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Topic: Street names in Beaminster (Read 1178 times)
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Hello all,
First, let me say I'm a bit of an imposter here, since, as far as I'm aware, neither my wife nor I have any family links with Dorset - and I'm not going to ask a genealogy-related question. we've done our families to death in other counties!
We've recently moved to Beaminster (and loving it!) and I'd like to find out a little more about the history of some of the street names. I can guess at a few, but I'd appreciate some corroborative evidence (like somebody else coming to the same conclusion, at least!).
Ones that spring to mind are:
Hogshill Street
Prout Hill
Clay Lane
Shadrack Street
Tanyard (sounds obvious, but...)
Fleet Street
Fairfields
The Beeches
Windy Ridge (I know it was named after a house there, but was the house named purely for meteorological reasons?)
Hollymoor Lane
Woodswater Lane
Whitcombe Road
St Mary Well Lane (where exactly was the well?)
Common Water Lane
Barnes Lane
Yarn Barton
Also, does anyone know when the tunnel was built at the top of Tunnel Road?
And when was Newtown new?
I could probably find a lot of this out from Richard Hines's book, but I don't have £300 to shell out on an original and I haven't got round to buying the CD version yet. In the meantime I'd appreciate any insights any of you could provide. And in as much detail as you care to muster.
Thanks.
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nanny jan
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 5064
"Russian" John
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Hi B.E.,
I'm not able to give any direct answers but have you tried asking in the Library or have a trip down to the Dorset History Centre in Dorchester (easy,free parking on Saturdays; rest of the week not so good). The History Centre is facing cutbacks so go while it is still open!
Good luck,
Nanny Jan
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Howard , Viney , Kingsman, Pain/e, Rainer/ Rayner, Barham, George, Wakeling (Catherine), Vicary (Frederick) all LDN area/suburbs Ottley/ MDX,
Henman/ KNT Gandy/LDN before 1830 Burgess/LDN
Barham/SFK Rainer/CAN (Toronto)
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Ah, exposed again! No, I haven't been to the library in Beaminster or to Dorchester - principally because we're currently weekending and the weekends are brim full of other duties (decorating, mowing the lawn, etc!). When we get our "old" house sold and can move to Beaminster properly, then there are all sorts of wonderful things I might be able to do in this regard!
I was hoping for a jump start - thought maybe there might be a Beaminster historian out there listening - or someone who could tell me the origin of similarly-named streets elsewhere in West Dorset (eg: Shadrack Street, Bridport)?
We went to the museum once, but it was shut! 
Actually, I just remember that I have done some genealogy in Dorset before - my wife's grandmother was a Green and we've traced the family back to John (Johannis) Green of Gillingham b.c1685 and his son, also John, b.1711. If anyone has any more info on this family it would be very gratefully appreciated.
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VivP
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 37
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Well, according to
http://www.dictionary.net/barton
a barton is either the demesne land, or a farmyard, so it was probably an enclosed place where yarn (hemp yarn) was stored before they sold it to be made it into fishing nets. All the other names seem self-explanatory, or look like people's surnames (Prout, Shadrack/Shadrach, Barnes). No, I don't live in Beaminster and have never been there, but I do like words! I'm sure you can guess the meaning of Fleet Street?
Fairfields and The Beeches are the kind of names typically given to late-ish Victorian houses, and not necessarily big ones, either.
How fortunate you are to live in Beaminster!
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looking for LANE from Holnest 1729, Hermitage 1750, Leigh 1808, Longfleet 1881, and Kinson 1891+
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Thanks, VivP. I don't know whether there's anything special about the names. I was hoping that somebody might be able to tell me who Prout, Shadrack (Christian name?), Barnes, etc, actually were, and what part they played in Beaminster's history. And that somebody might know for certain whether houses called Fairfields and The Beeches actually existed on the sites of the more modern housing?
I actually don't know about Fleet Street at all. My understanding was always that the London version was named after the adjacent river, but I wasn't aware that the Brit tributary running down the side of Fleet Street (and smack through the middle of the new C.G.Fry development) was called the Fleet. Or is fleet a generic name for a river? Or was I supposed to be guessing something completely different?
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VivP
RootsChat Extra
Posts: 37
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For Prout and Shadrach, try a search of the Dorset online Parish Clerk. As for Barnes, are you saying you don't know who William Barnes was?  Mind you, he wasn't from Beaminster ...
