Spetisbury: Difference between revisions

Spetisbury
Spetisbury
Village
	Church of St John the Baptist
	Spetisbury Location within Dorset
Population	590
OS grid reference	ST911026
Unitary authority	Dorset;
Shire county	Dorset;
Region	South West;
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Blandford Forum
Postcode district	DT11
Dialling code	01258
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	North Dorset;
	List of places UK England Dorset 50°49′16″N 2°07′33″W / 50.8212°N 2.1259°W

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Spetisbury (/ˈspɛtsbəri/) is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour and the A350, four miles (six kilometres) southeast of Blandford Forum.

According to the Domesday Book of 1086, the village had 30 households.^[1]^[2] According to the 2011 census the parish had 224 households and a population of 555.^[3] According to the 2021 census, the parish had 250 households and a population of 590.^[4]

Spetisbury is a linear settlement, adjacent to the A350 road, which was included in Dorset County Council's response to the Major Roads Network (MRN) consultation, leading to some anticipation of a bypass of Spetisbury and neighbouring Charlton Marshall.^[5]^{[additional citation(s) needed]} A large solar farm was commissioned near Spetisbury in 2023 to provide energy for the City of London Corporation.^[6]^[7]

Spetisbury is twinned with Le Vast, a village in the Manche department of Normandy, France. The Manche department is itself is twinned with Dorset.^[8]

Etymology

Spetisbury takes its name from the Old English words speoht (woodpecker) and byrig (a fort).^{[citation needed]} Woodpeckers are commonly found in the village, and there is an Iron Age fort.

Buildings and history

Spetisbury Rings

Spetisbury is home to the Iron Age fortifications known as Spetisbury Rings (previously known as Crawford Castle). Spetisbury Rings is the third in a series of Iron Age earthworks, after Hambledon Hill and Hod Hill, before Buzbury Rings, Badbury Rings, Dudsbury Camp and the port at Hengistbury Head.^[9] In the 1850s, during the construction of the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway, two mass graves were found contained over 80 skeletons. At least two of these had been killed violently.^[2] Alongside skeletons, a large number of items, including seaxes and spearheads, were discovered.^[10]^[11]^[12] The hillfort is a scheduled monument.^[13]

St John the Baptist

The parish church of St John the Baptist lies on the west side of the A350. The north arcade dates from the late 12th or early 13th century and the tower (with a ring of six heavy bells) from the late 15th or early 16th century. Most of the church was built in 1858, before Thomas Henry Wyatt restored the building in 1895. The church was built with a mixture of building stones, chiefly knapped flint. The early-17th-century pulpit has ornate panelled sides, including cherub heads. The font was made of Purbeck marble, and is likely the same age as the tower. In the north wall, there is an early 17th-century monument to John Bowyer, who died in 1599. In the churchyard, close to the porch, is the three-sided pyramid gravestone of Thomas Rackett, rector of the village and Charlton Marshall for 60 years. The church is a Grade 1 listed building and the Rackett monument and octagonal memorial to the fallen of WWI and WWII are both Grade 2 listed.^[10]^[14]^[15]^[16]^[17]^[18]^[19]

Crawford Bridge

The B3075 crosses the River Stour at Crawford Bridge. The bridge was built in the medieval period and widened in 1819. It has nine semicircular arches and is a Grade 1 listed building.^[20]

St Monica's Priory

In 1800, an 18th-century country house in the village was acquired by some Augustinian nuns (of the Congregation of Windesheim). The priory was then occupied by various religious groups including Brigittines (Syon nuns), Canons Regular of the Lateran and Ursulines. Although most of the original building was destroyed, some still remains and forms part of the village hall. There had previously been a house of Benedictine monks in the village.^[10]^[21]

Spetisbury Station

The village has a disused railway station on the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway. The station opened in 1860, but was one of four stations on the Dorset section of the line closed as an economy measure in 1956 before the whole railway closed for passengers in 1966 as part of the Beeching Axe. The route is now a footpath.^[2]

