Shipton Gorge

{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | coordinates = {{coord|50.7211|-2.7136|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Shipton Gorge | static_image_name = Shipton Gorge, parish church of St. Martin - geograph.org.uk - 493712.jpg | static_image_caption = Parish church of St Martin | label_position = left | population = 350 | population_ref = <ref name=dcc>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|title=Parish Population Data|date=20 January 2015|publisher=Dorset County Council|accessdate=7 March 2015}}</ref> | civil_parish = Shipton Gorge | unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] | lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] | region = South West England | constituency_westminster = [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] | post_town = Bridport | postcode_area = DT | postcode_district = DT6 | dial_code = 01308 | os_grid_reference = SY497915 | website = [http://www.shiptongorge.org.uk/ Village website] }}

'''Shipton Gorge''' is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in southwest [[Dorset]], [[England]], {{convert|3|mi|km}} east of [[Bridport]]. [[Dorset County Council]]'s 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of Shipton Gorge parish is 350.<ref name=dcc/> In the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 national census]], results have been published for the parish of Shipton Gorge combined with the small neighbouring parish of [[Chilcombe]] to the east; the population of these areas was 381.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11128449&c=Shipton+Gorge&d=16&e=62&g=6418352&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1397551819644&enc=1|title=Area: Shipton Gorge (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics|publisher=[[Office for National Statistics]]|accessdate=15 April 2014|work=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref>

In 1086 in the [[Domesday Book]] Shipton Gorge was recorded as Sepetone.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/SearchUI/Details?uri=D7301767|title=Place name: Shipton Gorge, Dorset Folio: 75r Great Domesday Book Domesday…|publisher=nationalarchives.gov.uk|work=|accessdate=15 April 2014}}</ref> The village is named after the [[Gorges family|de Gorges family]] who owned the land hundreds of years ago. The parish church of St Martin—which used to be a chapel of [[Burton Bradstock]]—was rebuilt in 1862, except for its west tower which dates from around 1400.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127267|title='Shipton Gorge', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1: West (1952), pp. 221-223.|publisher=University of London & History of Parliament Trust|date=November 2013|accessdate=15 April 2014}}</ref>

The terrain surrounding the village is hilly. Northeast of the village is Shipton Hill, which offers good views of the surrounding countryside from its {{convert|170|m|ft}} summit. On the hill is [[Shipton Hill Settlement|evidence of a prehistoric settlement]].<ref>{{cite book|title=West Dorset Holiday and Tourist Guide|publisher=West Dorset District Council|page=18|date=c. 1983}}</ref>

[[Squadron Leader]] [[Edwin Flavell (Royal Air Force officer)|Ted Flavell]], who in 1956 had carried out the first British air drop of an atomic bomb during [[Operation Buffalo (1956)|Operation Buffalo]], lived in Shipton Gorge during his retirement.

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== {{Commons category|Shipton Gorge}}

[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]