Chettle is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies 6 miles (10 kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum.[2] It is sited at the head of a gently sloping valley on the dip slope of the chalk formation called Cranborne Chase. The A354 trunk road crosses the valley about 1 km to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.[1]
A 2008 report indicated that the entire village was owned by the Bourke family and operated in the mode of "benevolent feudalism". A news item from 2015 confirmed the ownership and provided the following update about the community:[3]
The tiny hamlet, with its hotel, manor house, 40 cottages, farms and lumber yard has belonged to the Bourke family for more than 400 years, in a benign throwback to feudal times.
Chettle House, the village manor, is a red brick Baroque mansion designed by Thomas Archer, a pupil of Vanbrugh, and built by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum during the reign of Queen Anne.[4][5] Pevsner called it "the plum among Dorset houses of the early 18th century, and even nationally outstanding as a specimen of English Baroque".[6][7] Two rounded ends were added to the house in 1912.[4]
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From the 1950s to 2015 the house was a series of flats. After 2015, extensive renovations were completed by new owners; the house and gardens were closed to the public.[8][9]
A book about Chettle, "Enduring Village", was published in August, 2008.[10]
Media related to Chettle at Wikimedia Commons
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