Long Bredy village has manor house linked to Admiral Hardy

Long Bredy is situated roughly halfway between Dorchester and Bridport in the Bride Valley, with the villages of Little Bredy on one side and Litton Cheney on the other.

These images are taken by Claud Hider, a Bridport photographer operating from the 1920s onwards.

One shows Kingston Russell House, which was the seat of the Duke of Bedford’s ancestors and birthplace of Admiral Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy in 1769 (Kingston Russell is an extra parochial hamlet which once had its own chapel).

Kingston Russell House (Image: Claud Hider) Kingston Russell House from afar (Image: Claud Hider) On this look at a west Dorset village in bygone days we can also see the parish church of St Peter's, which can be found at the end of a lane towards the north of Long Bredy, sitting beneath the chalk downland of Martin's Down with hills on three sides.

St Peter's Church, Long Bredy (Image: Claud Hider) Arthur Mee described St Peter’s church as being like “a captain defying the pagan chieftains whose graves are on the hillside above”, due to the number of ancient barrows in the vicinity.

The chancel dates from the 13th century and has the unusual feature of being taller than the church's nave.

Reverend Ralph Ironside (Rector of Long Bredy from 1629-1682) was ejected from his living by the Long Parliament in 1650 for continuing to read from the Book of Common Prayer and was reduced to the utmost poverty. He was reinstated at the time of the Restoration and became Archdeacon of Dorset in 1661. He died 5th March 1682, just three days after his wife Margaret; they were buried together on 7th March 1682 under the chancel’s north wall.

Long Bredy (Image: Claud Hider) The chancel was refurbished sympathetically by Canon Lundy Foot in 1842, who was the Rector of Long Bredy for 44 years; the architect was Benjamin Ferry.

The south aisle and vestry were added to the church during the restoration conducted by John Hicks of Dorchester in 1862/1863 - the work carried out during this period also resulted in the loss of a number of features, including a gallery that was reputed to have been supported by a single iron pillar.

Long Bredy (Image: Claud Hider)

The square font in St Peter's church is the work of sculptor Benjamin Grassby of Powerstock.

The Purbeck marble bowl has white alabaster emblems of the Evangelists on each of its four sides - a man for Matthew, a lion for Mark, an ox for Luke, an eagle for John. Grassby also carved the handsome corbels and capitals inside St Peter’s, which depict a variety of flowers including daffodils, roses and foxgloves.

With thanks to Neil Mattingly for his digital archive of Claud Hider photos and to the Dorset OPC for the extra information used in the article.