{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}} {{Redirects|White Lackington|the village and parish in Somerset|Whitelackington}} {{Use British English|date=June 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2016}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |official_name = Piddletrenthide |static_image_name = Piddletrenthide - geograph.org.uk - 388021.jpg |static_image_caption = Piddletrenthide |coordinates = {{coord|50.799|-2.423|type:city(500)_region:GB|display=inline,title}} |population = 647 |population_ref = (Parish, 2011)<ref name=2011census>{{NOMIS2011|id=1170213581|title=Piddletrenthide Parish|accessdate=17 March 2018}}</ref> |area_total_km2 = {{convert|2,553.89|ha|km2|2|disp=number}} |unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] |lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] |post_town = Dorchester |postcode_area = DT |postcode_district = DT2 |constituency_westminster = [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] |region = South West England |os_grid_reference = ST703000 }}
'''Piddletrenthide''' ({{IPAc-en|pron|ˌ|p|ɪ|d|əl|t|r|ɛ|n|t|ˈ|h|aɪ|d}}) is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[English county]] of [[Dorset]]. The village lies on the small [[River Piddle]] in a valley on the [[Escarpment|dip slope]] of the [[Dorset Downs]], {{convert|8|mi|km}} north of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]. In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] the parish—which includes the small village of [[Plush, Dorset|Plush]] to the northeast and the hamlet of White Lackington to the south—had 323 dwellings, 290 households and a population of 647.<ref name=2011census/>
==Toponymy== The unusual name of the village is derived from its position on the River Piddle, combined with it having been assessed for thirty hides in the [[Domesday Book]]. The name sometimes prompts amusement and discussion, and references have been made to it in the ''[[TV Times]]'' (25 April – 1 May 1970), ''[[The Times]]'' (a lengthy correspondence in 1974, then again on 27 March 1999), ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' ( 22 December 2002 and 25 September 2005), and ''[[The Guardian]]'' (8 May 2004).
==History== In 1086 in the Domesday Book Piddletrenthide was recorded as ''Pidrie'';<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/dorset2.html#piddletrenthide |title=Dorset H-R |publisher=domesdaybook.co.uk |work=The Domesday Book Online |access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> it had 70 households, 17 [[ploughland]]s, {{convert|16|acre|ha}} of meadow, three mills and a taxable value of 30 geld units. It was in [[Cerne, Totcombe and Modbury Hundred]] and the [[tenant-in-chief]] was [[Winchester Abbey]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/SY7099/piddletrenthide/ |title=Place: Piddletrenthide |work=Open Domesday |publisher=domesdaymap.co.uk |access-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> The manor's estate was one of the largest in the county.<ref>Bettey, p43</ref>
A [[Benedictine]] cell (i.e., a very small monastic establishment) existed here in the Middle Ages. Its date of foundation is unknown. It was dissolved in 1354, and its chapel demolished shortly after 1382. There are no physical remains and its location within the parish is unknown.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Historic England Research Records. Monument Number 202041 |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=202041&resourceID=19191 |access-date=2023-12-20 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref>
Piddletrenthide's [[Open field system|common arable fields]] were [[Enclosure|enclosed]] by [[Inclosure Acts|Act of Parliament]] in 1817.<ref>Bettey, p54</ref>
In 1933 Piddletrenthide parish was enlarged by {{convert|816|acre|ha}} to include the small village and tithing of Plush, which previously had been a detached part of the parish of [[Buckland Newton]] a few miles to the north.<ref name=inventory>{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol3/pp212-222 |title='Piddletrenthide', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 3, Central (London, 1970), pp. 212–222 |publisher=Univerfsity of London |work=British History Online |access-date=1 August 2015}}</ref>
===All Saints parish church=== [[File:Piddletrenthide, inscription on parish church tower - geograph.org.uk - 1347425.jpg|thumb|right|240px|Latin inscription on the tower of All Saints parish church]]
All Saints [[parish church]], situated on the northern edge of the village, has a claim to being one of the finest village churches in Dorset.<ref name=Wightman>{{cite book|title=Portrait of Dorset|author=Ralph Wightman|author-link=Ralph Wightman|publisher=Robert Hale|year=1983|edition=2|page=106|isbn=0-7090-0844-9}}</ref> The south doorway and piers of the chancel arch are [[Norman architecture|Norman]]; the doorway inside the porch features typically Norman zigzag decoration. The tower dates from 1485 and has bell openings, pinnacles and [[gargoyle]]s. The [[nave]] and [[aisle]]s are also 15th-century. Over the west door of the church-tower is the [[Latin]] inscription: "''Est pydeltrenth villa in dorsedie comitatu Nascitur in illa quam rexit Vicariatu 1487''". The inscription translates as: "It is in Piddletrenthide, a town in Dorset [where] he was born [and] is Vicar, 1487."
