Village History

The village has a large archive of historical ephemera as well as a lot of original research. Items in red can be downloaded.

Date	Event
1887	Queen Victoria Jubilee	Copies of the original documents detailing the event
1957	Melways Hatchery	Copy of the catalogue of sale of plant and stock-in-trade dated 2nd October 1957
1977	Silver Jubilee and Photograph Album	Original photographs and other items relating to the event
1996	The Olde House	A History of the house dating back to 1700 compiled by Chris Giles and an undated architectural sketch
2000	Millennium Street Party Photograph Album	Original photographs of the event
2002	Calor Gas “Village of the Year” Presentation	1993 and 1996: Newspaper cuttings and photographs relating to the village winning the Dorset “Best Village of the Year” competition’ 2002: Presentation of the village entry into the national “Village of the Year” competition representing Dorset. Hard copy only
2002	Golden Jubilee Photograph Album	Comprehensive record and original documents of the event
2004	Child Okeford & Hanford Parish Plan	Digital and Hard copies
2007	Child Okeford Village Design Statement	Digital and Hard copies
2014	Village Directory	Copies from 2002, 2005, 2007 & 2014
2017	British History On Line	Copies of the Child Okeford section
2017		The Child Okeford Union Benefit Society Banner. Comprehensive file including original photographs. An account of the various ‘Friendly’ societies in the village can be found here We-Unite-to-assist-one-another.pdf
2017		In 1845 the remaining common land of Child Okeford was ‘inclosed’ [their word]. A detailed analysis of the award can be found here Notes-on-the-enclosure-of-common-land-in-Child-Okeford.pdf
2017	Footpaths & Bridleways	Comprehensive file of maps and records dating back to 1841
2017		Comprehensive file and photographs on the history of the bridge. A history of the bridge can be found here Hayward-Bridges.pdf In 2016 Hayward Bridge was replaced for the umpteenth time in it’s history. Dorset Council took a time lapse video of its replacement which can be seen here.
2017	Manors of Child Okeford	A paper detailing the history of the village from 1086
2017		A paper looking into the names of the village and the surrounding fields may be downloaded here “What’s in a name ?”
2017	Old Post Office Cottage	A paper on the history of the property
2018	Domesday Book	A paper on the village’s entry in the Domesday book.
2018	Emigration to Australia	In 1848 some 30 villagers from Child Okeford abandoned a life of poverty and emigrated to Australia under the auspices of the Blandford Colonisation Society. This is their story.
2018	Samuel Arnold Child Okeford’s Aussie Pioneer.	The article above on Emigration to Australia was posted on the village website and a reader in Australia kindly took up the story of one man and his life their.
2019	Child Okeford Brickworks	A short history of the brickworks at Gold Hill. The archive also has an original drainage pipe manufactured at the brickworks
2020		How was it that the tail fin from a German bomber was found in one of Markstone cottages? Sadly we never found the answer ?
2020	Home Guard & The Secret Auxiliary Unit	A history of these units from Child Okeford in the Second World War
2020	The Graf Zeppelin over Hanford	Perhaps the most extraordinary picture of Child Okeford, or more accurately Hanford, in the archive. This is an account of the flight of the Graf Zeppelin’s tour of Britain and it’s appearance at Hanford.
2020	Raft Race	An incomplete record of this charity race run on the river Stour A video taken by Tony Ward of the event in 1991 can be seen on YouTube – here.
2021	Hanford	Comprehensive file of articles, cuttings, photos and data
2022	Platinum Jubilee Celebrations	Video of the celebrations and Village photo.
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