for Whitchurch Canonicorum, Wootton Fitzpaine and Stanton St. Gabriel Parishes

The Char Valley Group Parish Council comprises the parishes of Whitchurch Canonicorum, Wootton Fitzpaine and Stanton St Gabriel. The area is all within the West Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is completely rural in character. The parishes contain scattered farm settlements, the small villages of Whitchurch Canonicorum, Wootton Fitzpaine and Morcombelake and the hamlets of Fishpond, Ryall and Monkton Wyld. There are also settlements at Stonebarrow Lane and at Fern Hill on the outskirts of Charmouth but within our parish boundaries.

The A35 trunk road bisects the parishes from East to West. Stanton St Gabriel parish, between the A35 and the sea, is nearly all owned and managed by the National Trust as are the hilltop forts which look down on the landscape of small fields, deep streams and woods of the Marshwood Vale and the Wootton valleys. The whole of Stanton St Gabriel parish and the southern parts of the other parishes are within the Dorset Heritage Coast.

In 2002 Char Valley Parish Council undertook a Community Survey (Village Appraisal) and from this one can see that the majority of residents care passionately about their environment and their communities. Most residents would like things to stay generally as they are, but they also expressed a strong desire to live in mixed communities both of ages and people.

Our residents do not look to one local centre but to Bridport, Axminster and other local towns. Nearly half the residents of working age work within our parish area. Others are based in the parish but supply trades and services over a wider area; only 12% travel to Bridport for work. Of those in work, a large proportion is employed in the caring services, catering for the needs of an elderly population.

We have examined many different issues, some of which affect the whole of our parish group and others that are pertinent to an individual settlement. However, the nature of our rural communities, their needs and aspirations, and what makes them cohesive and self-sufficient is the starting point for our Action Plans.

Parish Plans were announced in the 2000 Rural White Paper and are an integral part of the Countryside Agency's Vital Villages initiative. The aim is to identify the actions needed to help a community to develop. By leading their communities through the Parish Plan process, local councils can encourage a livelier role for the residents of their area and become more effective in their dealings with other strands of Government.

This project has been undertaken with a grant from The Countryside Agency and with the help of Simon Thompson of Dorset Community Action and Dugald Lockhart of Dorset County Council.

The map has been taken from Explorer® 1:25,000 scale by permission of Ordnance Survey® on behalf of The Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office. © Crown copyright 1997. All rights reserved. Licence number WL5532.

The Action Plan Team who put this information together were:
Elizabeth Fortescue (Team leader), Anthea Bay, John Bridle, Barbara Briscoe, Trevor Chambers, Vincent Diment, Sue Herman, Lynn Jenkins, Ray Taylor and Penny Watt.

We are also very grateful to our resident web designer Tim Heap of Logomotion, who designed and maintains our Char Valley Parish Council website, which has won two awards.

Our villages and village life
The Marshwood Vale
Whitchurch Canonicorum
Morcombelake and Ryall
Stanton St Gabriel Parish
Wootton Fitzpaine Parish
Monkton Wyld
Fishpond
Future and On-going Village Projects

Action Plans for issues affecting all three Parishes
1. Provision of Social Housing
2. Planning and employment issues
3. Countryside and Environment
4. Rights of Way
5. Public Transport
6. Road Conditions, Restrictions and Controls
7. Community Policing
8. Childcare and Schooling
9. The Char Valley Churches
10. Our three Village Halls
11. A Summary

Community Information
Information contact numbers 2003
Parish, District and County Councillors and their wards
Listed buildings in our parishes