Bincombe

Bincombe
View along the main road in Bincombe with the church in the background.
Bincombe is located in Dorset
Bincombe
Bincombe
Location within Dorset
Population514 [1]
OS grid referenceSY685846
Civil parish
  • Bincombe
Unitary authority
Shire county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWEYMOUTH
Postcode districtDT3
Dialling code01305
PoliceDorset
FireDorset and Wiltshire
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
Websitewww.bincombe.co.uk
List of places
UK
England
Dorset
50°39′37″N 2°26′45″W / 50.6603°N 2.4459°W / 50.6603; -2.4459

Bincombe is a small village, or hamlet,[2] and civil parish in Dorset, England, 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Weymouth. The village is 1 mile (1.6 km) from Upwey railway station and 28 miles (45 km) from Bournemouth International Airport. The main road running through the village is Icen Lane. The civil parish, which includes a small part of the settlement of Broadwey to the west, had a population of 514 in the 2011 census.[1]

The village stands on a limestone ridge 3 miles (5 km) south of Dorchester. Holy Trinity Church dates from the early 13th century.[2]

Large military camps for the observation of the English Channel were formed on the hills in this parish in the reign of George III, and two deserters, in trying to escape with details of the different camps, were captured in the English Channel, tried by court martial and shot on Bincombe Down.[citation needed] Their remains are buried in the churchyard, where the stone can still be seen.[3] The same incident, differently interpreted, forms the basis of Thomas Hardy's short story, The Melancholy Hussar of the German Legion.[citation needed]

The Master and Fellows of Caius College, Cambridge, are the principal landowners.[citation needed]

  1. ^ a b "Neighbourhood Statistics. Area: Bincombe (Parish). Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1972). The Buildings of England: Dorset. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 92–93. ISBN 0 14 071044 2.
  3. ^ Kelly’s Directory of Dorset, 1895, p25.