Belchalwell

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

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

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

External links

Belchalwell.org.uk

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[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.