| Static Image Name: | A glimpse of the Crown at Puncknowle - geograph.org.uk - 1451648.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | The Crown public house from the churchyard |
| Country: | England |
| Official Name: | Puncknowle |
| Coordinates: | 50.6955°N -2.6583°W |
| Map Type: | Dorset |
| Population: | 466 |
| Population Ref: | [1] |
| Unitary England: | Dorset |
| Shire County: | Dorset |
| Region: | South West England |
| Post Town: | Dorchester |
| Postcode Area: | DT |
| Postcode District: | DT2 |
| Constituency Westminster: | West Dorset |
| Os Grid Reference: | SY535886 |
Puncknowle is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England, situated on the southern slopes of the Bride Valley approximately 5miles east of Bridport and 1.5miles north of Chesil Beach on the Jurassic Coast. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the coastal settlement of West Bexington to the south—had a population of 466.[1]
Puncknowle village has a Jacobean manor house,[2] which in 1906 Sir Frederick Treves described as "one of the daintiest and most beautiful manor houses in the county".[3] The Napier family, who came to Puncknowle from Merchiston in Scotland, were lords of the manor for three centuries, until the early 18th century.[3] In the early 19th century the manor was occupied by Colonel Shrapnel, inventor of the shrapnel shell.[3]
Puncknowle parish church, dedicated to St Mary, has a 12th-century chancel arch and west tower, though the latter was altered in 1678. The nave and the rest of the chancel were largely rebuilt at various dates in the 19th century.[4] The church contains memorials to the Napiers and has an unusual font, composed of a Norman bowl on top of another font from West Bexington church, which French forces destroyed in the 16th century.[5]
There is a single public house in the village called The Crown Inn,[6] and many holiday properties.