Spetisbury School

Dr Charles Sloper, rector of the parish, bequeathed £500 in his will to found a school in Spetisbury. Sloper also funded the construction of the village's rectory. Sloper's bequest complemented money given by John Hall to buy bibles. In 1733, a Christian school was founded in the village. This was before the introduction of compulsory state education. In 1862, it moved to its current building, next to the parish church. It is now called Spetisbury CofE Primary School, formerly Spetisbury (Hall and Sloper) School. During the Second World War, the school building was used as a radar base by the Royal Air Force.^[16]^[22]^[23]

The Woodpecker

There have been at least five pubs in the village, but all are now closed. The last was called "The Woodpecker", before it ceased trading in early 2019.^[2]^[24]

References

^ "Spetisbury". Domesday Book. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Taylor, Ann. "History of Spetisbury". Spetisbury Parish Council. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ "Spetisbury Parish - Local Area Report". Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.
^ "Spetisbury facts and figures - E04003437 - ONS". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.
^ Percival, Richard (19 June 2018). "Bid for northern Dorchester bypass to curb congestion". Dorset Echo. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ Goldman, Andrew (19 June 2023). "Large new solar park unveiled on Dorset farmland". Bournemouth Echo. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "Dorset solar park starts providing power to buildings 100 miles away". BBC News. 18 June 2023. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "Members". Dorset Twinning Association. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ Jardine, David E. C. (1 January 1985). Hill Forts of the Stour Valley (1st ed.). Bournemouth Local Studies Publications. ISBN 978-0-906287-60-6.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Spetisbury". British History Online. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ Austin, Matthew (September 2014). "Rethinking Hardown Hill: Our Westernmost Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery?". The Antiquaries Journal. 94: 49–69. doi:10.1017/S0003581514000250. S2CID 163113153.
^ "Collections Online - Spetisbury". British Museum. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "Slight univallate hillfort called Crawford Castle, Spetisbury - 1004563". Historic England. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "St John the Baptist Church". Spetisbury Parish Council. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ "CHURCH OF ST JOHN, Spetisbury - 1305220". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ ^a ^b Hutchins, John (1774). The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. pp. 189–194. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ Newman, John; Pevsner, Nicholas (1975). The Buildings of England: Dorset, by J. Newman, N. Pevsner. Penguin Books. pp. 394–5. ISBN 978-0-14-071044-1. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ "Spetisbury War Memorial, Spetisbury - 1441320". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "RACKETT MONUMENT, IN THE CHURCHYARD, 2 METRES SOUTH OF PORCH OF ST JOHN'S CHURCH, Spetisbury - 1110162". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.
^ "CRAWFORD BRIDGE, Spetisbury - 1305264". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
^ Stead, Sue. "St. Monica's Priory". Google Sites. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ "Hall and Sloper". Spetisbury CofE Primary School. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ "CEDAR COURT, Spetisbury - 1110160". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.
^ Bevins, Trevor (6 November 2021). "APPROVED: Former pub to be converted into homes". Dorset Echo. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

External links

[Domesday_Book-1] "Spetisbury". Domesday Book. Archived from the original on 2 March 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.

[Taylor_Article-2] Taylor, Ann. "History of Spetisbury". Spetisbury Parish Council. Archived from the original on 16 June 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[2011_Census-3] "Spetisbury Parish - Local Area Report". Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics. Archived from the original on 12 February 2022. Retrieved 20 July 2023.

[2021_Census-4] "Spetisbury facts and figures - E04003437 - ONS". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 15 July 2023.

[Bypass?-5] Percival, Richard (19 June 2018). "Bid for northern Dorchester bypass to curb congestion". Dorset Echo. Archived from the original on 9 November 2020. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[Echo_Solar-6] Goldman, Andrew (19 June 2023). "Large new solar park unveiled on Dorset farmland". Bournemouth Echo. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[BBC_solar-7] "Dorset solar park starts providing power to buildings 100 miles away". BBC News. 18 June 2023. Archived from the original on 23 June 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[Twinning-8] "Members". Dorset Twinning Association. Archived from the original on 11 August 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2023.

[Jardine-9] Jardine, David E. C. (1 January 1985). Hill Forts of the Stour Valley (1st ed.). Bournemouth Local Studies Publications. ISBN 978-0-906287-60-6.

[BHO-10] "Spetisbury". British History Online. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 17 July 2023.

