{{short description |Parish in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | official_name = | country = England | region = South West England | static_image_name = Frome Vauchurch, parish church of St. Francis of Assisi - geograph.org.uk - 445156.jpg | static_image_caption = [[St Francis' Church, Frome Vauchurch|Parish church of St Francis of Assisi]] | population = 160 | population_ref = <ref name=dcc>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|title=Parish Population Data|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=28 February 2015|publisher=Dorset County Council}}</ref> | os_grid_reference = SY599972 | coordinates = {{coord|50.7734|-2.5701|display=inline,title}} | post_town = Dorchester | postcode_area = DT | postcode_district = DT2 | dial_code = 01300, 01308 | constituency_westminster = [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] | unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] | lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] }} '''Frome Vauchurch''' is a parish in the county of [[Dorset]] in southern [[England]], situated approximately {{convert|7|mi|km}} northwest of the county town [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]. It includes the [[Hamlet (place)|hamlets]] of Frome Vauchurch, Higher Frome Vauchurch, Lower Frome Vauchurch and Tollerford. Frome Vauchurch is sited in the [[River Frome, Dorset|Frome valley]] amongst the [[chalk]] hills of the [[Dorset Downs]]. The parish is adjacent to the village of [[Maiden Newton]], with which the parish's hamlets are virtually contiguous. [[Dorset County Council]]'s latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 160.<ref name=dcc/>
The [[Frome Valley Trail]] and the [[Macmillan Way|Mackmillan Way]] [[long-distance trail]]s pass through the parish.<ref>{{Cite web|title=LDWA Frome Valley Trail|url=https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Frome+Valley+Trail|access-date=22 November 2021|website=Long Distance Walkers Association}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=LDWA Macmillan Way|url=https://ldwa.org.uk/ldp/members/show_path.php?path_name=Macmillan+Way+-+Boston+to+Abbotsbury|access-date=22 November 2021|website=Long Distance Walkers Association}}</ref>
Frome Vauchurch was the home of the writers [[Sylvia Townsend Warner]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Dorset Villages|author=Roland Gant|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|year=1980|page=141|isbn=0-7091-8135-3}}</ref> and [[Valentine Ackland]].<ref name="observer-20210404">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/04/gay-communist-female-why-mi5-blacklisted-the-poet-valentine-ackland |title=Gay, communist, female: why MI5 blacklisted the poet Valentine Ackland |last=Thorpe |first=Vanessa |newspaper=The Observer |date=4 April 2021 |access-date=4 April 2021}}</ref> They moved into a house called Riversdale beside the [[River Frome, Dorset|River Frome]] in 1937, which they first rented and later bought.<ref>{{Cite web |title=At home in Dorset – The Sylvia Townsend Warner Society |url=https://townsendwarner.com/about-sylvia-townsend-warner/dorset |access-date=2022-06-01 |language=en-GB}}</ref>
The [[Parish church|Parish Church]] of St Francis is originally 12th century but was substantially rebuilt in the 17th century and restored in c.1879, and is a Grade II* [[listed building]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Church of St Francis, Frome Vauchurch |num=1288446|accessdate=2021-11-17}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
== Further reading ==
* From the Ash Tree, Materials for a History of Maiden Newton and Frome Vauchurch, 1997, Edited by H E Wells-Furby, CSC Design & Reprographic * Maiden Newton & Frome Vauchurch, A Short Walk and Guide, 2009, Judith Smith
== External links == {{Commons category|Frome Vauchurch}}
* [https://www.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk/your-council/parish-and-town-councils/parishatoz/-/ddl_display/ddl/424728/274688/maximized Frome Vauchurch Parish Meeting page] on [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset Council]] website
[[File:Higher Frome Vauchurch Sign.jpg|thumb|Sign at the entrance to Higher Frome Vauchurch on the A356 showing its name in a larger [[font]] than the neighbouring larger village of [[Maiden Newton]].]] {{Dorset}}
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[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]
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