Whitchurch Canonicorum
| Whitchurch Canonicorum | |
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 Whitchurch Canonicorum church viewed from the south |
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 Whitchurch Canonicorum
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| Whitchurch Canonicorum shown within Dorset | |
| Population | 684 |
| OS grid reference | SY395954 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Dorset |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament |
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Whitchurch Canonicorum or Whitechurch Canonicorum is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated in the Marshwood Vale 5 miles (8.0 km) westnorthwest of Bridport. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the settlements of Morcombelake, Ryall and Fishpond Bottom—had a population of 684.
In the 899 will of King Alfred the Great it was left to his youngest son Aethelweard and in 1086 in the Domesday Book, the village was recorded as Witcerce.
On the northern edge of the village is the Church of St Candida and Holy Cross. It is noteworthy as containing the only shrine in Britain to have survived the Reformation with its relics intact, apart from that of Saint Edward the Confessor in Westminster Abbey. The saint in question is the somewhat obscure Saint Wite (Latinised as Saint Candida) after whom the church and the village are named. She is thought to be either a Christian martyred by the Danes or alternatively a West Saxon anchoress. Nothing more is known of her. The shrine of St Wite in the north wall of the transept is foramina-style, with three large vesica-shaped apertures for pilgrims to insert heads, hands, arms or feet. When the shrine was opened in 1900 it was found to contain a lead casket with the inscription +HIC. REQUIESCT. RELIQU. SCE. WITE (Here rest the relics of Saint Wite). The flag of Dorset makes dedication to St Wite.
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