[Hardown_Hill-11] Austin, Matthew (September 2014). "Rethinking Hardown Hill: Our Westernmost Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery?". The Antiquaries Journal. 94: 49–69. doi:10.1017/S0003581514000250. S2CID 163113153.

[BM_Finds-12] "Collections Online - Spetisbury". British Museum. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[Spetisbury_Rings_Listing-13] "Slight univallate hillfort called Crawford Castle, Spetisbury - 1004563". Historic England. Archived from the original on 4 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[Church_Spetisbury-14] "St John the Baptist Church". Spetisbury Parish Council. Archived from the original on 7 August 2022. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[Church_Listing-15] "CHURCH OF ST JOHN, Spetisbury - 1305220". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[Hutchins-16] Hutchins, John (1774). The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset. pp. 189–194. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[Pevsner-17] Newman, John; Pevsner, Nicholas (1975). The Buildings of England: Dorset, by J. Newman, N. Pevsner. Penguin Books. pp. 394–5. ISBN 978-0-14-071044-1. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[War_Memorial_Listing-18] "Spetisbury War Memorial, Spetisbury - 1441320". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[Rackett_Monument-19] "RACKETT MONUMENT, IN THE CHURCHYARD, 2 METRES SOUTH OF PORCH OF ST JOHN'S CHURCH, Spetisbury - 1110162". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

[Crawford_Bridge_Listing-20] "CRAWFORD BRIDGE, Spetisbury - 1305264". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.

[Priory-21] Stead, Sue. "St. Monica's Priory". Google Sites. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[School_History-22] "Hall and Sloper". Spetisbury CofE Primary School. Archived from the original on 20 September 2021. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[Cedar_Court-23] "CEDAR COURT, Spetisbury - 1110160". Historic England. Archived from the original on 20 July 2023. Retrieved 16 July 2023.

[24] Bevins, Trevor (6 November 2021). "APPROVED: Former pub to be converted into homes". Dorset Echo. Archived from the original on 6 November 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

