West Stafford

West Stafford
Stafford House, West Stafford
West Stafford is located in Dorset
West Stafford
West Stafford
Location within Dorset
Population291 [1]
OS grid referenceSY726895
Unitary authority
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townDORCHESTER
Postcode districtDT2
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
  • West Dorset
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°42′18″N 2°23′21″W / 50.70500°N 2.38917°W / 50.70500; -2.38917

West Stafford is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated in the Frome valley 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 291.[1] The village contains the public house 'The Wise Man Inn', and St Andrew's Church. The river Winterbourne runs beside the village and 2 miles south lies the village of West Knighton. Thomas Hardy, when training as an architect, assisted in the design of Talbothays Lodge and the cottages opposite. The village is also accepted as the setting for part of Hardy's novel Tess or the D'Urbevilles, during the period when Tess works at the Talbothays Dairy.

Reginald Bosworth Smith, schoolmaster, author and President of the Oxford Union, was born in West Stafford on 28 June 1839.[2] His father, Reginald Southwell Smith, was the fourth son of Sir John Wyldbore Smith, Baronet, of Sydling St Nicholas, Dorset.

References

  1. ^ a b "Area: West Stafford (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  2. ^ Grogan, Ellinor Flora Bosworth Smith (1 January 1909). Reginald Bosworth Smith; a memoir. London: J. Nisbet & Co., limited.

Media related to West Stafford at Wikimedia Commons


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