West Parley - <>

West Parley is a village and civil parish in south-east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour between Bournemouth and Ferndown and off of the B3073 road. The parish of West Parley covers an area of 4.52km². It is also about 4mi to the closest city of Bournemouth. West Parley has a primary school, a post office, a garden centre and a church. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 3,585.HistoryWest Parley is older than both Bournemouth and Ferndown, it features in the Doomsday book when it had 60 inhabitants. At that time it had a Saxon Church, replaced by the present All Saints Church in the 12th century. There is evidence of West Parley being much older as Dudsbury Rings, to the South West of West Parley is the remains of a hill fort dated to the Iron Age, it can be seen as a defensive site that overlooks the River Stour. The walls of the fort can still be seen today.In 1870–1872 West Parley was described by John Marius Wilson in the Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales as "The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury. The church is ancient; and there is an Independent chapel". In the 1800s the main source of materials were gravel and clay and these were important in helping build within West Parley, the materials enabled the local community to create tracks that were passable and the clay meant that the workers could use the bricks to build houses within West Parley as well as supplying the city of Bournemouth with bricks for the construction.

Tags: City