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@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}}
-{{Infobox UK place
+{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
- | official_name=         Spetisbury
+{{Use British English|date=July 2023}}
- | country=               England
+{{Infobox UK place
- | region=                South West England
+| official_name = Spetisbury
- | static_image_name=     Milestone, Spetisbury - geograph.org.uk - 1063192.jpg
+| country = England
- | static_image_caption=  Spetisbury
+| region = South West England
- | population=
+| static_image_name = File:Mid May 2012- St. John the Baptist, Spetisbury (geograph 2952750).jpg
- | os_grid_reference=     ST911026
+| static_image_caption = Church of St John the Baptist
- | latitude=              50.823
+| population = 590
- | longitude=             -2.127
+| os_grid_reference = ST911026
- | post_town=
+| coordinates = {{coord|50.8212|-2.1259|display=inline,title}}
- | postcode_area=         DT
+| post_town = Blandford Forum
- | postcode_district=     DT11
+| postcode_area = DT
- | dial_code=
+| postcode_district = DT11
- | constituency_westminster=       [[North Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|North Dorset]]
+| dial_code = 01258
- | shire_district=                 [[North Dorset]]
+| constituency_westminster = [[North Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|North Dorset]]
- | shire_county=                   [[Dorset]]
+| unitary_england = [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]]
- }}
+| shire_county = [[Dorset]]
-'''Spetisbury''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|p|ɛ|t|z|b|ə|r|i}}) is a village in north [[Dorset]], [[England]], situated on the [[River Stour, Dorset|River Stour]] and the [[A350 road]], four miles south east of [[Blandford Forum]].  The village has a [[population]] of 542 ({{As of|2001}}). It is notable for being a very linear settlement, with mostly only one line of buildings adjacent to the A350 road. Currently, a large project is underway which may lead to the construction of a new bypass of the A350, meaning that the high traffic that currently passes through would be redirected.
+| type = Village
+}}
+'''Spetisbury''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|p|ɛ|t|s|b|ər|i}}) is a village and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in north [[Dorset]], England, situated on the [[River Stour, Dorset|River Stour]] and the [[A350 road|A350]], {{convert|4|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} southeast of [[Blandford Forum]].
+According to the [[Domesday Book]] of 1086, the village had 30 households.<ref name="Domesday Book">{{cite web |title=Spetisbury |url=https://opendomesday.org/place/ST9002/spetisbury/ |website=Domesday Book |access-date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=2 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230302200010/https://opendomesday.org/place/ST9002/spetisbury/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Taylor Article" /> According to the [[United Kingdom Census 2011|2011 census]] the parish had 224 households and a population of 555.<ref name="2011 Census">{{cite web |title=Spetisbury Parish - Local Area Report |url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E04003437 |website=Nomis - Official Census and Labour Market Statistics |access-date=20 July 2023 |archive-date=12 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220212231012/https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/localarea?compare=E04003437 |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[United Kingdom Census 2021|2021 census]], the parish had 250 households and a population of 590.<ref name="2021 Census">{{cite web |title=Spetisbury facts and figures - E04003437 - ONS |url=https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/areas/area/?code=E04003437 |website=Office for National Statistics |access-date=15 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720091626/https://www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/areas/area/?code=E04003437 |url-status=live }}</ref>
-==History and Buildings==
-[[File:Ramparts of Spettisbury Rings - geograph.org.uk - 1281226.jpg|thumb|left|Ramparts of Spettisbury Rings]]
-Spetisbury takes its name from speht - woodpecker, and byrig - a fort. Spetisbury is home to the [[Iron Age]] fortifications known as Spetisbury Rings or Crawford Castle (but not related to [[Crawford Castle]] in Scotland), destroyed by [[Roman invasion of Britain|Roman advances]] in the first century A.D {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}. The earthworks, known as Spetisbury Rings, was a stronghold of Ionia before the Romans came, and Roman and Briton lie side by side in graves. {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}
