Belchalwell is a small parish in the Vale of Blackmore in North Dorset. Its principal hamlets of Belchalwell and Belchalwell Street lie about 2-1/2 miles South of Sturminster Newton and 6 miles North-West of Blandford Forum, under the north slopes of Bell Hill. Arguably, the parish is endowed with one of Dorset’s most intriguing place names. Belchalwell does not appear in the Domesday Survey of 1086 as such, lending weight to the theory that the name is an amalgamation of that of two separate manors, known by the 13th century as Belle and Chaldwelle. The latter is easy to interpret, coming from the Anglo-Saxon for ‘cool water or spring’. ‘Belle’ enjoys a range of much more exotic explanations, from a French compliment to its beauty in reference to the magnificent views from Bell hill, to derivation from the name of the hill itself, to a corruption of Beltaine, the old Celtic May-day festival, celebrated by kindling great fires atop beacon hills, of which Bell hill was probably one. There has been settlement here since Neolithic times and the appendage of ‘Street’ to the name of one of the hamlets may be indicative of a Roman presence at some time, although no artefacts have been found in support of this theory.
“If anybody would like to expand to this series please do, I would just ask that you could let Sadexploration know first at churchmicro@gmail.com so he can keep track of the Church numbers and names to avoid duplication.
There is also a Church Micro Stats & Information page found via the Bookmark list”