Chettle
Chettle parish church
Chettle is located in Dorset
Chettle
Chettle
Location within Dorset
Population90 [1]
OS grid referenceST952134
Civil parish
  • Chettle
District
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBLANDFORD FORUM
Postcode districtDT11
Dialling code01258
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament

Chettle is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies 6 miles (10 kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum.[2] It is sited at the head of a gently sloping valley on the dip slope of the chalk formation called Cranborne Chase. The A354 trunk road crosses the valley about 1 km to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.[1]

A 2008 report indicated that the entire village was owned by the Bourke family and operated in the mode of "benevolent feudalism". A news item from 2015 confirmed the ownership and provided the following update about the community:[3]

The tiny hamlet, with its hotel, manor house, 40 cottages, farms and lumber yard has belonged to the Bourke family for more than 400 years, in a benign throwback to feudal times.

Chettle House, the village manor, is a red brick Baroque mansion designed by Thomas Archer, a pupil of Vanbrugh, and built by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum during the reign of Queen Anne.[4][5] Pevsner called it "the plum among Dorset houses of the early 18th century, and even nationally outstanding as a specimen of English Baroque".[6][7] Two rounded ends were added to the house in 1912.[4]

Chettle House, 2009

From the 1950s to 2015 the house was a series of flats. After 2015, extensive renovations were completed by new owners; the house and gardens were closed to the public.[8][9]

A book about Chettle, "Enduring Village", was published in August, 2008.[10]

Notes

  1. 1 2 "Parish Population Data". Dorset County Council. 20 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
  2. ↑ Chettle village website Archived October 1, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
  3. ↑ "It has no crime, full employment, cheap housing... and is owned by the lord of the manor. So is this the perfect English village?". Evening Standard. 6 August 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  4. 1 2 Gant, R., Dorset Villages, Hale, 1980, p40
  5. ↑ "Chettle House". Archived from the original on 8 June 2007. Retrieved 26 July 2007.
  6. ↑ "Country houses sold in 2015". Country Life. 30 December 2015. Retrieved 29 April 2018.
  7. ↑ Jack O'Sullivan (8 August 1998). "Outdoors: The thrill of the Chase". independent.co.uk. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  8. ↑ Ross, David. "Chettle House: History, tourist information, and nearby accommodation". Britain Express.
  9. ↑ "Dorset a bird's eye view Chettle House". Dorset Life. 3 March 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  10. ↑ "Village That Became a Family Affair: Christopher Middleton on the Battles for Chettle". Daily Telegraph. 30 August 2008 – via PressReader.com.

Media related to Chettle at Wikimedia Commons



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