- Radipole
Radipole is a part of the district of
Weymouth and Portland in the county ofDorset , England. It was formerly an independent parish, until abolished as a separate local government unit in 1933. It remains a separate ecclesiastical parish. Radipole stands at the head of, and is named after, the lake, now anRSPB nature reserve, into which the River Wey flows, and which leads intoWeymouth Harbour. Until 1984, it had its own halt on theSouth Western Main Line andHeart of Wessex Line out of Weymouth.There is some evidence of prehistoric occupation, and it is believed that the Romans had a small port or landing stage at the head of the lake. A Romano-British burial site was found nearby when the upper playing field of Southill Primary School was constructed. A Roman road runs from Radipole to Dorchester (the former "Durnovaria"), and indeed still forms by far the greater part of the line of the present road between Weymouth and Dorchester.
The parish of Radipole predates by centuries the
borough ofMelcombe Regis , which grew up on its wastes on an exposed spit of shingle by the sea in the 12th century. The church ofSaint Ann was the mother church of Melcombe Regis until 1606.Radipole has suffered in the last decades from intrusive road-building and suburbanisation, as
Weymouth has expanded northwards. The centre of the old village still remains, however. The attractive architectural group formed by the church and themanor house is well-known locally. The field known as "Humpty-Dumpty Field" immediately to the south of the churchyard, on the slope leading down to the head of the lake, is supposed once to have covered the site of the lost mediaeval village, and possibly even Roman remains, but any such evidence was destroyed by the vindictive action of the then landowner.External links
* [http://www.weymouth-dorset.co.uk/radipole.html Local History of Radipole]
* [http://www.weymouth-pictures.co.uk/dor/wey/rad/pic_radipolevillage.htm Pictures of Radipole]
* [http://www.radipole-dorset.co.uk Radipole & Southill Local Community & History]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
