There has been a settlement here since the time of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex (871-899), when it was known as Cumb-Tun, Saxon for a village in a long valley. In the 13th century it was known as Cumton Abbatisse, a reference to the Abbey at Shaftesbury founded by King Alfred, who installed his daughter as Abbess there.
A Charter of King Edwy (955-958) granted to the Abbey ten hides of land at Compton. The estate was recorded in Domesday Book with the estates of Melbury Abbas, Fontmell Abbas and Iwerne Minster, all being held by the Abbey. At the dissolution the Abbey was granted to Sir Thomas Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, who was for a while Chancellor. He sold the estate to Sir Thomas Arundel. In 1812 the manor of Compton was included in a sale of land to Sir R.R. Glynn in whose family it remained for about a 100 years.
The Parish Church of St. Mary is at the centre of West Compton. It was built in 1866 to replace an ancient church at East Compton which had fallen into decay. Today we can still see among the old houses and orchards the 15th century tower and a part of the west wall of the nave; the tower is a Grade 1 Listed Building. An old preaching cross has survived minus its head, probably removed during the Civil War by Cromwell’s supporters. Fittings from the former church have been removed and installed in the Victorian replacement. A survey made under an Act of Parliament in 1547 recorded that the old church had “..in money…VIIIs..8s..” in respect of a chantry.
The new church tower houses five bells, one dating from 1616, another from 1624, while yet another is reckoned to be from the late 15th or early 16th century, with two other bells from the late 19th century. The 12th century font was probably re-worked in 1866.
There is a list of incumbents of the parish from AD 1300 that includes Thomas Bravell who was rector of Compton and one of the leaders of the Dorset Clubmen during their stand-off with the Parliamentarians. Bravell threatened to pistol anyone who gave in (See our article “Poor Silly Creatures” 10th July 2011 in the Iwerne Courtney category).
The village is about three miles south of Shaftesbury on the road from Blandford and amounts to about 1,450 acres set in a small tranquil coombe.
