ## References 1. Wilson, John M., *Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales*, London, 1870 1. ["Parish Church of Saint Mary, Charborough, Morden, Dorset"](http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-108403-parish-church-of-saint-mary-charborough-) 1. [Listed building text](http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-108403-parish-church-of-saint-mary-charborough-#.WGA3JX25Qqf) 1. [www.historyofparliamentonline.org](http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1820-1832/member/erle-drax-grosvenor-richard-1797-1828) 1. Newman, John & Pevsner, Nikolaus (1997). *The Buildings of England: Dorset*. London: Penguin. pp. 139–141. ISBN 0-14-071044-2. 1. ["Letter from Hardy to Bertram Windle, transcribed by Birgit Plietzsch, from CL, vol 2, pp 131-133"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070102192023/http://www.yale.edu/hardysoc/images/maps/windle.htm#). Archived from [the original](http://www.yale.edu/hardysoc/images/maps/windle.htm#) on 2007-01-02. Retrieved 2016-12-25. 1. [Charborough House - Domesday Book](http://www.charborough.co.uk/) 1. Manors and [manorial courts](/source/Manorial_court) were largely abolished on the abolition of feudal tenure in the [Tenures Abolition Act 1660](/source/Tenures_Abolition_Act_1660) 1. [Biography from Great British Life](http://dorset.greatbritishlife.co.uk/article/meeting...richard-drax-5878/)[dead link] --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Charborough](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charborough) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charborough?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.