Booklets

The Village Archive contains numerous books and booklets which are listed here and many of which can be downloaded. Clicking on the word [usually ‘here’ ] will cause the appropriate file to download or display in your browser depending on how your browser is configured.

1907	Book : Highways and Byways in Dorset [School Edition]
1940/1946	The war time memories of Robert Holdeman , “Drat those pesky evacuee’s” can be downloaded here.
1967	A Parish History of Child Okeford by Judy Wareham
1967	The Hill; Volume 1 Edition 1
1969	A copy of Child Okeford, A Parish Panorama by Richard Taylor [Rector 1950 – 1966] can be downloaded here.
1973	A copy of The Parish Church of St Nicholas by former Rector the Rev. Reginald Frank York can be found here.
1979	In December 1976, The Dorset Association of Local Councils launched an initiative styled “Dorset Countryside Treasures”. The archive has an original copy of the submission from our village. Please note Mr Wilson does not live at the address given on the front page. A copy of Dorset Treasures for Child Okeford can be downloaded here.
1980	Book: My Dorset Days by Tim Barnes
1983	Child Okeford History 1883 – 1983 by Clarence M Smith. Full of fascinating stories about the village several of which have already been posted on the website and published in The Hill. A copy can be downloaded here.
1994	Hambledon Hill Leaflet
1996	Book: “Dorset within Living Memory” , Dorset Federation of WI
1996	St Nicholas Church Childe Okeford by former rector the Rev. Phillip Rahilly. A copy of a Short History of St Nicholas Church can be downloaded here.
1996	Hambledon Hill Leaflet
1998	St Nicholas Church, Child Okeford a series of Booklets by the late Chris Giles. 2nd edition 2008 and Revised in 2012. These booklets are available to download below. Volume 1 A short history. Volume 2 Visitors Guide Volume 3 Memorials Volume 4 Stained Glass Volume 5 The Bishops Bible Volume 6 Music and the Organ Volume 7 Church Bells
1999	Child Okeford the first 6000 years. A copy of the book by Mr C Giles can be downloaded here.
1999	Book: Around the Maypole ,   Shillingstone Millennium Book
1999	Child Okeford ; A Dorset Village also known as the Millennium Book. A copy of the Millennium Book can be downloaded here.
2000	The Millennium Book Reviews and Letters An account of how the Millennium book was produced and received told through newspaper articles and letters.
2001	Book: “Memories of a Dorset Countryman” by Jack Hooper [autographed]
2002	Queens Golden Jubilee Competitions . Essays and Poems
2004	Fancy a walk around the village ? A copy of this booklet can be downloaded here. Alternatively the walks can be viewed on line here.
2005	Book: “History of Child Okeford WI|” by Kate St George
2005	Baker Arms “A Farewell to Maureen and Norman Mills”
2006	Book : “Blackmore Vale Childhood” by Hilary Townsend
2008	“Men in the Kitchen” collated by Ewen Pinsent and Ronnie Daniels A collection of recipes from local men.
2009	The Child Okeford Roll of honour is published by kind permission of the author Helen Kerridge. A copy of the roll can be downloaded here.
2010	Child Okeford Village Hall 1909-2009: A history.
2017	Child Okeford End of an Era 1815-1860 by John Housley A copy of the book can be downloaded here.
2018	“Michael Oliver: King of Steam” by Brian Moore. Commemorative Edition. A biography of the man behind the Great Dorset Steam Fair.
2020	Book “Super Old Job” by Dr Roger Prior, retired General Practitioner in Child Okeford.
2021	A history of the bridge over the Stour between Child Okeford and Shillingstone. A copy can be downloaded here.
2021	Recently published Tom played for the Child Okeford Cricket Team. An excerpt from the book, provided by the author, can be downloaded here.
2021	2021 was the bicentenary of the Baker Arms . David Pope has produced this definitive history of the pub. A copy of this booklet can be downloaded here .
2022	80 page book looking back at the village’s celebrations of royal events from 1887 to 2022 The book can be read and downloaded from here.
2022	The Manors of Child Okeford. Child Okeford had two manor’s. Where were they and who owned them ? A copy of this booklet can be downloaded here.
2022	An analysis of the 1921 census for Child Okeford compiled by Ned Elliott and edited by David Pope. A copy of the analysis can be downloaded here .
2023	A History of the Child Okeford Recreation Ground by David Pope. It can be downloaded here.
2023	The Child Okeford Protestation Return. The story of the protestation oath and the first list of villagers from 1642 is told in this booklet. It can be downloaded here.
2023	In 1841 the final common land was enclosed by the lords of the manor and local landowners. This booklet tells the story. It can be downloaded here
2024	A new history of St Nicholas’ church can be downloaded here
2024	This year marks the 75th anniversary of the Saxon Inn. Originally the ‘New Inn’ Beer house David Pope tells it’s history which can be downloaded here.
2024	The Dorset Clubmen are sometimes portrayed as the little guys standing up to the oppressive forces of the state; proto-democrats if you will. In fact they were a highly organised, armed militia with grand ambitions. In Dorset their nemesis appeared in the shape of Oliver Cromwell who one hot summer’s days fought them on Hambledon Hill. The story of the Dorset Clubmen and how they came to fight the ‘Battle of Hambledon Hill’ can be downloaded here.
2026	The history of the neolithic causewayed enclosure on Hambledon Hill has just been serialised in ‘The Hill’. The complete series will soon be available for download.
2026	The history of Hambledon Hill in more recent centuries will soon be serialised in ‘The Hill’ and will soon be available for download
2025	“ General Wolfe encamped his troops near the Hill at Shroton Lines, and the officers are reputed to have stayed at the ‘Barracks’ in the village. His troops were trained on the Hill. So it was that in the following year his troops “in a daring manoeuvre scaled the Heights of Abraham, taking the city of Quebec from the French.” Child Okeford: A Dorset Village …aka The Millennium Book. 2000. It’s a good story but is it true. Download our article here to find out.
2025

The archive holds many booklets about the village. These are listed here.