Colehill

Emerging from a small hamlet, where little had changed since medieval times, Colehill saw significant expansion in the Victorian era. Largely due to the arrival of the railway, Wimborne became prosperous and the rich of South East Dorset sought to make their homes on large estates on the slopes of Colehill. So began the development of the village as a community. Notably, the Village School in Middlehill was founded in 1865. Ten years earlier a Primitive Methodist Chapel had been built (replaced in 1913 by the Methodist Church in Lonnen Road). The Anglican Church started as a “Tin Tabernacle” in 1881 and was in use temporarily until St Michael’s and All Angels was built in 1893. The Parish Council was formed in 1896, and met in Glyn’s Coffee Tavern in Colehill Lane.