# Woodsford

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Village and civil parish in Dorset, England

Human settlement in England

Woodsford Woodsford Castle Woodsford Location within Dorset Population 80 (2013 estimate) OS grid reference SY762905 Civil parish Woodsford Unitary authority Dorset Ceremonial county Dorset Region South West Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town Dorchester Postcode district DT2 Dialling code 01305 Police Dorset Fire Dorset and Wiltshire Ambulance South Western UK Parliament South Dorset List of places UK England Dorset 50°42′50″N 2°20′17″W / 50.714°N 2.338°W / 50.714; -2.338

**Woodsford** is a village and [civil parish](/source/Civil_parishes_in_England) beside the [River Frome, Dorset](/source/River_Frome%2C_Dorset), England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the county town [Dorchester](/source/Dorchester%2C_Dorset). [Dorset County Council](/source/Dorset_County_Council)'s 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population is 80.

## Manor

The [Domesday Book](/source/Domesday_Book) of 1086 records the [manor](/source/Manorialism) as *Waredesford*,[1] which the 18th-century historian [John Hutchins](/source/John_Hutchins_(antiquary)) interpreted as meaning a [ford](/source/Ford_(crossing)) across the Varia, an alternative name for the River Frome. More recent opinion is that Waredesford referred to a ford belonging to a man named Weard. Two holdings were recorded, which have been interpreted as corresponding to East Woodsford (the current village) and West Woodsford (now Woodsford Castle).[2]

Woodsford Castle is the surviving range of a 14th-century fortified manor house. [King Edward III](/source/Edward_III_of_England) granted William de Whitefield a licence to crenellate in 1335. The house has the largest thatched roof in the county[3] and has been restored by the [Landmark Trust](/source/Landmark_Trust).[4] The house is a [Grade I listed building](/source/Listed_building#Categories_of_listed_building).[5]

## Parish church

The [Church of England parish church](/source/Church_of_England_parish_church) of St [John the Baptist](/source/John_the_Baptist) was 13th-century, but was [largely rebuilt](/source/Victorian_restoration) in 1862–63 to designs by the [Gothic Revival architect](/source/Gothic_Revival_architecture) [Thomas Henry Wyatt](/source/Thomas_Henry_Wyatt). Remnants of the 13th-century church include the lower part of the west tower and an [Early English Gothic](/source/English_Gothic_architecture#Early_English_Gothic) lancet on the south side of the nave west of the south porch.[6] The parish is part of the [Benefice](/source/Benefice#Church_of_England) of [Moreton](/source/Moreton%2C_Dorset), Woodsford and [Crossways](/source/Crossways%2C_Dorset) with [Tincleton](/source/Tincleton).[7]

## Economic history

In the Frome Valley at Woodsford there used to be a system of [watermeadows](/source/Watermeadow).[8]

## Demography

[Dorset County Council](/source/Dorset_County_Council)'s 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population is 80.[9] The [2001 Census](/source/United_Kingdom_Census_2001) recorded the parish's population as 67.[10] In the [2011 census](/source/United_Kingdom_Census_2011) figures for Woodsford parish have been combined with those of neighbouring [Tincleton](/source/Tincleton) parish; the population in this combined area was 236.[11]

## References

St John the Evangelist parish church

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** [Open Domesday: Woodford](http://opendomesday.org/place/SY7690/woodsford/)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTERCHME1970397–402_2-0)** [RCHME 1970](#CITEREFRCHME1970), pp. 397–402.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Rodger, MA (February 2009). ["Some Lost Castles Of Dorset"](http://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2009/02/some-lost-castles-of-dorset/). *Dorset Life*. Retrieved 28 November 2013.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Woodsford Castle"](http://www.landmarktrust.org.uk/search-and-book/properties/woodsford-castle-13233). [Landmark Trust](/source/Landmark_Trust). Retrieved 20 May 2016.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Historic England](/source/Historic_England). ["Woodsford Castle (Grade I) (1155314)"](https://HistoricEngland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1155314?section=official-list-entry). *[National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England)*. Retrieved 1 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** [Historic England](/source/Historic_England). ["Church of Saint John the Baptist (Grade II) (1155283)"](https://HistoricEngland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1155283?section=official-list-entry). *[National Heritage List for England](/source/National_Heritage_List_for_England)*. Retrieved 1 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** [Archbishops' Council](/source/Archbishops'_Council). ["Benefice of Moreton, Woodsford and Crossways with Tincleton"](http://www.achurchnearyou.com/benefice.php?B=34/237BK). *[A Church Near You](/source/A_Church_Near_You)*. [Church of England](/source/Church_of_England). Retrieved 1 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTEWightman198349_8-0)** [Wightman 1983](#CITEREFWightman1983), p. 49.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Parish Population Data"](https://web.archive.org/web/20151121135528/https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882). Dorset County Council. 20 January 2015. Archived from [the original](https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882) on 21 November 2015. Retrieved 21 March 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["Area selected: South West (Region): Parish Headcounts"](http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/viewFullDataset.do?instanceSelection=03070&productId=779&$ph=60_61&datasetInstanceId=3070&startColumn=1&numberOfColumns=4&containerAreaId=790196). *[Neighbourhood Statistics](/source/Neighbourhood_Statistics)*. [Office for National Statistics](/source/Office_for_National_Statistics). Retrieved 1 September 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Area: Tincleton (Parish). Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics"](http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11129722&c=Tincleton&d=16&e=62&g=6418530&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1441353160531&enc=1). *Neighbourhood Statistics*. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 4 September 2015.

## Sources

- Newman, John; [Pevsner, Nikolaus](/source/Nikolaus_Pevsner) (1972). *Dorset*. [The Buildings of England](/source/Pevsner_Architectural_Guides#Buildings_of_England). Harmondsworth: [Penguin Books](/source/Penguin_Books). pp. 494–495. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-14-071044-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-14-071044-2).

- RCHME, ed. (1970). "Woodsford". [*An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in the County of Dorset*](http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=127562). Vol. 2 – South East. London: [Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England](/source/Royal_Commission_on_the_Historical_Monuments_of_England). pp. 397–402.

- [Wightman, Ralph](/source/Ralph_Wightman) (1983) [1965]. *Portrait of Dorset*. Portrait Books (4 ed.). London: [Robert Hale](/source/Robert_Hale_and_Company). p. 49. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7090-0844-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7090-0844-9).

## External links

- Media related to [Woodsford](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Woodsford) at Wikimedia Commons

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