{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=September 2020}} {{Use British English|date=November 2011}} {{Infobox UK place |country = England |static_image_name = Rampisham, old post office - geograph.org.uk - 521907.jpg |static_image_caption = Cottages in Rampisham village |official_name = Rampisham |coordinates = {{coord|50.8186|-2.6238|display=inline,title}} |map_type = Dorset |population = 110 |population_ref = <ref name=dfy>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|title=Parish Population Data|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=7 March 2015|publisher=Dorset County Council}}</ref> |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 = ST562022 }} [[File:Pugin's Hall Rampisham - geograph.org.uk - 405962.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Pugin Hall]], a former rectory, designed by Augustus Pugin]]
'''Rampisham''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|æ|m|p|ɪ|ʃ|əm}}<ref>{{Cite web|last=Ovenden Allworks|title=Rampisham BBC World Service Towers Demolition. BBC Spotlight. Ovenden Allworks|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=591HAc-O4Oc&t=4s|url-status=bot: unknown|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623093454/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=591HAc-O4Oc&t=4s|archive-date=23 June 2022|date=2017-08-25|access-date=2022-06-23|website=YouTube}}</ref> or {{IPAc-en|ˈ|r|æ|n|s|əm}}<ref name=Gant>{{cite book|title=Dorset Villages|author=Roland Gant|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|year=1980|page=102|isbn=0-7091-8135-3}}</ref>) is a village and [[civil parish]] in the [[English county|county]] of [[Dorset]] in southern [[England]], situated approximately {{convert|11|mi|km}} northwest of the county town [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]]. The village is sited on [[greensand]] in a valley surrounded by the [[chalk]] hills of the [[Dorset Downs]]. The parish includes the [[hamlet (place)|hamlet]] of '''Uphall''' northwest of the main village.
[[Dorset County Council]]'s 2013 mid-year estimate for the population of Rampisham parish is 110.<ref name=dfy/> The principal means of making a living is agricultural, mainly grain production.
==History== In 1799 a [[Roman Britain|Roman]] pavement was found about {{convert|1|mi|km}} north-northwest of the church; it measured approximately {{convert|14|ft|m}} by {{convert|10|ft|m}} and was well preserved, having a pattern of concentric rings and a floral decoration, but it was destroyed by treasure-hunters.<ref name=inventory>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127262|title='Rampisham', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1: West (1952), pp. 191–193|publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust|date=November 2013|accessdate=30 March 2014|work=British History Online}}</ref>
In the [[Domesday Book]] in 1086 Rampisham was recorded as Ramesham.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/dorset2.html#rampisham|work=The Domesday Book Online|title=Dorset H–R|publisher=domesdaybook.co.uk|accessdate=5 April 2014|date=1999–2013}}</ref> It was in the [[Hundred (division)|hundred]] of [[Tollerford Hundred|Tollerford]], had seventeen households and the tenant-in-chief was [[Odo, Earl of Kent|Bishop Odo of Bayeaux]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/ST5602/rampisham/|title=Place: Rampisham|work=Open Domesday|publisher=domesdaymap.co.uk|accessdate=5 April 2014}}</ref>
Rampisham's parish church, dedicated to St Michael and All Saints, has a [[Middle Ages|medieval]] south tower which was built in phases in the early 14th (1326) and 15th centuries.<ref name=inventory/><ref name=opc>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/RampishamFiles/Rampisham.htm|title=Rampisham|publisher=Dorset OPC Project|accessdate=31 March 2014}}</ref> The rest of the building was largely rebuilt in two bouts of [[Victorian restoration]]: first in 1845–7 and then in 1858–60.<ref name=Gant/><ref name=inventory/><ref name=opc/> [[Augustus Pugin]] was involved in the first restoration, designing a new east window and [[chancel]].<ref name=opc/> He also built a [[Pugin Hall|a rectory]] for the village, though this is now a private house.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/11/in-the-footsteps-of-treves-the-tollers-wynford-eagle-rampisham-and-evershot/|title=In the footsteps of Treves – The Tollers, Wynford Eagle, Rampisham and Evershot|author1=Steve White|author2=Clive Hannay|date=November 2009|publisher=Dorset Life Magazine|accessdate=31 March 2014}}</ref> The second restoration involved an extension to the tower and a rebuilding of the [[nave]]; this was undertaken by John Hicks, possibly with assistance from a young [[Thomas Hardy]].<ref name=opc/>
A quarter of a mile north-northeast of the church is the base and part of the shaft of a 15th-century [[wayside cross]].<ref name=inventory/>
==Geography== Rampisham village is sited on greensand at an altitude of {{convert|125|to|145|m|ft}} in a tributary valley of the [[River Frome, Dorset|River Frome]]. It is surrounded by the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs, which rise to {{convert|224|m|ft}} at [[West Hill, Dorset|West Hill]] to the north.<ref>{{cite book|title=Portrait of Dorset|author=Ralph Wightman|author-link=Ralph Wightman|year=1983|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|edition=4|pages=16, 95|isbn=0 7090 0844 9}}</ref><ref>[[Ordnance Survey]] 1:25,000 Pathfinder Series, Sheet ST 40/50 Crewkerne & Beaminster, published 1984</ref> Measured directly, the village is {{convert|8|mi|km}} northeast of [[Bridport]], {{convert|11|mi|km}} northwest of [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] and {{convert|8.5|mi|km}} south of [[Yeovil]] in [[Somerset]].<ref>Bartholomew 1:100,000 National Map Series, Sheet 4 Dorset, published by John Bartholomew & Son Ltd, 1980. {{ISBN|0 7028 0327 8}}</ref>
==Communications station== In November 1939 the [[BBC]] acquired {{convert|189|acre|ha}} of land on [[Rampisham Down]], a hill southwest of the village. It became the location of one of the main transmitters of the [[BBC World Service]] in [[Europe]] until it was shut in 2011. There were 26 transmitter pylons on the down.
It is now the home for a small business park,<ref>{{cite news |title=New Dorset business centre plan at former Rampisham BBC site |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/19667814.new-dorset-business-centre-plan-former-rampisham-bbc-site/ |access-date=9 October 2024 |publisher=Dorset Echo}}</ref> with 2 pylons left on site, one used as a home for nesting Peregrine Falcons.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Rampisham}} * [https://tx.mb21.co.uk/gallery/gallerypage.php?txid=1662 mb21 - BBCWS Transmitter Site]
{{Dorset}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]