Ashmore is a village and civil parish in the North Dorset district of Dorset, England, situated south-west of Salisbury. The village is centred on a circular pond and consists of a church and several stone cottages and farms, many with thatched roofs. It is the highest village in the county. The pond or "mere" is what gave the village its original name of "Ashmere". In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 188.
History
Three round barrows have been found in the parish: two in the south near Well Bottom and one in the west near the boundary with Fontmell Magna; this latter barrow was removed in the 19th century and bones were recovered. Ashmore may have been the site of a Neolithicmarket place or settlement. The Roman road from Bath to Badbury Rings passes through the east of the parish. The situation of the village is similar to Romano-British sites in the area, and there may have been a Roman military camp and trading post here. It is possible that Ashmore may have been a Romano-British village that has been occupied without a break up to the present day; the parish church is sited away from the pond at the edge of the village, which could indicate that the village pre-dated the church and Christianity. In 1086 Ashmore was recorded in the Domesday Book as "Aisemare"; it had 24 households, 7 ploughlands and of meadow. It was in Cranborne Hundred and had a value of £15 to the lord of the manor, who was King William. Until 1859 Ashmore had an open field system; the three fields—North Field to the north, and Sandpit Fields and Broadridge to the south—were roughly equal in size and covered an area of. At the same time there was also a considerable area of enclosed fields, covering in 1590.
In the 2011 census the parish had 97 dwellings, 87 households and a population of 188. In the first national census in 1891 the village had a population of 228.
Culture
In midsummer a celebration known as 'Filly Loo' takes place around Ashmore pond, with a Green Man, country dancing, morris dancers and live music. The event's ancient origins are mysterious but may have pagan influences; theories include that it celebrated either the pond's constancy as a water supply, the summer solstice, or the end of the cultivated filbert harvest. The meaning of the name 'Filly Loo' has also attracted more than one explanation, including that it is West Country dialect for 'uproar', a corruption of the French 'La Fille de l'Eau',, or a corruption of 'Filbert Louis', a nickname of Louis Rideout, one of the historical instigators of the event. The event was revived in 1956 as a folk dance festival, and takes place on the Friday night nearest to Midsummer Day or the Feast of St. John the Baptist.
