Belchalwell

Belchalwell

St Aldhelm's Church, Belchalwell
Belchalwell
Belchalwell shown within Dorset
OS grid reference ST791097
District
Shire county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Police Dorset
Fire Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England

Belchalwell is a small village in the civil parish of Okeford Fitzpaine in the Blackmore Vale, North Dorset, England. It lies 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south of Sturminster Newton and 6 miles (9.7 km) northwest of Blandford Forum. It is sited on greensand[1] beneath the north slopes of Bell Hill, part of the Dorset Downs.

Belchalwell is Saxon in origin, with a medieval church, St Aldhelm's Church, much renovated. The name of the village describes a cold well on a hillside.[2] The village has approximately 30 properties with fewer than a hundred residents, and is much reduced in size from former times, largely due to reductions in agricultural employment, which has always been the primary industry. One former resident was the TV personality Jack Hargreaves.

References

  1. ↑ Ralph Wightman (1983). Portrait of Dorset (4 ed.). Robert Hale Ltd. p. 16. ISBN 0-7090-0844-9.
  2. ↑ Roland Gant (1980). Dorset Villages. Robert Hale Ltd. p. 81. ISBN 0-7091-8135-3.
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