The Parish of Swyre

	Swyre is a coastal parish 6 miles south-east from Bridport and adjacent to Puncknowle on the east side and Burton Bradstock on the west. The church of the Holy Trinity is stone built in the Early English style. The register only dates from 1754, but fortunately there is a transcript of the marriages from 1588 and the Bishop's Transcripts date from 1732 and there are Overseers Account from 1601-1667 and 1722-1837.
A Board School was built in 1851 to accommodate 40 children. In 1895 the whole parish was owned by the Duke of Bedford who was the sole landowner. The cottages on the right were built by the Duke in the mid 1800's to replace older ones. The soil is clay and the chief crops were wheat, barley and oats. The parish covers and area of 1081 acres and had a population of 154 persons in 1891. These photographs courtesy of Valerie Pettifer © 2002. More photographs below.
The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Swyre is Judy Hodges Resources are available for look-up by contacting me, using the above link. There are at present, no transcriptions on this site. Unless specified, all transcriptions and indexes used to answer queries have been made by me. The list below represents the main transcriptions I have, there may well be other smaller items not listed, so it is always worth contacting me. I will be building resources over the coming months so don't forget to come back regularly for the latest additions. Resources available
Census	At present I have transcriptions of the following census:- 1851, 1881 & 1891 so far
Parish Registers Some transcripts also on-line at the Dorset Parish Transcriptions site	Baptisms 1731 - 1880 Marriages 1731 - 1800 Burials 1731 - 1880
Postal & Street Directories
Maps	The 1891 ordinance survey maps of the parish can be seen at the old-maps site, just enter 'Swyre' under place search.
	For modern location maps & aerial views visit:- www.multimap.com
The Old School House, which is now a private residence. However the single school bell can still be seen.
	The track above is a continuation of the Main Street and goes down to the sea, a route often used in the past by smugglers. Two photographs above courtesy of Valerie Pettifer © 2002 A view of the coastline in the parish, showing part of Chesil Beach. © Lynda Small February 2003