PARISH HISTORY
"STANTON-ST. GABRIEL, a parish in Bridport district, Dorset; on the coast, 4 miles W by S of Bridport r. station. Post town, Bridport. Acres, 1,242; of which 190 are water. Rated property, £855. Pop., 75. Houses, 15. The living is a p. curacy annexed to Whitchurch-Canonicorum. The church was built in 1841."
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, John Marius Wilson, 1872
Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales, John Marius Wilson, 1872
In the beginning
We know nothing.
Then...
Where better to start than with the authoritative Historic Environment of the Dorset Coast: Rapid Coastal Zone Assessment Survey Phase I – Dorset Coast Historic Environment Research Framework?
Published in June 2004 by The Trust for Wessex Archaeology, the report makes serious reading.
According to its authors, some way along the Dorset coast at Kimmeridge and Brownsea Island, a mineral called copperas was mined at least as early as the 16th century. The authors note, in a rather matter-of-fact way, that, “the principal use of copperas was as a textile dye mordant and saddening agent”.
It looks like this:
Published in June 2004 by The Trust for Wessex Archaeology, the report makes serious reading.
According to its authors, some way along the Dorset coast at Kimmeridge and Brownsea Island, a mineral called copperas was mined at least as early as the 16th century. The authors note, in a rather matter-of-fact way, that, “the principal use of copperas was as a textile dye mordant and saddening agent”.
It looks like this:
You may be relieved to hear that no further reference will be made to the copperas industry in this account of Stanton St. Gabriel. As far as we know, it was never mined in these parts. But the notion of a saddening agent… well, there may be occasion to revisit that idea.
So let’s turn back to Historic Environment of the Dorset Coast, where we learn three things of particular interest about Stanton St. Gabriel:
To recap: the village of Stanton St. Gabriel is deserted, fish used to be caught on the foreshore in a wooden fishtrap and the Vikings landed a mile or two along the coast in Charmouth in the year 833. (Note how we say “the year 833” not than just “833”: it’s because 3-digit numbers don’t sound like years. Depending on how you say them, they sound more like train times, sofa prices or cricket scores from the 1930s.)
So, let's examine these certainties.
So let’s turn back to Historic Environment of the Dorset Coast, where we learn three things of particular interest about Stanton St. Gabriel:
- “The Domesday Book provides a basis for understanding the organisational and administrative structure of the landscape immediately following the Norman Conquest. Settlements such as Lyme Regis, recorded in Domesday as Lym/Lime, lie in contrast to the deserted villages of Radipole and Stanton St. Gabriel, which, among others, serve to illustrate discontinuity of occupation.”
- “…the simplest method of capturing and retaining fish on the foreshore comprises the construction of wooden fishtraps. Only two are recorded for Dorset: at Stanton St Gabriel and Studland.”
- “In the Roman period, the fort at Hamworthy may have dominated the military landscape, facilitating the establishment of the area as the foremost settlement of the time. However, the coast of Dorset has a long history of being invaded and attacked after the end of Roman rule provoking a wide range of civic and military responses. For example, in AD 833, Viking raiders landed at Charmouth in 35 ships and were met in battle by King Egbert.”
To recap: the village of Stanton St. Gabriel is deserted, fish used to be caught on the foreshore in a wooden fishtrap and the Vikings landed a mile or two along the coast in Charmouth in the year 833. (Note how we say “the year 833” not than just “833”: it’s because 3-digit numbers don’t sound like years. Depending on how you say them, they sound more like train times, sofa prices or cricket scores from the 1930s.)
So, let's examine these certainties.
Also in 'Parish History':
Vikings ~ Fishtrap ~ Desertion ~ Recent times ~ Saddening agents ~ Digory Gordge ~ Buildings & Archaeology ~ Old photos
Vikings ~ Fishtrap ~ Desertion ~ Recent times ~ Saddening agents ~ Digory Gordge ~ Buildings & Archaeology ~ Old photos