The Parish of Corscombe

Corscombe Post Office circa 1910	Corscombe is a large parish 4 miles north east from Beaminster and 9 miles south west of Yeovil. The adjoining parishes, starting in the north are:- West and East Chelborough, Rampisham, Hooke, Beaminster, Cheddington and Halstock. The church of St Mary has been restored several times, in the 15th century, in 1746 and in 1876. The registers date from the year 1595. The area is 4918 acres and is principally used for dairy farming.
Toller Whelme is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1871 from Corscombe. The church of St John was erected in 1870. Corscombe had a Post Office and a National School that was opened in 1872. The population of the combined parishes in 1861 was 753 and in 1891 was 623 persons. Benville is 1½ miles south east and Pinnys or Toller Whelme 2½ miles south. Note: In 1865 Toller Whelme was referred to as Penny Toller.	Fox Inn, Corscombe 2003
The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Corscombe is John Childs
Census	1841 Census 1851 Census 1861 Census 1871 Census 1881 Census 1891 Census 1901 Census
Parish Registers	The Parish registers date from , so far I have the following on-line:- Baptisms Marriages 1595-1837 Burials
Postal Directories	Extracts from postal & trade directories for 1851, 1855, 1859, 1865, 1875, 1915
Maps	The 1891 ordinance survey maps of the parish can be seen at the old-maps site, just enter 'Corscombe under place search.
	For modern location maps visit:- www.multimap.com or click on the thumb nail opposite for a larger version The map on the site above gives a better definition of the parish boundary.
Corsecombe is a parish of some 5000 acres situatuated in the west of Dorset stradling the Downs. It is split by the Crewkerne to Maiden Newton turnpike, along the ridge of some 830 feet above sea level, following the alignment of a Roman road. The village of Corsecombe is located on the northern slope 400 feet below. Its Parish Church, originally dedicated to St Michael was built around 1675. Between 1842 and 1865 the church was dedicated to St Mary and in 1876 restored and rebuilt to reflect a Tudor style with a Gothic tower containing six bells. The village also maintained a day school and held two fairs, 18 June and 7 September on the Fair Field at Toller Down alongside the road to Beaminster. A telegraph station was located opposite. This was one of the series of stations that would pass messages from the Admiralty in London to the naval station at Plymouth.
The Parish also contains the hamlets of Benville and Toller Whelme (Pinney's Toller). The latter has a chaplery church, dedicated to St John, concecrated on 7 Jun 1871. Photo opposite