The Parishes of East Orchard

Church of St Thomas, East Orchard Photographs Lynda Mudle-Small © March 2003	East Orchard is a small parish 4 miles south-west of Shaftesbury. The simple church of St Thomas was built at the end of the 18th century and the church registers date from 1785. At one time there were also two Methodist Chapels. The land, which is clay and gravel, is mainly owned by farmers and not surprisingly there are many apple orchards and cider is manufactured. A National School was constructed in 1867. The area is 839 acres, with a population in 1891 of 166 persons.
West Orchard is the adjoining parish separated by a stream flowing to the south-west. The church (dedication unknown) was rebuilt, with the exception of the chancel in 1878. The registers date from 1653. The land here is loam and sand and is mainly pasture, there is 669 acres. There used to be a school in the parish but it was closed as far back as 1884 due to the small attendance and the children then went to West Orchard School. The population in 1891 was 115 persons.	West Orchard Church
There is no Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for East & West Orchard If you would like to volunteer please contact the Co-ordinator via the link on the home page Resources usually available
Census	1841 East Orchard 1851 East Orchard census [with Sutton Waldron] 1871, 1881, 1891 East Orchard 1901 East Orchard census 1841 West Orchard census 1871, 1881, 1891 West Orchard 1901 West Orchard census
Parish Registers	Any transcriptions of Parish Registers would be most welcome.
Postal Directories	The following extracts are on site:- East Orchard 1867 & 1880 Directory West Orchard 1867, 1875 & 1880 Directory
Monumental Inscriptions	Details of the names on Memorials at East Orchard For the Memorials for West Orchard go to the Search Page and in the 2nd box down under enter 'West Orchard' under Burial Place.
Photographs	Photographs of the church, monumental stones and the village
Maps	The 1891 ordnance survey maps of the parish can be seen at the old-maps site, just enter 'East Orchard' or 'West Orchard' under place search.
	For modern location maps visit:- www.multimap.com For a 1920's map of the north of the county showing the parishes click on the thumbnail on the left [170kb]