| Question No. | Answer |
| 1 | 1893. Clock set in a buttressed tower set in front of the pub car park. 1937 light fixed over clock with small words that electricity had been brought to the village. Tap & basin at its base. The basin, now a seat, popular spot. Old men used to sit and watch world go by; young se it as a meeting place. Front carved four sets of initials: HH (Hannah Hunt – village midwife), JP (Jesse Place) ,GD,GR (Told four oldest residents in village at that time) It’s said that each person laid a sovereign in one corner of the foundations. During late C19th & early C20th meeting place for the Digby Hunt |
| 2 | Emergency Defibrillator in the old Longford Road telephone box. The K6 or ‘Jubilee’ telephone kiosk was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott in 1935 to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of King George V, and was a development on Scott’s K2 box. The design has become iconic. |
| 3 | The Coffee Tavern. Originally built as dwelling for the Rector’s gardener, who was housed on condition that, on demand, he would supply coffee to any person, villager or traveller. Church’s answer to a public house. Two large upstairs rooms people could sit & read paper, play shove ha’penny or pass time. A boy’s club & Bible study class regularly held. Post Office served from here until it moved to Boot Lane 1971 |
| 4 | One from Lavender Cottage, Albany House, Magdalene Cottage, Clipper Cottage or Five Farthings. All built early 1990’s on the site of the old village hall. |
| 5a | Ostrich with an upside down horseshoe in its mouth |
| 5b | 4. Every Digby estate house number in Thornford is in the 400’s. Sherborne, the 100’s. Every village belonging to the estate has a different start number. |
| 5c | The property either belongs to, or is a tenancy of the Castle Estate owned by the Wingfield Digby family |
| 6 | Old village pump. One of three originally located in the village. |
| 7 | Glebe Cottage. Early C18. Rubble-stone walls. Thatch roof with gable ends and stone gable-copings. Brick stacks at gable ends. Black & white wood sills and lintels. C19. Porch at centre with ornamental branchy trelliswork, and thatch canopy over. |
| 8 | The Glebe. Historically, an area of land within a church parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved to the church. Practice ceased in the mid 1970’s. |
| 9 | Old School House. First records dated 30th March 1874. Headmistress (Elizabeth Fooks sister of carpenter) , a paid monitor and 41 children. June 1874 gallery built for small children. “school room very cold & damp and wanting additional heating”. January 1891 an entry reads “The ink frozen in inkwell – children unable to write”. Many children unable to regularly attend. Girls sometimes had to help with “gloving” or minding baby. Others had take food to parents in the hay fields, help with hay making. Potato planting & picking necessitated extra labour. Corn planting season children had to go “bird scaring”. Harvest time help with gleaning & hulling. 1884 101 on roll. Very cramped. Children had to walk to school in all weather. Used until 1975 when new school opened. |
| 10 | Parish church of St Mary Magdalene’s |
| 11 | Serjeant Gilbert George Lane was a local boy who served in the volunteer 5th Battalion, Dorsetshire Regiment during World War 1. (1914-18) He saw action during the Gallipoli Campaign and was killed during the Battle of the Somme in September 1916. There is a family tribute to his life in the porch of the church. |
| 12 | Parish church Graveyard |
| 13 | Farms |
| 14 | They are located beneath the top bar of gate posts. The ‘Rifle’ indicates the field is owned by the Digby Castle Estate. |
| 15 | Apples. Very common for orchards to surround rear gardens. Used for making cider in the village using community presses. Also feed to pigs and provided nutrition to people’s diets. |
| 16 | The Old Mill. Old water mill & bakery. Mill existed since Domesday times and until at least 1849. All that remains are 3 small bridges balanced on walls of old sluice gates, which carry footpath over the old mill pond. |
| 17 | Queen Elizabeth II. |
| 18 | Ellwood’s Store. Family shop for four generations. Evidence of trade in early 1800’s. The last Mr Ellwood’s grandfather rebuilt shop in 1899. Today, it still retains many features of an old-fashioned village store – with a range of goods. Now also the village post office. Posters display village news & announcements. |
| 19 | 1892. (Add the date numbers together) Late Victorian farm labourer & estate cottages. Note house numbers all in the 400’s. |
| 20 | George V. Carron made the post box. Look at the black section at the bottom. |
| 21 | Nos 436 and 437. Pair of cottages in row. c. C17 core, with C19 refashioning. Rubble-stone walls. Thatch roof with gable ends. Interesting outside architectural features. |
| 22 | The Methodist Chapel. 1869. Little evidence of history non-conformity before this date. People may have gone to Yetminster, Sherborne or Bradford Abbas. 1863 the village had enough Methodists to form a society and hold services in a private house. Receipt 12th Oct 1863 records “a quarter rent of £1.10s.0d for a house in Thornford”. A room in Ellwood’s shop used 1860’s. Lease purchased from James Toms, harness maker, for £40. The site was occupied by the old blacksmith’s shop which joined on the Mr Tom’s house. Permission given to build chapel onto the gable of Mr Tom’s house – hence present odd arrangement. |
| 23 | The village allotments. |
| 24 | UK petrol company. The Powell family established and still own Thornford Garage. |
| 25 | The Kings Arms. Built 1912. This pub built next to the cottage with was “The Old Boot” on its 2nd resting place. Behind was once a carpenters yard & saw pit. Near clock thought there was once a village cross – hence name Cross house next door. In the 1980’s old village residents refer to the spot as “the cross”. Thought the base of C13 cross might be found in the garden of Glebe Cottage. |
I hope you enjoyed discovering more about the village.
To develop your understanding, create a photographic trail of the answers to show your friends.
