Puddletown, United Kingdom

At the time of the Domesday Book in 1086, Puddletown was a large and important manor that contained several villages, with 1,600 sheep recorded. In the 13th century, during the reign of Henry III, the manor of 'Pidele Bardolfeston town' was owned by John of Monmouth, and leased to Sir Alfred Lincoln: on Monmouth's death, it was inherited by Lady Albretha Boterell and Lady Joan Nevill.

Except for Puddletown village, the several small settlements within Puddletown parish have all either diminished or disappeared. The other settlements were Cheselbourne Ford (beside the Devil's Brook in the northeast of the parish), Bardolfeston (about half a mile northeast of Puddletown village, just north of the River Piddle), Hyde (now Druce Farm), Waterston, South Louvard (now Higher Waterston), Little Piddle (now Little Puddle Farm in neighbouring Piddlehinton parish) and Ilsington (in the south of the parish, by the River Frome). Cheselbourne Ford and Bardolfeston are abandoned. Cheselbourne Ford had a population of six in 1086, four in 1327, and by the mid-seventeenth century was just one ruinous house. In 1970 its remains covered about 5.7 hectares (14 acres) and consisted of ten closes bounded by low banks, though the site is not shown on modern Ordnance Survey maps. Records indicate that Bardolfeston was declining by the 13th century and, though still occupied in the 16th, it was completely deserted by the 17th century. Its site covers about 6.1 hectares (15 acres) and is well-preserved, revealing a 12 metres (40 ft)-wide hollow way aligned southwest–northeast, with the sites of at least eleven houses alongside, though the southern end of the site was destroyed when watermeadows were later created along the river. The site at Waterston consists of earthworks covering about 2 hectares (4.9 acres) on a terrace on the south side of the River Piddle. Its medieval population was relatively stable, and ten households were recorded in 1662. The site was probably abandoned gradually.

In the early 17th century Puddletown was one of the first places in Dorset where the use of watermeadows developed; the practice occurred at least as early as 1620, and in 1629 the manorial court decided to allow some tenants to continue making the necessary watercourses that would enable "the watering and Improvinge of theire groundes". Watermeadows are generally no longer used in southern England, though their physical remnants have persisted in many places; in Puddletown civil parish, several areas of watermeadow were shown by the Ordnance Survey as late as 1978, though none was shown in 2010.

Records from 1801 show that at that time agriculture was the main component of Puddletown's economy, though cottage industry and artisan crafts were also an important element: 596 people in the parish were primarily employed in agriculture, with 221 employed in handicrafts, manufacture and trade. Cottage industry, often undertaken by women and children, was used to supplement agricultural income, though there were fewer opportunities for this after the Industrial Revolution.

In 1830, Puddletown was one of the places in Dorset where agricultural labourers took part in the Captain Swing riots of southern England, protesting against very low wages and long working hours. Threshing machines were damaged and ricks burned. Wages were raised from about six or seven shillings per week to ten as a result.

To the east of the church is Ilsington House, also known as the Old Manor, which was built in the late 17th to early 18th century. It was originally owned by the 3rd Earl of Huntingdon and in 1724 by Robert Walpole. Between 1780 and 1830 it was leased to General Thomas Garth, principal equerry to King George III. The General adopted King George III's illegitimate grandson by Princess Sophia, and brought him up at the manor. In 1861 the house was acquired by John Brymer and remained in the possession of the Brymer family for the next century. The family built new cottages and a reading room in the village, and a new manor next to the church, which they restored.