Swyre

Swyre is a coastal parish 6 miles south-east from Bridport and adjacent to Puncknowle on the east side and Burton Bradstock on the west. The church of the Holy Trinity is stone built in the Early English style. The register only dates from 1754, but fortunately there is a transcript of the marriages from 1588 and the Bishop's Transcripts date from 1732 and there are Overseers Account from 1601-1667 and 1722-1837.

A Board School was built in 1851 to accommodate 40 children. In 1895 the whole parish was owned by a sole landowner, the Duke of Bedford. The cottages on the right were built by the Duke in the mid 1800s to replace older ones. The soil is clay and the chief crops were wheat, barley and oats. The parish covers an area of 1081 acres and had a population of 154 persons in 1891.
These photographs courtesy of Valerie Pettifer © 2002. More photographs below.

The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Swyre is Judy Hodges [note new address]

Resources are available for look-up by contacting me, using the above link. Unless specified, all transcriptions and indexes used to answer queries have been made by me. The list below represents the main transcriptions I have, there may well be other smaller items not listed, so it is always worth contacting me.

The Old School House, which is now a private residence. However the single school bell can still be seen. Courtesy Valerie Pettifer © 2002

A view of the coastline in the parish, showing part of Chesil Beach.
© Lynda Small February 2003

The track above is a continuation of the Main Street and goes down to the sea, a route often used in the past by smugglers. Courtesy of Valerie Pettifer © 2002