The Parish Boundary

 Officially, the parish comprises the civil parishes of:

• Ashmore
• Cann
• Compton Abbas
• Fontmell Magna
• Iwerne Minster
• Melbury Abbas
• Motcombe
• Shaftesbury, and
• Sutton Waldron

Of course in a rural parish such as ours, the boundaries are somewhat more fluid than in a densely populated urban area since no matter where the administrative boundaries are drawn, the practicality of travelling to and from church in both time and distance tends to dictate the reality.  The result of this is that we have very good relations with neighbouring parishes and know them perhaps better than might be the case in a more urban environment.
Apart from the names listed above, the parish includes the villages of Bedchester, Cann Common, East and West Melbury, Guy’s Marsh, and its prison, Sutton Waldron, Twyford and Well Bottom.

Adjacent Parishes
The parishes that are closest to us are Gillingham, Marnhull and Blandford who are all in the Plymouth Diocese but we have a parish boundary which coincides with the diocesan boundary with the Clifton Diocese.  The Clifton Diocese includes Wiltshire and St Mary’s School, Shaftesbury is actually in the Clifton Diocese as opposed to the Plymouth Diocese.  Also in the Clifton Diocese and very close are Wardour, where the chapel is inside Wardour Castle, and Tisbury, whose priest also serves the chapel at Wardour.

Map of the Parish

The map here is an indication only of the parish boundaries. The detail is courtesy of the Ordnance Survey and is Crown Copyright. For a larger version please click on the map itself.