Shipton Gorge Explained

Country:England
Coordinates:50.7211°N -2.7136°W
Official Name:Shipton Gorge
Static Image Name:Shipton Gorge, parish church of St. Martin - geograph.org.uk - 493712.jpg
Static Image Caption:Parish church of St Martin
Label Position:left
Population:350
Population Ref:[1]
Civil Parish:Shipton Gorge
Unitary England:Dorset
Shire County:Dorset
Region:South West England
Constituency Westminster:West Dorset
Post Town:Bridport
Postcode Area:DT
Postcode District:DT6
Dial Code:01308
Os Grid Reference:SY497915
Website:Village website

Shipton Gorge is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, 3miles east of Bridport. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of Shipton Gorge parish is 350.[1] In the 2011 national census, results have been published for the parish of Shipton Gorge combined with the small neighbouring parish of Chilcombe to the east; the population of these areas was 381.[2]

In 1086 in the Domesday Book Shipton Gorge was recorded as Sepetone.[3] The village is named after the de Gorges family who owned the land hundreds of years ago.The parish church of St Martin—which used to be a chapel of Burton Bradstock—was rebuilt in 1862, except for its west tower which dates from around 1400.[4]

The terrain surrounding the village is hilly. Northeast of the village is Shipton Hill, which offers good views of the surrounding countryside from its 170m (560feet) summit. On the hill is evidence of a prehistoric settlement.[5]

Squadron Leader Ted Flavell, who in 1956 had carried out the first British air drop of an atomic bomb during Operation Buffalo, lived in Shipton Gorge during his retirement.

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Parish Population Data. 20 January 2015. Dorset County Council. 7 March 2015.
  2. Web site: Area: Shipton Gorge (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 15 April 2014. Neighbourhood Statistics.
  3. Web site: Place name: Shipton Gorge, Dorset Folio: 75r Great Domesday Book Domesday…. nationalarchives.gov.uk. 15 April 2014.
  4. Web site: 'Shipton Gorge', An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1: West (1952), pp. 221-223.. University of London & History of Parliament Trust. November 2013. 15 April 2014.
  5. Book: West Dorset Holiday and Tourist Guide. West Dorset District Council. 18. c. 1983.