Description
Hilton, a parish in Dorsetshire, under Bulbarrow Camp, 7 1/2 miles WSW of Blandford town and station on the Somerset and Dorset railway. It contains the hamlets of Aller, Ansty, and Hartfoot Lane, and has a post office under Blandford; money order and telegraph office, Melcombe Bing-ham. Acreage, 3044; population, 567. Orchards and gardens occupy considerable space. Slate, coal, and bog-iron abound, and some gold has been found. There are many mineral springs. Druidical remains, Roman urns and coins, Early English coins, and other ancient relics have been found. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £250 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of SalisBnry. The church is old, of Perpendicular date, with evidence of being on the site of a Norman church. It contains several points of interest, among them being twelve ancient paintings on wood representing the twelve apostles, and brought here from Milton Abbey. On the groined roof of the S porch the arms of the abbeys of Milton and Abbotsbury are carved. The church has recently been carefully restored and has a tower. There is a reading-room at Ansty.
Parish Church
The church of All Saints is a handsome edifice of flint and stone in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, aisles, south porch, vestry and an embattled western tower of three stages containing 6 bells: the church was thoroughly restored in 1891-2, under the direction of Mr. W. J. Fletcher F.R.I.B.A. of Wimborne, at a total cost of £1,763. and the chancel at the same time by the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, at a cost of £400: there are 300 sittings.
The register dates from the year 1603.
Villages, Hamlets, &c.
Aller, a hamlet in Hilton parish, Dorset, on an affluent of the Trent, 8 1/2 miles WSW of Blandford.
Anstey, a hamlet in Hilton parish, Dorset, 9 miles WSW of Blandford.
Hartsfoot Lane, a hamlet in Hilton and Melcombe Horsey parishes, Dorsetshire, 6 1/2 miles ENE of Cerne Abbas.
