Description
Child-Okeford, a parish in Dorsetshire, on the river Stour, near Shillingstone station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, 3 1/2 miles ESE of Sturminster. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Blandford. Acreage, 1573; population, 789. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; value, £270. The church was thoroughly restored in 1879, and in 1888 six new bells were hung in commemoration of the Queen's jubilee. There is a Wesleyan chapel.
Parish Church
The church of St. Nicholas is a plain edifice of stone in the Norman and Perpendicular styles, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower containing a clock and 6 bells, hung in 1887 to commemorate the Jubilee of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria, the old bells having been used in the recasting: the chancel walls were covered with marble and alabaster in 1912 to commemorate the Coronation of H.M. King George V.: the pulpit was presented by H. S. Bower esq. and the organ by E. Clay-Ker-Seymer esq.: the east window is a memorial to George and Elizabeth Peach and their daughter: there are 398 sittings.
The register dates from the year 1651.
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Villages, Hamlets, &c.
Hanford, a township and a chapelry in Dorsetshire, on the river Stonr, near Shillingstone station on the Somerset and Dorset railway, and 4 1/2 miles NW of Blandford. Post town, Blandford; money order and telegraph office, Childe Okeford. Acreage, 601; population, 43. The manor at one time belonged to Tarrent nunnery, and belongs now to the Seymer family. The one house here is Mr Seymer's seat, and there is a small chapel, the burial-place of the Seymer family. The living is a donative in the diocese of Salisbury.
