Shipton Gorge

Coordinates: 50°43′16″N 2°42′49″W / 50.7211°N 2.7136°W / 50.7211; -2.7136
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Shipton Gorge
Parish church of St Martin
Shipton Gorge is located in Dorset
Shipton Gorge
Shipton Gorge
Location within Dorset
Population350 [1]
OS grid referenceSY497915
Civil parish
  • Shipton Gorge
Unitary authority
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBridport
Postcode districtDT6
Dialling code01308
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
WebsiteVillage website
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°43′16″N 2°42′49″W / 50.7211°N 2.7136°W / 50.7211; -2.7136

Shipton Gorge is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, 3 miles (4.8 km) 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 170 metres (560 ft) 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.

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "Parish Population Data". Dorset County Council. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Area: Shipton Gorge (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  3. ^ "Place name: Shipton Gorge, Dorset Folio: 75r Great Domesday Book Domesday…". nationalarchives.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  4. ^ "'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. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  5. ^ West Dorset Holiday and Tourist Guide. West Dorset District Council. c. 1983. p. 18.

External links[edit]