Child Okeford
| Child Okeford | |
|---|---|
 Child Okeford village centre |
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 Child Okeford
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| Child Okeford shown within Dorset | |
| Population | 1,114 |
| OS grid reference | ST834127 |
| Civil parish |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | BLANDFORD FORUM |
| Postcode district | DT11 |
| Dialling code | 01258 |
| Police | Dorset |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
| Website | Village community website |
Child Okeford (sometimes written Childe Okeford) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated 3 miles (4.8 km) east of the small town of Sturminster Newton in the North Dorset administrative district. Child Okeford lies downstream from Sturminster, along the River Stour, which passes half a mile west of the village. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,114.
On Hambledon Hill to the east of the village are a Neolithic ceremonial burial site and an Iron Age hill fort. The latter has multiple ramparts enclosing 31 acres (13 ha) and is rich in occupation remains. It occupies the entire northern spur of the hill above 140 metres (460 ft) and has been described as "one of the most impressive earthworks in southern England".
In the Domesday Book of 1086 Child Okeford was recorded as Acford and appears in two entries. It had 39 households and a total taxable value of 10 geld units. By 1227 the village was known as Childacford. The village's name derives from the Old English cild, meaning a noble-born son, plus ac and ford, also Old English, meaning an oak-tree ford. The noble-born son likely referred to an early owner.
In 1645 Hambledon Hill was the site of a battle in the English Civil War; a group of locals, who were antagonistic to the war and called themselves "the Clubmen", attacked both Royalist and Parliamentarian forces and petitioned them to end the war. Under the leadership of the rector of nearby Compton Abbas, 2,000 of them assembled on the hill and defied Oliver Cromwell's requests to lay down their arms. Cromwell sent in troops and defeated them, then locked up 300 prisoners in the church at Iwerne Courtney and extracted promises of good behaviour. Cromwell wrote of them as being "poor silly creatures" who "promise to be very dutiful for time to come". A century later General James Wolfe used the hill's steeper sides to prepare his troops; they later surprised the French at Quebec by scaling the Plains of Abraham under cover of darkness.
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Wikipedia