Toller Porcorum Explained

Country:England
Official Name:Toller Porcorum
Static Image Name:Farmland and church, Toller Porcorum - geograph.org.uk - 126332.jpg
Static Image Caption:Toller Porcorum viewed from the south
Map Type:Dorset
Coordinates:50.7795°N -2.6218°W
Population:307
Population Ref:[1]
Unitary England:Dorset
Shire County:Dorset
Region:South West England
Constituency Westminster:West Dorset
Post Town:Dorchester
Postcode District:DT2
Postcode Area:DT
Dial Code:01300
Os Grid Reference:SY561980

Toller Porcorum is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Toller valley 10miles northwest of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which also includes the small settlements of Higher and Lower Kingcombe to the north—had a population of 307.[1]

Population

A rural and slowly growing area with a population of 307, Toller Porcorum is a village of approximately 160 households.[2]

History

Like the other Toller villages of Toller Fratrum and Toller Whelme, the name was taken from the river, which is now known as the Hooke. The addition Porcorum means of the pigs in Latin;[3] the village was in the past sometimes known as Swines Toller,[4] but more often as Great Toller.

Toller Porcorum is also an ancient Anglican ecclesiastical parish. The church is dedicated to Saints Peter and Andrew and is remarkable for the "drooping chancel".[5]

From 1862 to 1975, the village had a railway station on the Bridport Railway.

The Old Swan

The village pub, The Old Swan, was closed by the brewery in 1999 and has since been converted into a private dwelling. Skittles was played there.

Notable people

Despite its small size the village has been home to a number of notable people. George of Clarence was at one point the owner of the majority of the village.

References

  1. Web site: Area: Toller Porcorum (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics. Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. 18 May 2014.
  2. Web site: Toller Porcorum. 2021-02-16. Toller Porcorum. en.
  3. Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP40/647; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no647/aCP40no647fronts/IMG_0251.htm; first entry, seen as "Tolre Porcorum", the home of William Coterych, husbandman
  4. Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; National Archives; CP40/ 629; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/H5/CP40no629/aCP40no629fronts/IMG_0314.htm; 5th entry, first defendant John Skynnere, husbandman, of Swynyn Tollere
  5. http://www.dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk/index.php/our-churches/9-churches/461-toller-porcorum Dorset Historic Churches Trust: Toller Porcorum

External links