Leigh, Dorset

{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Dorset, England}} {{Use British English|date=June 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox UK place |static_image_name = Leigh, parish church of St. Andrew - geograph.org.uk - 473411.jpg |static_image_caption = Parish church of St Andrew |country = England |coordinates = {{coord|50.8756|-2.5445|display=inline,title}} |map_type = Dorset |official_name = Leigh |population = 480 |population_ref =<ref name=ons>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11125537&c=Leigh&d=16&e=62&g=6418357&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1392582416359&enc=1|title=Area: Leigh (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]|access-date=16 February 2011}}</ref> | unitary_england= [[Dorset (district)|Dorset]] | lieutenancy_england= [[Dorset]] |region = South West England |os_grid_reference = ST619086 |post_town = Sherborne |postcode_area = DT |postcode_district = DT9 |constituency_westminster = [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] |website = [http://www.leighvillage.org.uk/ Village website] }} [[File:Leigh, the cross - geograph.org.uk - 516463.jpg|thumb|240px|Leigh village cross]]

'''Leigh''' ({{IPAc-en|pron|l|aɪ}}<ref name=life>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2011/04/the-dorset-walk-chetnole-and-leigh|publisher=Dorset Life Magazine|date=April 2011|access-date=3 August 2012|author1=Matt Wilkinson|author2=Dan Bold|title=The Dorset walk – Chetnole and Leigh}}</ref>) is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[English county|county]] of [[Dorset]] in southern England, situated approximately {{convert|5|mi|km}} south-southwest of [[Sherborne]]. It is known as the site of a former [[Miz Maze]]. In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] the parish had a population of 480.

==History== One mile southeast of the village is a 10-acre enclosure called 'The Castle'. The physical remnants on the ground indicate the previous existence of a castle here, although there are no historical records for the site.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/02/some-lost-castles-of-dorset/|title=Some Lost Castles of Dorset|author=M A Rodger|date=February 2009|access-date=18 February 2014|publisher=Dorset Life Magazine}}</ref>

Leigh has a village cross with a shaft dating from the 15th century. The parish church, dedicated to St Andrew, was previously a chapel of neighbouring [[Yetminster]]. It also dates from the 15th century, though was substantially altered—including the virtual rebuilding of the [[chancel]]—in 1854.<ref name=Gant>{{cite book|title=Dorset Villages|author=Roland Gant|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|page=69|year=1980|isbn=0-7091-8135-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127240|title=Leigh, An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1: West (1952), pp. 130–132|publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust|work=British History Online|orig-year=1952|year=2014|access-date=19 February 2014}}</ref>

===Miz Maze=== In a field just south of the village are the remains of a turf labyrinth or "Miz Maze", an earthwork of uncertain origin that, centuries ago, may have been used for rituals and as a meeting place. The labyrinth was laid out on banks and in the 17th century was re-cut every year by the young men of the village.<ref name=Gant/> It was described in 1815 in the second edition of [[John Hutchins (antiquary)|Hutchins']] ''History of Dorset'': "On an eminence in the common, about a quarter of a mile south from the village, is a maze of circular form, surrounded by a bank and ditch, and occupying an eighth part of an acre. The banks of earth of which it is composed are set almost close together, and are somewhat more than one foot in width and about half a foot in height."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.labyrinthos.net/leighmizmaze.html|title=The Mizmaze at Leigh|author=Katherine Barker|access-date=18 February 2014|publisher=www.labyrinthos.net|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130707044606/http://www.labyrinthos.net/leighmizmaze.html|archive-date=7 July 2013|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Depositions from 1650–1664 state that the Miz Maze is where local [[witch]]es used to meet.<ref name=WDDC>{{cite book|title=West Dorset, Holiday and Tourist Guide|publisher=[[West Dorset District Council]]|year=c. 1983|page=10}}</ref> In 1879 the Dorset dialect poet [[William Barnes]] presented the Dorset Field Club with a paper in which he wrote "Many years ago I was told by a man of this neighbourhood that a corner of Leigh Common was called 'Witches Corner'; and long after that a friend gave me some old depositions on witchcraft ... one of the witches' sisterhood said that they sometimes met in Leigh Common."<ref name=Gant/> The last witch to be burned in England was reputed to have been arrested at a conference here in the 17th century and then executed at [[Maumbury Rings]] in [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]].<ref name=Gant/><ref name=WDDC/>