+Spetisbury is a linear settlement, adjacent to the A350 road, which was included in Dorset County Council's response to the Major Roads Network (MRN) consultation, leading to some anticipation of a bypass of Spetisbury and neighbouring [[Charlton Marshall]].<ref name="Bypass?">{{cite news |last1=Percival |first1=Richard |title=Bid for northern Dorchester bypass to curb congestion |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/16298568.new-a35-a37-north-dorchester-link-road-plan-revealed/ |access-date=18 July 2023 |work=Dorset Echo |date=19 June 2018 |language=en |archive-date=9 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109034803/https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/16298568.new-a35-a37-north-dorchester-link-road-plan-revealed/ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{Additional citation needed|date=July 2023}} A large solar farm was commissioned near Spetisbury in 2023 to provide energy for the [[City of London Corporation]].<ref name="Echo Solar">{{cite news |last1=Goldman |first1=Andrew |title=Large new solar park unveiled on Dorset farmland |url=https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23595367.new-solar-farm-unveiled-near-spetisbury-dorset/ |access-date=18 July 2023 |work=Bournemouth Echo |date=19 June 2023 |language=en |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624082331/https://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/23595367.new-solar-farm-unveiled-near-spetisbury-dorset/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="BBC solar">{{cite news |title=Dorset solar park starts providing power to buildings 100 miles away |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-65923854 |access-date=18 July 2023 |work=BBC News |date=18 June 2023 |archive-date=23 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230623171013/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-65923854 |url-status=live }}</ref>
-The recent history of the village originates from the 18th century St Monica's Priory, which was both a home for several different religious orders and regional [[Aristocracy (class)|aristocrats]]. Although most of the original building was destroyed, some still remains and forms part of the village hall. ANother important building is Spetisbury Manor. The building, many years previously, that of a local squire is now a large retirement home.
+Spetisbury is twinned with [[Le Vast]], a village in the [[Manche]] [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Normandy]], France. The Manche department is itself is twinned with [[Dorset]].<ref name="Twinning">{{cite web |title=Members |url=http://www.twinning.org.uk/DTA/Members.html |website=Dorset Twinning Association |access-date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=11 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220811061908/http://twinning.org.uk/DTA/Members.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
-The centre of the linear settlement is crossed by the B3075, which traverses the [[Stour]] at Crawford Bridge, one of the river's most famous arch bridges {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}. Built in the 15th century, it has nine arches. Other notable transport structures include a disused [[railway]] station on the former [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]]. Spetisbury station was one of four stations on the Dorset section of the line closed as an economy measure in 1956; the whole railway closed in 1966 as part of the [[Beeching Axe]].
+==Etymology==
-==St John The Baptist==
+Spetisbury takes its name from the Old English words [[wikt:Reconstruction:Old English/spiht|''speoht'']] (woodpecker) and [[wikt:burg#Old English|''byrig'']] (a fort).{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} [[Woodpecker]]s are commonly found in the village, and there is an Iron Age fort.
-[[File:Spetisbury, parish church of St. John the Baptist - geograph.org.uk - 455000.jpg|thumb|right|Parish church of Saint John the Baptist]]
-The local [[Church (building)|church]] of [[St John the Baptist]] dates from the late 15th century with several important architectural features, most notably the original tower. The church has been built with a mixture of building stones including carstone, greensand, limestone and chiefly with much knapped flint in the [[Victorian nave]] and chancel. It has a fairly squat 15th century tower (with six bells), but the rest of the fabric is mostly 19th century, [[Victorian restoration|restored]] by T. H. Wyatt in 1859. The pulpit is [[Elizabethan]], and there is an early 17th century monument to John Bowyer, who died in 1599. In the churchyard, close to the porch, is a gravestone in the form of a three-sided pyramid; a [[tetrahedron]].
+== Buildings and history ==
-==Sources==
-*[[John Hutchins (historian)|John Hutchins]], ''The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset'', 3rd ed., edited by William Shipp and James Whitworth Hodson, Westminster: J.B. Nichols and Sons, 1861-1873.
+=== Spetisbury Rings ===
-*John Newman and [[Nikolaus Pevsner]], ''The Buildings of England: Dorset''. Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1972, pp.&nbsp;394–395
+[[File:Spetisbury Rings, trig point - geograph.org.uk - 2892648.jpg|left|thumb|Spetisbury Rings]]
+Spetisbury is home to the [[Iron Age]] fortifications known as Spetisbury Rings (previously known as Crawford Castle<!-- Do not wikilink: unrelated to the castle in Scotland. -->). Spetisbury Rings is the third in a series of Iron Age earthworks, after [[Hambledon Hill]] and [[Hod Hill]], before [[Buzbury Rings]], [[Badbury Rings]], [[Dudsbury Camp]] and the port at [[Hengistbury Head]].<ref name="Jardine">{{cite book |last1=Jardine |first1=David E. C. |title=Hill Forts of the Stour Valley |date=1 January 1985 |publisher=Bournemouth Local Studies Publications |isbn=978-0-906287-60-6 |edition=1st |language=English}}</ref> In the 1850s, during the construction of the [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]], two [[mass grave]]s were found contained over 80 skeletons. At least two of these had been killed violently.<ref name="Taylor Article" /> Alongside skeletons, a large number of items, including [[seax]]es and [[spear]]heads, were discovered.