‘Mapperton’ by Tim Connor

Description

Tim Connor’s new social history of Mapperton deserves a wide readership, combining a remarkable depth of research with skilled story-telling. The book is enlivened with intimate tales of the owners, clergy, church wardens, farmers and labourers dating back to Queen Elizabeth’s reign when the present manor was first built. But it also describes the turbulent national scene in the background: the religious rebellions, the Civil War and the many later political struggles. The author is a distinguished historian who knows West Dorset well and has published several local histories.

Dr. Tim Connor was head of history at a major public school and is also an architectural historian. Since retirement to West Dorset he has written, besides academic articles, some detailed accounts of small areas in his immediate neighbourhood. His publication of Wytherston (2010) was followed by North Eggardon Farm (2015), West Milton (2016) and The Literary and Scientific Institute, Bridport (2018). What distinguishes Mapperton (2021) from these is not only the presence of a well-known house, but also the quality of the documentation for some periods of the life of that small community.