Milton Abbas Local History Group, Dorset, UK

One Place Studies

Posted on May 8, 2024 by miltonabbashistorygroup

©Bryan Phillips May 2024

If you have an ancestor who came from Milton Abbas at any time in the past going as far back as 1317 then you are in luck! We have already done the research that you need to tell their story.

We have already explored house history.

A recent check list of place based research is given in Family Tree May 2024, p19 by Chris Paton.

create a database of records relevant to the period and occupations relevant to the ancestral focus of your own project (this is a list that you can add to as your research progresses); – The Milton Abbas Local History Group have a database of 5350 records which is available to our members.
undertake background reading, to learn about the local area (occupations, opportunities, challenges, local resources, education, geography, transport etc); – Our Library and documents have all the information you need. You will need to be a member to access them.
appraise the wider history of the time (what other events may have impacted your ancestors’ lives – war, economic changes etc); – We have over 200 GB of digital documents, photos, postcards, books etc
study archive catalogues to find collections not available digitally; research the wider community, to gain a broader picture of the people of the time (occupations, epidemics, religions, birth locations, local landowners etc); We have already done the searching for you – Dorset History Centre, Wilts & Swindon Archive, British Newspaper Archives, The National Archives, Ancestry, Find my Past, Society of Genealogists, Parliamentary Archives, The London Gazette and many others.
consider reasons why your family may have moved away from/to the area; – Please tell us, we would be very interested to know! We already have members in Canada, USA and Australia who have ancestors from Milton Abbas and stories to tell.
research maps and images to bring the location as it was in your ancestors’ time to life; We have high resolution digital copies of maps starting from 1652.
write up your research (you may wish to share it online, to help others researching ancestors in the same/similar circumstances). See our Memories page and add your story to it.
plan a visit! – see this amazing place and learn more of its history. Many of our members have walked and photographed it.

Posted in books, Churchwardens, document, Dorset, family history, local, local history, Milton Abbas, Old Town of Milton Abbas, Overseers of the Poor, Parish Registers, social history | Leave a comment

Lyscombe

Posted on April 12, 2024 by miltonabbashistorygroup

©Bryan Phillips Apr 2024

Another phase in the history of Lyscombe has just opened up – literally. 335 hectares of chalk downland has been purchased by, and will be managed for rewilding by Dorset Wildlife Trust. For details see their website.

Lyscombe is an Old English word for ‘valley where reeds grow’.

The earliest we know of the manor of Lyscombe was the grant by King Athelstan in 934 to Milton Abbey. Its written records are noted in the Manorial Document Register and are mostly located at Winchester College Muniments where we have photographed some of them. There is also an Anglo-Saxon charter of the bounds of Cheselbourne which was itself owned by Shaftesbury Abbey at the time. The boundaries of Lyscombe are also given in one of the Milton Abbey 14th century documents which we images of..

image Rosalyn Charlton

Lyscombe Chapel was derelict but has recently been restored. It is a Grade II* listed building. It is worth visiting as it is in a secluded valley and provides a beautiful walk in the countryside.

Posted in history, local history, Medieval history | Leave a comment

Country Life

Posted on March 28, 2024 by miltonabbashistorygroup

The Country Life archive is now available on British Newspaper Archives and Find my Past. A search for Milton Abbas reveals over 400 records and Milton Abbey 350.

The individual pages of the articles are available as pdf or jpg files. These results will be useful for anyone researching their house history as they will likely find their properties described for sale. Other highlights are the location, with photo, of the well in The Street, how the old doctor’s house was designed by Capability Brown to look without the massive hedge now hiding it, the view across the lake as designed without the trees as now obscuring it, when roe deer were introduced by the Hambros, a pheasant shoot in 1904 and many others. There are also of course major articles on the mansion house including Wyatt and Westmacott designs for furniture, and how the Tregonwells bought Anderson Manor.

Posted in Capability Brown, Damer, Hambro, local history, Tregonwell | Leave a comment

Milton Abbas Pendant

Posted on February 13, 2024 by miltonabbashistorygroup

Is now available to view at the Dorset Museum.

This unique Anglo-Saxon pendant was found in Milton Abbas by one of the members of the Milton Abbas Local History Group, Charles Bullock, who reported to the Portable Antiquities Scheme where it was declared as treasure. Dorset Museum then raised the funds to purchase it.

It was dated by British Museum staff at 6th to 7th century AD.

For more information see our previous reports on its significance for Dorset.

For Members

Dorset Museum information.

Posted in Anglo-Saxon, archaeology, Medieval history, Metal Detecting, Milton Abbey, St Catherine's Chapel | Leave a comment

More finds from Milton Abbas

Posted on January 19, 2024 by miltonabbashistorygroup

Perhaps not as exciting as Charles Bullock’s find of the Milton Abbas Pendant, but telling us more about the history of Milton Abbas are some of Charles’ recent finds which he is reporting to the UK Detector Finds Database are such as the following –

These and many other artefacts show the occupation of the people of Milton Abbas from the Bronze Age to the Medieval period, and not anywhere near the village which was known to be just south of the Abbey church from the mid tenth century to the late 18th century when it was moved by Joseph Damer, Lord Milton.

One thing is abundantly clear – a lot of horses were here in the medieval period with many horseshoes and nails and bronze high status harness fittings found. It is likely that the abbots had stables for the horses and kennels for dogs with which they fraternised the great and the good of Dorset.

Posted in archaeology, local history, Medieval history, Metal Detecting, Milton Abbas, Milton Abbey | Leave a comment

Lord Milton attends Blandford races 1786

Posted on November 30, 2023 by miltonabbashistorygroup

The Blandford races had been held since 1603 at Race Down and attended by the worthies of Dorset. It is remarkable that there exists a list of those arriving in 1786 and Lord Milton with his ‘Coach and six Bays’ heads the list. The Blandford Races were accompanied by plenty of other entertainment for the lords, ladies and others who could afford the entry fees, for example wrestling matches, cudgel playing, cock fighting, balls, concerts and dinners. Below Lord Milton in the list were Lord Shaftesbury of Wimborne St Giles, Lord Arundel of Wardour Castle, Mr Portman of Bryanston, Mr Drax of Charborough, Mr Morton Pitt of Winterborne Kingston, Colonel Michel of Dewlish, Mr Blair of Whatcombe, Mr Pleydel of Milborne and Captain Bingham of Melcombe Bingham.

Posted in Damer, local history, records | Leave a comment

Moved villages – Holkham, Norfolk

Posted on November 20, 2023 by miltonabbashistorygroup

Although the Right Honourable Thomas Coke, Earl of Leicester, decided to move the village of Holkham to allow the building of his new stately home in the 1730s, it might have been an example of an earlier moved village, but not as many houses were destroyed as Lord Milton did in Milton Abbas. An interesting comparison of the empathy of the two lords of the manor can be gauged in the quality and style of the new houses that they built for their estate workers. This was shown very clearly in the BBC programme ‘Villages by the sea’, series 4, episode 4, Holkham, presented by Ben Robinson recently.