Bradpole

Human settlement in England

Dorset

Dorset

Region

South West

CountryEnglandSovereign stateUnited KingdomPost townBRIDPORTPostcode districtDT6Dialling code01308PoliceDorsetFire Dorset and Wiltshire Ambulance South Western UK Parliament

West Dorset

List of places: UK; England; Dorset

50°44′44″N 2°44′18″W / 50.7455°N 2.7382°W / 50.7455; -2.7382

Bradpole is a village and former civil parish in south west Dorset, England, in the Brit valley, 1 mile (1.6 km) outside Bridport. In the 2011 census the population of the parish was 2,339.^[1]

In 1651 Charles II passed through Bradpole in his efforts to evade capture after he failed to sail to France from Charmouth following his defeat at the Battle of Worcester. An inscribed stone in the south of the parish, where Lee Lane meets the A35 trunk road between Bridport and Dorchester, marks the place where he took a turning off the main road to escape from his pursuers.^[2]

Bradpole is the birthplace of industrialist and Liberal Party politician William Edward Forster (1818–1886),^[3] who was instrumental in bringing through the 1870 Elementary Education Act. He is commemorated by the village Memorial Hall.^[4]

The parish church was built in 1845, following two previous buildings on the same site. Its communion cup dates from the 16th century.^[4] A chapel of ease, St Andrew's, was built in 1858-60 and is now redundant.^[5]

The civil parish and parish council were abolished with effect from 1 April 2024, with the parish area taken into Bridport. ^[6]

References

^ ^a ^b "Neighbourhood Statistics. Area: Bradpole (Parish). Fey Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 11 January 2014.
^ West Dorset District Council (1982). West Dorset. West Dorset District Council. p. 5.
^ Sir Frederick Treves (1905). Highways and Byways in Dorset (1 ed.). Macmillan & Co. p. 260.
^ ^a ^b Reginald J W Hammond (1979). Dorset Coast. Ward Lock Ltd. p. 39. ISBN 0-7063-5494-X.
^ "FORMER ST ANDREW'S CHURCH, Bridport - 1216450 | Historic England". Historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 17 December 2021.
^ Dorset Council (Reorganisation of Community Governance) Order, accessed 2 May 2024