Seaborough Church

The Book about Seaborough Church

by Peter Benson

All proceeds from the sale of the Book, which sells in the UK for £10 (postage extra), go to Seaborough Church funds. The cost to overseas customers will be given on application. Should you wish to obtain a copy, please contact the Author via E-mail at

The Story, Associations and Transcribed Burial/Marriage/Baptism Registers (dated 1562 - 2002) of the little Parish Church of Seaborough (St John’s) in West Dorset (was in Somerset until 1896) have been researched, transcribed and recorded in a 160 page Book published in 2002 with the agreement of Seaborough's Parochial Church Council. The Author, Peter Benson, has lived in Seaborough for the last thirty years and has been, at various times, the Church's Churchwarden and Treasurer - the latter for more than half that time.

A church building, in one form or another, has stood on the site of the present one since 1415 when the “parcel of land” on which it now stands was gifted by one John Golde during the reign of Henry V for the building of “a new Church thereon” . The donor of the land was a direct descendent of an earlier John Golde (or Gole) who distinguished himself at the Siege of Damietta in 1219 during the 5^th Crusade to the Holy Land. On his return to England, and in recognition of his service, he was granted an estate at Seaborough in 1229 by the descendant of the Norman Knight whose forebears' military service commitment he had been nominated to fulfil and duly discharged during the Crusade. The Church contains a rare early stone effigy of a 13^th Century Crusader which is believed to be, and almost certainly is, that of John Golde.

The Book contains much of interest about the tiny Hamlet of Seaborough and its past and gives the history of the little Church and its local associations as well as, for those interested in researching their family’s roots in Somerset and Dorset, details of the Baptisms, Marriages and Deaths/Burials recorded in its Registers from the middle of the 16^th Century to 2002. Details of the many surnames, including numerous earlier variants of many of them, that are mentioned in the Church Registers.

The many incumbents of the Church, and its earlier predecessor, are listed in the Book and they date back to Seaborough's first recorded priest, one Stephen, in 1244. A Schedule of graves and their positions in the Churchyard is also included.

Please note that the Author is not in a position to answer queries relating to individual surname entries contained in the various Registers.