More information : (Centred SY 365935) The 'New Town' of Charmouth dates from AD 1320, when the Abbot of Forde created a free borough, granting certain rights to improve his manor of Charminster. The burgages were to be 66 feet by 330 feet, and the burgesses were obliged to use the Abbot's mill and attend his court at the Guildhall. The town boundaries include references to a monks' mill, the church, a pillory and a cross on the road to Lyme Regis. The general lay-out of the medieval town can still be traced to some extent. On the north the bugage plots survive and the limits of the town are clearly marked by property boudaries, including stone and rubble walls of uncertain date. There is no trace of a ditch, but an original bank may be preserved in soil build-up. To the south the burgage plots have been eroded, but the town limit is represented by 'Gardenside' (a cul-de-sac at SY 36269349), and possibly by a short stretch of undated bank (from SY 36649358 to SY 36769359). The market place was undoubtedly the wide main street, and Catherston Manor Farm probably represents the farm mentioned as one of the new town's boundaries in 1320. The site of the Abbot's mill was probably on or next to the existing Mill Cottages, under which the leat ran. A mill existed here until recently, and the mill leat can still be traced. (1-2)
|