Victoria County History county histories are based on the boundaries before 1974. This means that the programme for the Dorset VCH includes the county borough of Poole, but excludes Bournemouth and Christchurch which are included in the Hampshire VCH series.
The histories of Bournemouth and Christchurch were included in Hampshire volume 5, published in 1912. The Hampshire Victoria County History Trust is revising and updating the parish histories for those parishes where significant changes have occurred in the last 100 years.
The Volumes of the Dorset Victoria County History published in 1908 and 1968
Two volumes of the Dorset VCH have already been published. According to the national VCH scheme, Volume 1, as a summary of the county’s natural, political, social and economic history, is usually the last volume to be written. Therefore, the first book for Dorset, published in 1908, is Volume 2, covering religious houses, sport, agriculture, trade and industry. Volume 3, published in 1968, is an edition of the Domesday Book and the related Geld Rolls.
Digitised copies of volumes 2 and 3 are available online here: https://www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history/counties-z/dorset/vch-dorset-publications
Future Volumes for Dorset
We have developed a scheme to produce topographical volumes covering the whole of Dorset parish by parish (see Project Plans page). The order in which these volumes will be written will depend partly on the availability of historians who can read and interpret the documents, financial grants, and community partnerships. The content of all texts must adhere to a standard parish framework using style guidelines supplied by VCH central office at the Institute of Historical Research. Each parish text is reviewed by VCH central office and displayed on its website for public comment https://www.history.ac.uk/research/victoria-county-history/counties-z/dorset Once all texts for a volume have been completed, they are peer-reviewed by an academic historian appointed by VCH central office.
