imported>Keith D: Change {{EngvarB}} to {{use British English}}

2025-02-25T12:33:31Z

Change {{EngvarB}} to {{use British English}}

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{{Short description|Village in Wiltshire, England}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox UK place
|country = England
|static_image_name= Donhead St Mary - geograph.org.uk - 427172.jpg
|static_image_caption=
|coordinates = {{coord|51.019|-2.134|type:city(1000)_region:GB-WIL|display=inline,title}}
|official_name= Donhead St Mary
|population = 1,155
|population_ref= (in 2011)<ref>{{cite web|title=Donhead St. Mary Census Information|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Census?communityId=93|work=Wiltshire Community History|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=30 March 2014}}</ref>
|civil_parish= Donhead St Mary
|unitary_england = [[Wiltshire Council|Wiltshire]]
|lieutenancy_england = [[Wiltshire]]
|region= South West England
|constituency_westminster = [[Salisbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Salisbury]]
|post_town= Shaftesbury
|postcode_district = SP7
|postcode_area= SP
|dial_code= 01747
|os_grid_reference= ST907244
|website= {{URL|http://www.donheadstmaryparishcouncil.org/|Parish Council}}
}}

'''Donhead St Mary''' is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in southwest [[Wiltshire]], England, on the county border with [[Dorset]]. The village lies about {{convert|2+1/2|mi|km}} east of the Dorset town of [[Shaftesbury]] and stands on high ground above the [[River Nadder]], which rises in the parish.

In the south of the parish, on the [[A30 road|A30]] Salisbury-Shaftesbury road, are the village of [[Ludwell]] and its neighbouring hamlet of Birdbush; '''Charlton''' hamlet is south of the road. To the north are the hamlets of '''Coombe''', comprising Higher Coombe, Middle Coombe and Lower Coombe. In the north-west of the parish, near Shaftesbury, is the hamlet of [[Higher Wincombe]].

== History ==
[[Castle Rings, Wiltshire|Castle Rings]], an [[Iron Age]] [[hillfort]], is in the far north of the parish. A [[Roman roads in Britain|Roman road]] between Bath and [[Badbury Rings]] ran north–south through the parish, past the future sites of St Mary's church and Ludwell village.

Donhead St Mary and its neighbour [[Donhead St Andrew]] were once part of a single Donhead estate which belonged to [[Shaftesbury Abbey]]. In the 11th century the boundary between the two parishes was drawn, and in the 12th century each had a church.<ref name="vch" />

Donhead Hall, a [[Grade II* listed]] [[English country house|country house]] south of the village,<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1146082|desc=Donhead Hall with attached walls and terraces|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> was built in 1724<ref name="Orbach">{{Cite book |last1=Orbach |first1=Julian |title=Wiltshire |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nikolaus |last3=Cherry |first3=Bridget |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |year=2021 |isbn=978-0-300-25120-3 |series=The Buildings Of England |location=New Haven, US and London |page=294 |oclc=1201298091 |author-link2=Nikolaus Pevsner |author-link3=Bridget Cherry}}</ref> for Godfrey Huckle (later Kneller; died 1781),<ref name="vch" /> a grandson of the portrait painter Sir [[Godfrey Kneller]]. The [[Baroque architecture|Baroque]] curves of its design are similar to those of [[Thomas Archer]]'s [[Chettle House]], not far away in Dorset.<ref name="Orbach" />

In 1842 a National School was built close to St John's church, replacing an earlier school; it closed in 1876<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Charlton National School, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1194|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> after the opening of a new school at Ludwell, which continues in use as Ludwell Community Primary School.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Ludwell Community Primary School|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1190|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref>

In 1875 another [[National school (England and Wales)|National School]] was built near St Mary's Church, replacing an earlier school of 1840. This school closed in 1922 and its pupils transferred to Ludwell.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=National School, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/School/Details/1192|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> The building became the village hall.<ref>{{cite web|title=Donhead St Mary Village Hall|url=http://donheadvillagehall.org/|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref>

In 1945 a [[Private schools in the United Kingdom|private]] [[Roman Catholic]] day and boarding school for girls, known as [[St Mary's School, Shaftesbury]], opened at Coombe House, Higher Coombe.<ref name="vch" /> It closed in 2020.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Baker|first=Hannah|date=2020-07-15|title=75-year-old school closes after collapsing into administration|url=https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/st-marys-shaftesbury-falls-administration-18603044|access-date=2020-07-16|website=Business Live}}</ref>
[[File:Donhead St Mary church from SW.jpg|thumb|left|St Mary's church Donhead, from the SW taken from the village road]]
[[File:St Mary's Church, Donhead St Mary 47.JPG|thumb|left|St Mary's Church, Donhead, from the graveyard]]

