Melbury Bubb

{{Short description|Hamlet in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |static_image_name = Melbury Bubb, parish church of St. Mary - geograph.org.uk - 517739.jpg |static_image_caption = Parish church of St Mary |coordinates = {{coord|50.8571|-2.5753|display=inline,title}} |map_type = Dorset |official_name = Melbury Bubb |population = 40 |population_ref = <ref name=dcc>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882 |title=Parish Population Data |publisher=[[Dorset County Council]] |date=20 January 2015 |accessdate=7 March 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102112421/https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882 |archivedate=2 November 2014 }}</ref> |unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] |lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] |region = South West England |os_grid_reference = ST596065 }} [[File:Batcombe Hill - geograph.org.uk - 912239.jpg|thumb|Bubb Down Hill (centre left) seen from [[Batcombe Hill]]]] '''Melbury Bubb''' is a small village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[English county|county]] of [[Dorset]] in [[South West England]], situated approximately {{convert|7|mi|km}} south of the town of [[Sherborne]]. It is sited on [[Cornbrash]] limestone<ref>{{cite book|author=Ralph Wightman|author-link=Ralph Wightman|title=Portrait of Dorset|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|year=1983|page=18|edition=4|isbn=0 7090 0844 9}}</ref> beneath the [[chalk]] hills of the [[Dorset Downs]]. The [[A37 road|A37 trunk road]] between [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] and [[Bristol]] passes about {{convert|0.5|mi|km}} to the west, on the other side of Bubb Down Hill. This hill used to be the site of a [[beacon]]. The first half of the village name derives from ''maele'' and ''burh''—[[Old English]] for "multi-coloured" and "fortified place"—and the second half is a manorial name which derives either from a [[Anglo-Saxons|Saxon]] resident named 'Bubba' or from [[Middle Ages|medieval]] lords of the manor.<ref name=opc>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/MelburyBubbFiles/MelburyBubb.htm|title=Melbury Bubb|accessdate=7 March 2014|publisher=Dorset OPC Project}}</ref> [[Dorset County Council]]'s latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 40.<ref name=dcc/>

The parish church of St Mary has a 15th-century tower but the rest of the building was largely rebuilt in a 19th-century [[Victorian restoration|restoration]]. Its [[Baptismal font|font]] however is carved out of the column of an upturned Saxon cross; it is elaborately carved, although the carvings are upside-down.<ref name=opc/><ref>{{cite book|title=Dorset Villages|author=Roland Gant|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|year=1980|page=69|isbn=0 7091 8135 3}}</ref> Families were often noted as owners in books, for instance: the Blain family recently sold the property, despite occupying it for just shy of 100 years.

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==External links==

[[Category:Hamlets in Dorset]]