thumb|Village primary school
Okeford Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated in the Blackmore Vale south of the town of Sturminster Newton. It is sited on a thin strip of greensand under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs. The parish includes the village of Belchalwell to the west and most of the hamlet of Fiddleford to the north, and at the 2021 census had a population of 1,000 people in 447 households.
History
Prehistoric remains within the parish include three cross dykes and five round barrows on the chalk hills south of the village, and an Iron Age hillfort on Banbury Hill, towards Sturminster Newton. Banbury covers about and is of univallate (single rampart) construction, though its defences have been reduced by cultivation.
In 1086 in the Domesday Book Okeford Fitzpaine was recorded as Adford; it had 40 households, 16 ploughlands, of meadow and one mill. It was in Sturminster Newton Hundred and the tenant-in-chief was Glastonbury Abbey. Since then it has been known as "Aukford Alured" and "Ockford Phippin", the latter echoing the modern colloquial "Fippenny Ockford" and its shorthand, "Ockford".
The present parish of Okeford Fitzpaine includes several areas that used to be within other parishes: Banbury Common (formerly in Child Okeford parish), the centre of the old parish of Belchalwell (plus four of its five separated parts), and part of Fiddleford (east of the Darknoll Brook).
Governance
At the lower tier of local government, Okeford Fitzpaine is a civil parish with a parish council. The first meeting of the parish council took place on 1 January 1895.
Okeford Fitzpaine falls within the unitary authority area of Dorset. For elections to Dorset Council, it is part of Blackmore Vale electoral ward. Historically, the parish was part of Sturminster rural district from 1894 until 1974, and then North Dorset district until Dorset became a unitary district in the 2019 local government changes.
In the United Kingdom national parliament, Okeford Fitzpaine is in the North Dorset parliamentary constituency which is represented by Simon Hoare of the Conservative party.
Demographics
{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Census population of Okeford Fitzpaine parish
|-
! scope=col width=18%| Census
! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Population <nowiki />
! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Female
! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Male <nowiki />
! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Households
! scope=col width=10% class="unsortable"| Source
|-
!scope=row| 1921
|| 652 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 1931
|| 580 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 1951
|| 625 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 1961
|| 619 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 1971
|| 580 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 1981
|| 630 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 1991
|| 640 <nowiki />
||
|| <nowiki />
||
||
|-
!scope=row| 2001
|| 979 <nowiki />
|| 481
|| 498 <nowiki />
|| 376
||
|-
!scope=row| 2011
|| 913 <nowiki />
|| 464
|| 449 <nowiki />
|| 380
||
|-
!scope=row| 2021
|| 1,000 <nowiki />
|| 517
|| 483 <nowiki />
|| 447
||
|}
Education
There is a small Church of England voluntary aided primary school. The school was virtually destroyed by fire during World War II, and many village records were lost. There is also a pre-school.
Notable buildings
Within the parish are 61 structures that are listed by Historic England for their historic or architectural interest. Two of these – the Parish Church of St Andrew and the Church of St Aldhelm – have grade II* status, with all other listed structures being grade II. Among these are a barn off High Street; a green-painted K6 telephone kiosk by the post office; of raised pavement in Shillingstone Lane; a table tomb in St Andrew's churchyard; and another in St Aldhelm's churchyard.
thumb|left|Parish Church of St Andrew
The Parish Church of St Andrew is built from greensand and Marnhull limestone and has a 14th-century tower arch and west window, a mid-15th-century west tower, and a 19th-century chancel. The aisles and nave are also 19th century, though they incorporate some 15th-century elements. The pulpit is 15th century, albeit much restored. The village also has The Royal Oak public house and a village post office and shop, "The Okeford Stores".
People
In 2015 the village had 333 houses, with 33 more under construction on land once occupied by Phillips's Hillview Dairy. Plans are being formulated for perhaps another 100, some on the land occupied by the defunct chicken farm, some on land occupied by the defunct Wessex Homes mobile home factory, and some on Pleydell's Farm in the middle of the village.
TV presenter Jack Hargreaves, known for having devised and presented How!, Out of Town and Old Country, lived at Belchalwell.
References
External links
- Okeford Fitzpaine Website
- Photographs of the church and of gravestones, and many useful Links