<ref name="BHO" /><ref name="Hardown Hill">{{cite journal |last1=Austin |first1=Matthew |title=Rethinking Hardown Hill: Our Westernmost Early Anglo-Saxon Cemetery? |journal=The Antiquaries Journal |date=September 2014 |volume=94 |pages=49–69 |doi=10.1017/S0003581514000250|s2cid=163113153 }}</ref><ref name="BM Finds">{{cite web |title=Collections Online - Spetisbury |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x98547 |website=British Museum |access-date=18 July 2023 |archive-date=21 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210621205740/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x98547 |url-status=live }}</ref> The hillfort is a [[scheduled monument]].<ref name="Spetisbury Rings Listing">{{cite web |title=Slight univallate hillfort called Crawford Castle, Spetisbury - 1004563 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004563 |website=Historic England |access-date=18 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704204938/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004563 |url-status=live }}</ref>
+=== St John the Baptist ===
+[[File:Looking down the Nave, St John the Baptist, Spetisbury.jpg|thumb|Inside St John the Baptist]]
+The parish church of [[St John the Baptist]] lies on the west side of the A350. The north [[Arcade (architecture)|arcade]] dates from the late 12th or early 13th century and the tower (with a ring of six heavy bells) from the late 15th or early 16th century. Most of the church was built in 1858, before [[Thomas Henry Wyatt]] restored the building in 1895. The church was built with a mixture of building stones, chiefly knapped flint. The early-17th-century [[pulpit]] has ornate panelled sides, including cherub heads. The [[Baptismal font|font]] was made of [[Purbeck Marble|Purbeck marble]], and is likely the same age as the tower. In the north wall, there is an early 17th-century monument to John Bowyer, who died in 1599. In the churchyard, close to the porch, is the [[Tetrahedron|three-sided pyramid]] gravestone of [[Thomas Rackett]], rector of the village and Charlton Marshall for 60 years. The church is a [[Listed building|Grade 1 listed building]] and the Rackett monument and octagonal memorial to the fallen of WWI and WWII are both [[Listed building|Grade 2 listed]].<ref name="BHO">{{cite web |title=Spetisbury |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol3/pp242-246 |website=British History Online |access-date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=1 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221201035154/https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol3/pp242-246 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Church Spetisbury">{{cite web |title=St John the Baptist Church |url=http://www.spetisbury.org.uk/St_John_the_Baptist_Church_24549.aspx |website=Spetisbury Parish Council |access-date=16 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807151811/http://www.spetisbury.org.uk/St_John_the_Baptist_Church_24549.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Church Listing">{{cite web |title=CHURCH OF ST JOHN, Spetisbury - 1305220 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1305220?section=official-list-entry |website=Historic England |access-date=16 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720091625/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1305220?section=official-list-entry |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Hutchins">{{cite book |last1=Hutchins |first1=John |title=The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset |date=1774 |url=https://wellcomecollection.org/works/h5cuarzu/items?canvas=205&manifest=2 |access-date=16 July 2023 |pages=189–194 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720091626/https://wellcomecollection.org/works/h5cuarzu/items?canvas=205&manifest=2 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Pevsner">{{cite book |last1=Newman |first1=John |last2=Pevsner |first2=Nicholas |title=The Buildings of England: Dorset, by J. Newman, N. Pevsner |date=1975 |publisher=Penguin Books |isbn=978-0-14-071044-1 |pages=394–5 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2_hNAAAAMAAJ |language=en |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720091625/https://books.google.com/books?id=2_hNAAAAMAAJ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="War Memorial Listing">{{cite web |title=Spetisbury War Memorial, Spetisbury - 1441320 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1441320 |website=Historic England |access-date=18 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720091627/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1441320 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Rackett Monument">{{cite web |title=RACKETT MONUMENT, IN THE CHURCHYARD, 2 METRES SOUTH OF PORCH OF ST JOHN'S CHURCH, Spetisbury - 1110162 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1110162 |website=Historic England |access-date=18 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720091653/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1110162 |url-status=live }}</ref>
+=== Crawford Bridge ===
+[[File:Crawford Bridge - geograph.org.uk - 3946678.jpg|thumb|Crawford Bridge crossing the River Stour]]
+The B3075 crosses the [[River Stour, Dorset|River Stour]] at Crawford Bridge. The bridge was built in the medieval period and widened in 1819. It has nine semicircular arches and is a [[Listed building|Grade 1 listed building]].<ref name="Crawford Bridge Listing">{{cite web |title=CRAWFORD BRIDGE, Spetisbury - 1305264 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1305264?section=official-list-entry |website=Historic England |access-date=17 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720092129/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1305264?section=official-list-entry |url-status=live }}</ref>
