This description of the parish of Buckland Newton and it’s chapelries of Chetnole and Leigh is taken from ‘A Topographical Dictionary of England’, published by Samuel Lewis in 1831.
YETMINSTER, a parish (formerly a market town) in the hundred of YETMINSTER, Sherborne division of the county of DORSET, 5¼ miles (S.W.) from Sherborne, containing, with the chapelries of Chetnole and Leigh, 1125 inhabitants.
The living is a discharged vicarage, in the peculiar jurisdiction and patronage of the Prebendary of Yetminster in the Cathedral Church of Salisbury, rated in the king’s books at £20. 14. 7., and endowed with £200 private benefaction, and £200 royal bounty. The church, dedicated to St. Andrew, is a large ancient structure with a lofty tower, crowned with battlements and pinnacles.
This extensive parish lies on the western border of the county, and gives name to the hundred. The village, which is situated near the river Ivel, consists of a long well-built street, having still the appearance of a town. In the year 1300, the Bishop of Sarum obtained a grant from Edward I. for a market and fair, which was confirmed by Richard II., but the market has been long disused, and fairs are now held on April 23rd and October 1st. The Hon. Robert Boyle, in 1699, bequeathed an estate, now producing more than £70 per annum, for teaching twenty poor boys.
CHETNOLE, a chapelry in the parish of YETMINSTER, hundred of SHERBORNE, Sherborne division of the county of DORSET, 7 miles (S.W. by S.) from Sherborne, containing 239 inhabitants. The chapel is dedicated to St. Peter.
LEIGH, a chapelry in the parish and hundred of YETMINSTER, Sherborne division of the county of DORSET, 6½ miles (S. by W.) from Sherborne, containing 343 inhabitants.
