Melcombe Horsey

{{Short description|Civil parish in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | official_name= Melcombe Horsey | local_name= | country= England | region= South West England | static_image_name= StAndyMelcHR.JPG | static_image_caption= St Andrew's church, Bingham's Melcombe | area_footnotes= | area_total_sq_mi= | area_total_km2 = | population = 141 | population_ref = <ref name=ons>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11126460&c=Melcombe+Horsey&d=16&e=62&g=6418535&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1402637832709&enc=1|title=Area: Melcombe Horsey (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]|accessdate=13 June 2014}}</ref> | population_density= | os_grid_reference= ST749028 | map_type= | coordinates = {{coord|50.8207|-2.3561|display=inline,title}} | post_town= DORCHESTER | postcode_area= | postcode_district= DT2 | dial_code= 01258 | constituency_westminster= [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] | civil_parish= | london_distance= {{convert|139|mi|km|0}} | unitary_england= [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] | lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] }}

'''Melcombe Horsey''' is a [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[English county|county]] of [[Dorset]] in [[South West England]]. It contains the small settlements of Melcombe Bingham, Bingham's Melcombe and Higher Melcombe, the last being the site of the [[deserted village]] of Melcombe Horsey. In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] the parish had a population of 141.<ref name=ons/>

Bingham's Melcombe is a medieval house. It takes its name from Robert Bingham who acquired the property through marriage in the 13th century. It remained in the Bingham family until 1895.<ref>Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset, Vol III, Central, part 2, Royal Commission on Historical Monuments</ref> The house is believed to date from the early 16th century. It was substantially restored and remodelled in 1893-4 by Evelyn Hellicar (1862-1929)<ref>Builder LXVI, 24 March 1894, page 236</ref>

==Melcombe Bingham== {{Infobox UK place |country = England |official_name = Melcombe Bingham |static_image_name = Melcombe Horsey parish church 2015.JPG |static_image_caption = Melcombe Horsey parish church |map_type = Dorset |population = |civil_parish= |unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] |shire_county = [[Dorset]] |region = South West England |constituency_westminster= |post_town= DORCHESTER |postcode_area= DT |postcode_district= DT2 |dial_code= 01258 |OS_grid_reference = }}

'''Melcombe Bingham''' is a village in central [[Dorset]], [[England]], situated approximately {{convert|10|mi|km}} northeast of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]],<ref name=opc>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/MelcombeHorseyFiles/Melcombe%20Horsey.htm|title=Melcombe Horsey|publisher=Dorset OPC Project|accessdate=28 March 2013}}</ref> {{convert|12|mi|km}} southeast of [[Sherborne]] and {{convert|8|mi|km}} west-southwest of [[Blandford Forum]].<ref>Bartholomew 1:100,000 National Map Series, sheet 4 (Dorset), published 1980, {{ISBN|0 7028 0327 8}}</ref> It is surrounded by [[chalk]] hills of the [[Dorset Downs]], though the village itself is sited in a basin of [[greensand]] and [[gault]].<ref name=inventory>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127862|title='Melcombe Horsey', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 3: Central (1970), pp. 161-175|publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust|date=November 2013|accessdate=28 March 2014|work=British History Online}}</ref><ref name=Wightman>{{cite book|title=Portrait of Dorset|author=Ralph Wightman|author-link=Ralph Wightman|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|year=1983|edition=4|pages=16, 109–110|isbn=0 7090 0844 9}}</ref><ref name=OS>[[Ordnance Survey]] Landranger 1:50,000 map series.</ref>

The names of places in this area are frequently muddled, with published sources providing different information.<ref name=opc/><ref name=hannay>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2012/06/clive-hannay-paints-ansty/|title=Clive Hannay paints Ansty|publisher=Dorset Life Magazine|accessdate=27 March 2014|date=June 2012|author=Clive Hannay}}</ref> Melcombe Bingham is the name of the current village, though in the fields near the church there is an abandoned [[Middle Ages|medieval]] village called Bingham's Melcombe, and this latter name is sometimes used to describe the church and its adjacent manor. Writing in 1980, writer Roland Gant stated "whichever form I use, I always find that the person to whom I am speaking uses the other".<ref name=Gant>{{cite book|title=Dorset Villages|author=Roland Gant|year=1980|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|page=90|isbn=0 7091 8135 3}}</ref> Either way, the name of both the [[Civil parishes in England|civil]] and [[Parish#Church of England|ecclesiastical parishes]] is Melcombe Horsey.<ref name=opc/> There are two manor houses within the parish: the one by the church—owned for six hundred years (until the late 19th century) by the Bingham family—and another a couple of miles to the west in a coombe at Higher Melcombe (which is also called Melcombe Horsey by some sources).<ref name=inventory/><ref name=Wightman/><ref name=Gant/> Between the two manors is another settlement, situated along the road running north into the neighbouring parish of [[Hilton, Dorset|Hilton]]. This settlement is called either Hartfoot Lane or [[Ansty, Dorset|Ansty]] (including Lower Ansty, Ansty Cross, Higher Ansty, and Little Ansty), and, according to the [[Ordnance Survey]], at its southern end it merges into part of Melcombe Bingham.<ref name=Wightman/><ref name=OS/><ref name=hannay/>

Melcombe Horsey parish has an area of 2,151 acres. Its population in 1871 was 190 and in 1911 only 151.<ref name=opc/> The parish church, St. Andrew's, is located at the southeastern edge of the parish and its records date to 1690.<ref name=opc/>

==See also== [[Earl of Lucan|Baron Bingham, of Melcombe Bingham]]

==References== {{Reflist}}

[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]