Charborough is an historic former parish and manor in Dorset, England. It survives today as a hamlet, situated on an affluent of the River Stour, 6 miles west of Wimborne Minster,[1] but without any of its former administrative powers, and is today part of the parish of Morden. The surviving former parish church is dedicated to Saint Mary.[2] The manor house survives as Charborough House.
St Mary's Church
The mediaeval church of the former parish of Charborough was situated to the immediate south-west of the manor house (in its latest form Charborough House). The mediaeval church was demolished and rebuilt on the same site (50°46′49″N2°06′27″W / 50.78018°N 2.10752°W / 50.78018; -2.10752) in 1775 in the Gothic Revival style,[3] by Thomas Erle Drax, and dedicated to St Mary, and was remodelled in 1837 by John Sawbridge Erle-Drax who in 1826 had married the heiress Sarah Frances Erle-Drax of Charborough,[4] and had assumed her surname and arms. It faces almost due east, as is usual, whilst the front facade of the house faces north-east. It is a grade II* listed building, but the listing relates only to its furnishings.[5] Today it serves as a mausoleum and burial place for the Drax family, the functioning parish church being at Morden. Above the door of a small arched building nearby is an inscription, dated 1686, commemorating the meeting of the "Patriotic individuals who concerted the plan of the Revolution in 1688".