In 1852 the building was restored, and the walls raised by John Hicks, brother of the then vicar. Hicks went on to restore and build more than 27 churches in the county. [[Ewan Christian]] redesigned the [[chancel]] in 1880. There are [[Victorian era|Victorian]] memorials. In the churchyard are two headstones marking the graves of members of the Durbefield family, a family later referenced by [[Thomas Hardy]] in his 1891 novel ''[[Tess of the d'Urbervilles]]''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/piddletrentide.htm |title=piddletrentide |publisher=Dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk |date= |access-date=10 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923220005/http://www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/piddletrentide.htm |archive-date=23 September 2015 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
The church is part of the [[benefice]] of the Piddle Valley, Hilton, Cheselbourne and Melcombe Horsey.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://piddlevalleybenefice.com/about/piddletrenthide/ |title=Piddletrenthide | The Benefice of the Piddle Valley, Hilton, Cheselbourne and Melcombe Horsey |publisher=Piddlevalleybenefice.com |date= |access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>
==Geography== Piddletrenthide civil parish covers {{convert|5313|acre|ha}}<ref name=inventory/> in the Dorset Downs in central Dorset. The parish comprises two distinct settlements: Piddletrenthide village in the valley of the River Piddle, and the smaller Plush in a side valley to the northeast. Piddletrenthide village is divided into three tithings: Higher, Middle and Lower.<ref name=inventory/> The church and manor house are the higher tithing, a group of cottages form the middle, and the third is known as White Lackington, which is a little separate from the other parts and is close to neighbouring [[Piddlehinton]]. White Lackington is between about {{convert|85|and|100|m|ft}} above sea-level, with the rest of Piddletrenthide village being between about {{convert|95|and|115|m|ft}} and Plush between about {{convert|125|and|145|m|ft}}.<ref>Ordnance Survey (1978), 1:25,000 Pathfinder Series, Sheet SY 69/79 (Dorchester)</ref><ref>Ordnance Survey (1986), 1:25,000 Pathfinder Series, Sheet 1299 (Cerne Abbas & Hazelbury Bryan), {{ISBN|0-319-21299-8}}</ref>
At the northern end of the village, reached by a footpath from the Poachers Inn, is Morning Well (or Mourning Well), where several springs feed into the River Piddle. In his book ''Portrait of Dorset'' [[Ralph Wightman]] described it as where "springs bubble out of the base of a steep wooded hill into a shady pool.... It is an enchanted place, raising memories of holy wells and pagan groves."<ref name=Wightman/>
==Culture, art and media== [[Scrumpy and Western]] artist Trevor Crozier wrote a song entitled "The Piddletrenthide Jug Band" for Dorset folk group [[The Yetties]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/trevorcrozier.php|title=Trevor Crozier|publisher=somersetmade ltd|access-date=5 April 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914034832/http://www.somersetmade.co.uk/scrumpyandwestern/trevorcrozier.php|archive-date=14 September 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref>
Piddletrenthide is the hometown of Jem Kellaway, one of the main protagonists in [[Tracy Chevalier]]'s 18th-century-set novel ''Burning Bright''.
In the 21st century the tenor John Hudson, formerly a principal with [[English National Opera]], has performed in a series of annual concerts at All Saints parish church, with support provided by other musicians with local connections.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/11320204.Piddletrenthide_church_to_host_summer_spectacular_concert/ |title=Piddletrenthide church to host summer spectacular concert |publisher=Dorsetecho.co.uk |date= 4 July 2014|access-date=10 July 2015}}</ref>
==Notable people== The [[BBC Radio]] broadcaster Ralph Wightman (1901–1971), English lecturer, journalist, author, and radio and television broadcaster, came from here. Wightman was the model for [[Kenneth Williams]]' country character Arthur Fallowfield and was noted in his radio broadcasts for his fine Dorset accent.
[[British Classic Races|Classic]] winning racehorse trainer [[George Boughey]] grew up on the family farm in Piddletrenthide.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/5393022.high-sheriff-has-community-role/|title=High sheriff has community role|date=16 November 2001|work=Dorset Echo}}</ref>
==See also== * [[Piddletrenthide Hoard]]
==References== ===Notes=== {{Reflist|30em}}
===General references=== *{{cite book |title=Dorset |author=J. H. Bettey |publisher=David & Charles |series=City & County Histories |page=54 |year=1974 |isbn=0-7153-6371-9}}
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{{Dorset}}
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[[Category:Civil parishes in Dorset]] [[Category:Villages in Dorset]]