+=== St Monica's Priory ===
+{{Main|St Monica's Priory, Spetisbury}}{{See also|Spetisbury Priory}}
+In 1800, an 18th-century country house in the village was acquired by some [[Augustinians|Augustinian nuns]] (of the [[Congregation of Windesheim]]). The priory was then occupied by various religious groups including [[Bridgettines|Brigittines]] ([[Syon Abbey|Syon nuns]]), [[Canons Regular of the Lateran]] and [[Ursulines]]. Although most of the original building was destroyed, some still remains and forms part of the village hall. There had previously been a house of [[Benedictines|Benedictine]] monks in the village.<ref name="BHO" /><ref name="Priory">{{cite web |last1=Stead |first1=Sue |title=St. Monica's Priory |url=https://sites.google.com/site/stmonicaspriory/ |website=Google Sites |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-date=1 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001113818/https://sites.google.com/site/stmonicaspriory/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
+=== Spetisbury Station ===
+[[File:Spetisbury Halt, abandoned platform (geograph 2135894).jpg|thumb|Spetisbury Station, before restoration]]{{Main|Spetisbury railway station}}
+The village has a disused [[Spetisbury railway station|railway station]] on the former [[Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway]]. The station opened in 1860, but was one of four stations on the Dorset section of the line closed as an economy measure in 1956 before the whole railway closed for passengers in 1966 as part of the [[Beeching Axe]]. The route is now a footpath.<ref name="Taylor Article">{{cite web |last1=Taylor |first1=Ann |title=History of Spetisbury |url=http://www.spetisbury.org.uk/History_of_Spetisbury_24548.aspx |website=Spetisbury Parish Council |access-date=16 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=16 June 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210616193054/http://www.spetisbury.org.uk/History_of_Spetisbury_24548.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>
+=== Spetisbury School ===
+Dr Charles Sloper, rector of the parish, bequeathed £500 in his will to found a school in Spetisbury. Sloper also funded the construction of the village's rectory. Sloper's bequest complemented money given by [[John Hall (bishop)|John Hall]] to buy bibles. In 1733, a Christian school was founded in the village. This was before the introduction of compulsory state education. In 1862, it moved to its current building, next to the parish church. It is now called Spetisbury [[Church of England|CofE]] Primary School, formerly Spetisbury (Hall and Sloper) School. During the Second World War, the school building was used as a radar base by the [[Royal Air Force]].<ref name="Hutchins" /><ref name="School History">{{cite web |title=Hall and Sloper |url=https://www.spetisbury.dsat.org.uk/hall-and-sloper/ |website=Spetisbury CofE Primary School |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-date=20 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210920175731/https://www.spetisbury.dsat.org.uk/hall-and-sloper/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Cedar Court">{{cite web |title=CEDAR COURT, Spetisbury - 1110160 |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1110160 |website=Historic England |access-date=16 July 2023 |language=en |archive-date=20 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230720092128/https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1110160 |url-status=live }}</ref>
+=== The Woodpecker ===
+There have been at least five [[pub]]s in the village, but all are now closed. The last was called "The Woodpecker", before it ceased trading in early 2019.<ref name="Taylor Article" /><ref>{{cite news |last1=Bevins |first1=Trevor |title=APPROVED: Former pub to be converted into homes |url=https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/19698810.homes-built-woodpecker-pub-spetisbury/ |access-date=18 July 2023 |work=Dorset Echo |date=6 November 2021 |language=en |archive-date=6 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211106082128/https://www.dorsetecho.co.uk/news/19698810.homes-built-woodpecker-pub-spetisbury/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
+== References ==
+{{reflist}}
 ==External links==
 {{Commons category|Spetisbury}}
+*[http://www.spetisbury.org.uk/ Spetisbury Parish Council]
-* [http://www1.dorsetcc.gov.uk/LIVING/FACTS/Census2001.nsf/6cadf4da179fc19500256663004afece/9965a496fadb38d480256ec500444509?OpenDocument Census data]
-*[http://www.spetisbury.net/ The Parish Council]
+*[https://www.spetisbury.dsat.org.uk/ Spetisbury CofE Primary School, founded in 1733]
+*[https://spetisburystationproject.wordpress.com/ Spetisbury Station Project]
-*[http://www.spetisbury.dorset.sch.uk/ The Local First School Spetisbury School founded 1733]
+*[https://sites.google.com/site/stmonicaspriory/ History of St Monica's Priory]
-*[http://www.dorsetforyou.com/index.jsp?articleid=15908 A350 Plans]
-*[http://www.strollingguides.co.uk/books/dorset/walks/spetisbury1.php Spetisbury Rings]
+*[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/term/x98547 Archaeological finds from Spetisbury in the British Museum]
+*[http://www.spetisbury.org.uk/Local_Walks_The_Woodpecker_Walks_24550.aspx Walks around Spetisbury]
+*[http://www.strollingguides.co.uk/books/dorset/walks/spetisbury1.php Walk to Spetisbury Rings]
-[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]
+{{North Dorset}}
+{{authority control}}
+[[Category:Villages in Dorset]]
-[[nl:Spetisbury]]
+[[Category:Civil parishes in Dorset]]