Piddletrenthide

Toponymy

The unusual name of the village is derived from its position on the River Piddle, combined with it having been assessed for thirty hides in the Domesday Book. The name sometimes prompts amusement and discussion, and references have been made to it in the TV Times (25 April – 1 May 1970), The Times (a lengthy correspondence in 1974, then again on 27 March 1999), The Sunday Times ( 22 December 2002 and 25 September 2005), and The Guardian (8 May 2004).

History

In 1086 in the Domesday Book Piddletrenthide was recorded as Pidrie; it had 70 households, 17 ploughlands, 16 acre of meadow, three mills and a taxable value of 30 geld units. It was in Cerne, Totcombe and Modbury Hundred and the tenant-in-chief was Winchester Abbey. The manor's estate was one of the largest in the county.

A Benedictine cell (i.e., a very small monastic establishment) existed here in the Middle Ages. Its date of foundation is unknown. It was dissolved in 1354, and its chapel demolished shortly after 1382. There are no physical remains and its location within the parish is unknown.

Piddletrenthide's common arable fields were enclosed by Act of Parliament in 1817.

In 1933 Piddletrenthide parish was enlarged by 816 acre to include the small village and tithing of Plush, which previously had been a detached part of the parish of Buckland Newton a few miles to the north.

All Saints parish church

All Saints parish church, situated on the northern edge of the village, has a claim to being one of the finest village churches in Dorset. The south doorway and piers of the chancel arch are Norman; the doorway inside the porch features typically Norman zigzag decoration. The tower dates from 1485 and has bell openings, pinnacles and gargoyles. The nave and aisles are also 15th-century. Over the west door of the church-tower is the Latin inscription: "Est pydeltrenth villa in dorsedie comitatu Nascitur in illa quam rexit Vicariatu 1487". The inscription translates as: "It is in Piddletrenthide, a town in Dorset [where] he was born [and] is Vicar, 1487."

In 1852 the building was restored, and the walls raised by John Hicks, brother of the then vicar. Hicks went on to restore and build more than 27 churches in the county. Ewan Christian redesigned the chancel in 1880. There are Victorian memorials. In the churchyard are two headstones marking the graves of members of the Durbefield family, a family later referenced by Thomas Hardy in his 1891 novel Tess of the d'Urbervilles.

The church is part of the benefice of the Piddle Valley, Hilton, Cheselbourne and Melcombe Horsey.

Geography

Piddletrenthide civil parish covers 5313 acre

At the northern end of the village, reached by a footpath from the Poachers Inn, is Morning Well (or Mourning Well), where several springs feed into the River Piddle. In his book Portrait of Dorset Ralph Wightman described it as where "springs bubble out of the base of a steep wooded hill into a shady pool.... It is an enchanted place, raising memories of holy wells and pagan groves."

Culture, art and media

Scrumpy and Western artist Trevor Crozier wrote a song entitled "The Piddletrenthide Jug Band" for Dorset folk group The Yetties.

Piddletrenthide is the hometown of Jem Kellaway, one of the main protagonists in Tracy Chevalier's 18th-century-set novel Burning Bright.

In the 21st century the tenor John Hudson, formerly a principal with English National Opera, has performed in a series of annual concerts at All Saints parish church, with support provided by other musicians with local connections.

Notable people

The BBC Radio broadcaster Ralph Wightman (1901–1971), English lecturer, journalist, author, and radio and television broadcaster, came from here. Wightman was the model for Kenneth Williams' country character Arthur Fallowfield and was noted in his radio broadcasts for his fine Dorset accent.

References

Notes

General references

References

1. "Piddletrenthide Parish".
2. "Dorset H-R". domesdaybook.co.uk.
3. "Place: Piddletrenthide". domesdaymap.co.uk.
4. Bettey, p43
5. "Historic England Research Records. Monument Number 202041".
6. Bettey, p54
7. "'Piddletrenthide', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 3, Central (London, 1970), pp. 212–222". Univerfsity of London.
8. Ralph Wightman. (1983). "Portrait of Dorset". Robert Hale.
9. "piddletrentide". Dorsethistoricchurchestrust.co.uk.
10. "Piddletrenthide | The Benefice of the Piddle Valley, Hilton, Cheselbourne and Melcombe Horsey". Piddlevalleybenefice.com.
11. 85. and. 100. m. ft above sea-level, with the rest of Piddletrenthide village being between about {{convert. 95. and. 115. m. ft and Plush between about {{convert. 125. and. 145. m. ft.Ordnance Survey (1978), 1:25,000 Pathfinder Series, Sheet SY 69/79 (Dorchester)
12. Ordnance Survey (1986), 1:25,000 Pathfinder Series, Sheet 1299 (Cerne Abbas & Hazelbury Bryan), {{ISBN. 0-319-21299-8
13. "Trevor Crozier". somersetmade ltd.
14. (4 July 2014). "Piddletrenthide church to host summer spectacular concert". Dorsetecho.co.uk.