== Religious sites ==

=== Parish church ===


In the 12th century the [[Church of England parish church]] of St Mary the Virgin was small and without aisles.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Pevsner |first1=Nikolaus |author-link1=Nikolaus Pevsner |last2=Cherry |first2=Bridget (revision) |year=1975 |orig-year=1963 |title=Wiltshire |series=[[Pevsner Architectural Guides#Buildings of England|The Buildings of England]] |edition=2nd |place=Harmondsworth |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |isbn=0-14-0710-26-4 |pages=221–2}}</ref> Later in that century the south aisle was added, and in the 13th the nave gained a [[clerestory]]. In the 14th century the south porch was added, and most of the tower is from the 15th century. In 1966 the church was designated as [[Listed building#Categories of listed building|Grade I listed]].<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1318792|desc=Church of St Mary|access-date=29 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref> In 1980 the benefice was united with Donhead St Andrew and Charlton;<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=48103 |date=19 February 1980 |page=2651}}</ref> today the parish is part of the Benefice of St Bartholomew.<ref>{{cite web|title=Benefice of St Bartholomew|url=http://www.benofbart.org.uk/|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref>

The former [[rectory]], now named [[Shute House, Donhead St Mary|Shute House]], is a [[Listed building|Grade II listed building]],.<ref>{{NHLE| num=1146075|desc=Shute House|grade=II|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref> The gardens surrounding the house were designed by [[Geoffrey Jellicoe]] and are Grade II* listed on the [[Historic England]]'s [[Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England|Register of Historic Parks and Gardens]].<ref>{{NHLE| num=1468669|desc=Shute House Gardens|grade=II*|access-date=16 December 2014}}</ref>

=== Others ===
[[File:Shute House, Donhead St Mary.jpg|thumb|right|[[Shute House, Donhead St Mary|Shute House]], the former rectory]]
There was a chapel at Charlton from the 14th century.<ref name="vch">{{cite web|website=British History Online|title=Victoria County History - Wiltshire - Vol 13 pp138-155: Donhead St Mary|editor-first=D.A.|editor-last=Crowley|author-first1=Jane|author-last1=Freeman|author-first2=Janet H|author-last2=Stevenson|url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/vch/wilts/vol13/pp138-155|publisher=University of London|date=1987|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> In 1839 it was replaced by the church of St John the Baptist, built near the main road to be accessible from Ludwell and the Coombes. The church is in [[Neo-Norman architecture|Neo-Norman]] style with a two-tower west facade.<ref>{{National Heritage List for England|num=1318813|desc=Church of St John|access-date=29 June 2016|fewer-links=yes}}</ref>

A [[Wesleyan Methodist Church (Great Britain)|Wesleyan Methodist]] church was built in the south of Donhead St Mary village in 1837, and rebuilt in 1868.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Wesleyan Methodist Church, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1109|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> This was part of the Shaftesbury and Gillingham Wesleyan Methodist Circuit, and later the North Dorset Circuit. The church closed in 2007 and is now a private home.<ref>{{cite web|title=Methodist Chapel, Donhead St Mary, Wiltshire, £275,000|website=The Sunday Times|last=Davies|first=Helen|date=6 April 2008|url=http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/Buying_and_Selling/article83834.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160809002539/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/style/homes_and_gardens/Buying_and_Selling/article83834.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 August 2016|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref> [[Primitive Methodism|Primitive Methodists]] built a chapel at Ludwell in or before 1861, which closed c. 1965.<ref>{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Primitive Methodist Chapel, Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Church/Details/1114|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=29 June 2016}}</ref>

==Local government==
Donhead St Mary is a civil parish with an elected parish council. It is in the area of the [[Wiltshire Council]] [[Unitary authorities of England|unitary authority]], responsible for most significant local government functions.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.donheadstmaryparishcouncil.org/ Donhead St Mary Parish Council]
*{{cite web|website=Wiltshire Community History|title=Donhead St. Mary|url=https://apps.wiltshire.gov.uk/communityhistory/Community/Index/81|publisher=Wiltshire Council|access-date=15 April 2023}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Wiltshire]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Wiltshire]]

Donhead St Mary - Revision history

imported>Keith D: Change {{EngvarB}} to {{use British English}}