There used to be several of these labyrinths in Dorset, though this is the only one where traces still remain,<ref name=WDDC/> and even here there is little evidence except for small disturbances in the grass surface which can be felt underfoot.<ref name=life/>

==Government== The [[Parish councils of England|parish council]] has involvement in the maintenance of parish facilities and local issues such as planning applications and conservation. It works with the local police, and [[Neighbourhood Watch (UK)|neighbourhood watch]] groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. [[Dorset Council (UK)|Dorset Council]] is responsible for most of the local government services such as [[planning permission|planning decisions]] and [[Building regulations in the United Kingdom|building control]], local roads, [[council housing]], markets and fairs, [[environmental health]], refuse collection and [[recycling]], education, [[social services]], public transport, police and fire services, [[Trading Standards]], waste disposal and strategic planning.

Leigh is in the [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset parliamentary constituency]]. Along with other villages it falls within the Cam Vale Electoral Ward.

==Geography== [[File:Farmland view at Totnell Corner, south west towards Melbury Bubb - geograph.org.uk - 490038.jpg|thumb|240px|Meadow and pastureland south of the village]] Leigh is situated in the [[Blackmore Vale]], and measured directly, the village is {{convert|5|mi|km}} south-southwest of Sherborne, {{convert|6|mi|km}} southeast of [[Yeovil]] and {{convert|12|mi|km}} north-northwest of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]].<ref>John Bartholomew & Son Ltd, 1:100,000–scale National Map Series, Sheet 4: Dorset, published 1980</ref> The surrounding landscape is gently undulating and predominantly agricultural. The underlying geology is [[Oxford clay]] which here produces good quality pasture; the village was once known for producing cheese and [[cider]], with at one time every farm possessing an orchard.<ref>{{cite book|title=Portrait of Dorset|author=Ralph Wightman|author-link=Ralph Wightman|pages=18, 140|edition=4|year=1983|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|isbn=0-7090-0844-9}}</ref> One mile to the west of the village is the small Wriggle River, which drains into the [[River Yeo (South Somerset)|River Yeo]]. Approximately {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} to the south are the [[chalk]] hills of the [[Dorset Downs]].

The nearest railway stations are on the [[Heart of Wessex Line]] at [[Chetnole railway station|Chetnole]], {{convert|1.5|mi|km}} to the west-southwest, and [[Yetminster railway station|Yetminster]], {{convert|2|mi|km}} to the northwest. The nearest main roads are the [[A37 road|A37]], {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} to the west, and the [[A352 road|A352]], {{convert|2.5|mi|km}} to the east.<ref>[[Ordnance Survey]] 1:50,000 Landranger Map, Sheet 194: Dorchester & Weymouth, Cerne Abbas & Bere Regis, published 2010</ref>

==Demography== In the 2011 census the parish had 225 dwellings,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=11125537&c=Leigh&d=16&e=62&g=6418357&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1392752644600&enc=1&dsFamilyId=2481|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]|access-date=18 February 2011|title=Area: Leigh (Parish), Dwellings, Household Spaces and Accommodation Type, 2011 (KS401EW)}}</ref> 209 households and a population of 480.<ref name=ons/>

The population of the parish in the censuses between 1921 and 2011 is shown in the table below:

{| class="wikitable" style="width:800px;" ! colspan= "15" style="background:; color:" | Census Population of Leigh Parish 1921—2011 (except 1941) |- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:; color: height:15px;"| Census ! style="background:;"| 1921 ! style="background:;"| 1931 ! style="background:;"| 1951 ! style="background:;"| 1961 ! style="background:;"| 1971 ! style="background:;"| 1981 ! style="background:;"| 1991 ! style="background:;"| 2001 ! style="background:; | 2011 |- style="text-align:center;" ! style="background:; color: height:15px;"|Population | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 351 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 330 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 290 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 347 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 350 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 400 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 520 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 480 | style="background:#F2F2F2;"| 480 |- style="text-align:center;" | colspan="15" style="background:#F2F2F2; color: text-align:center;"| Source:Dorset County Council<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/345038|title=Parishes (A-L), 1921-2001- Census Years|publisher=[[Dorset County Council]]|access-date=1 March 2014|date=17 March 2010}}</ref> and Office for National Statistics<ref name=ons/> |}

In 1861 the parish population was 465.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/LeighFiles/1861Leigh.htm|title=Leigh|publisher=Dorset OPC Project|access-date=1 March 2014|year=2014}}</ref>

==Notes== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Leigh, Dorset}}

[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]