In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Fordington like this:
FORDINGTON, a suburban village, a parish, and a liberty, in Dorset. The village is suburban to Dorchester; stands on Icknield street and the river Frome, adjacent to branches of the Southwestern railway; partakes in the trade and interests of Dorchester; and was itself, at one time, a market-town. ...
The parish is in Dorchester district, and partly within Dorchester borough; and contains Dorchester workhouse. Post town, Dorchester. Acres, 2, 749. Real property, £9, 200. Pop., 3, 258. Houses, 538. Pop. of the part within Dorchester borough, 3, 172. Houses, 533. - The manor was held, in the time of Edward III., by the queen dowager, Isabella; passed to the Black Prince, as Duke of Cornwall; and, with nearly all the land, belongs now to the Prince of Wales. Fordington Field here comprises 1, 657 acres; continues to be unenclosed; and affords pasturage, on its stubbles, to large flocks of sheep. A Roman camp, and a well preserved amphitheatre, are in the parish; and a road in it has, from time immemorial, been called Icen-lane; and seems to have got that name from its connexion with Icknield street or the Via Iceniana. A raised causeway, 1, 980 feet long., in improvement of a bad road into the village, was formed, in 1747, by Mrs. Pitt, of Kingston House, at a cost of £1, 500; and, at the same time a three-arched bridge was constructed over a branch of the Frome. A Roman bath, some coins, and a great number of skeletons were found at the forming of the causeway. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury. Value, £325.* Patron, the Prebendary of Fordington. The church is noticed in our article on Dorchester. The The vicarage of West Fordington is a separate benefice. -The liberty is partly in Dorchester division, and partly in Cerne division. Acres, 3, 041. Pop., 405. Houses, 53.
Fordington through time
Fordington is now part of West Dorset district. Click here for graphs and data of how West Dorset has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Fordington itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Fordington in West Dorset | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20279
Date accessed: 18th April 2024
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