But really, don't you think you should be getting on with your w/end jobs first? Then you'll be able to go into the libraries etc to your heart's content. With a clear conscience too!
Fleet adj. swift from ON fliotr swift - or
Fleet n. a shallow creek, brook or drain from OE fleot an inlet - or
Fleet [Prison] n. a London gaol until 1842, near the Fleet river, long a place of confinement for debtors, and in which clandestine marriages were performed until 1754 by Fleet parsons, broken-down clergymen confined for debt. [source: Chambers dictionary]
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looking for LANE from Holnest 1729, Hermitage 1750, Leigh 1808, Longfleet 1881, and Kinson 1891+
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Good point about friend Barnes (Bem'ster Boy) - I hadn't imagined the lane might be named after him.
And I've learned something about fleet now - didn't realise it actually meant "brook". Thanks.
I'm particularly interested in Common Water Lane - there seem to be quite a few high-level tracks around Beaminster and Broadwindsor called Xxx Water Lane. Any idea what these were?
(Where are you in the Midlands by the way, Viv? I'm a Derbyshire man myself.)
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Been down in Beaminster all weekend and been able to make some primitive forays myself. But there ain't much information jumping out at me right now.
I've visited Beaminster Museum (that came as a shock to the lady at the desk) and purchased a CD version of Richard Hine's History of Beaminster (even more of a shock to the lady at the desk), so I'll be trawling through that to try and uncover some goodies. I've already learned that the Horn Hill Tunnel was built in 1831-2 to improve commercial links with the frozen north (Crewkerne, etc) and that Barnes Lane appears to be far more recent than I'd imagined.
I was even inspired by the town's charter to write a poem (no, I'm not trying to be the new William Barnes!)...
GHOSTS OF BEAMINSTER
(“to have in perpetuity a market every week…”)
They trundle down through Hogshill Street to ply their wares and skills
From villages in valleyfolds and hamlets in the hills;
They follow in the wagon-ruts of those that came before
To hear the selfsame bells peal out: it’s Market Day once more.
We navigate
The mysteries
Of people in this place;
We celebrate
The histories
Of names without a face.
Is Hogshill just an iron sign, or can you smell its breath,
And trace its hamstone memories of birth and work and death,
And taste the earthy richness of the turnips in its cart,
And feel its ever-throbbing pulse, and hear its drumming heart?
Such hope and strife
Lie hiding here
In dust upon its walls;
The layers of life
Residing here
Still echo from the stalls.
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Reading through Hine's book, I now discover that Shadrack Street was called Schederick Street at the time of the Great Fire of 1781 (one of several in Beaminster over the years).
I'd assumed that the root was the biblical name Shadrach (he of the Fiery Furnace), but maybe this isn't the case. It sounds rather more like a corruption of the Saxon name Cedric. Anybody know anything about a link between Shadrach, Schederick and Cedric? 
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Berlin-Bob
Global Moderator
RootsChat Marquessate
Posts: 5657
by: My Daughter. Chatting to find her Roots !
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Hi B.E.,
for a 'potted' history, photographs, transcripts, directories and other documents about Beaminster,
try the Dorset Online Parish Clerks (OPC)
http://www.dorset-opc.com/
Beaminster page:
http://www.dorset-opc.com/BeaminsterFiles/Beaminster.htm
it also includes a link to an 1891 map
enjoy,
Bob
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Searching for Coleman, Moore, Kallnung in London; Margulies, Remenyi in E. Europe; Ancestors of Hessie Stevenson-Coleman-Baxter (Ireland, 1861) and, of course, any other ancestors for my web-site. All Census Data included in this post is Crown Copyright (see: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk) |
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Viv,
I think Marie Eedle got a lot of her info from Hine's History of Beaminster, but there isn't a CD version of her book for me to examine. Hine himself says nothing about street names.
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B.E.
RootsChat Member
Posts: 127
Census information Crown Copyright, from www.nationalarchives.gov.uk
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Bob,
Thanks for that - I'd actually been to that page before, but I didn't follow the links. When I get a moment to breathe, I'll do exactly that and report back.
I've seen the 1890/1891 map. It's a good source for what actually existed then, but doesn't actually tell me WHY these names are what they are.
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beaminster_hogshill.jpg