Iwerne Courtney

Coordinates: 50°54′50″N 2°12′04″W / 50.9138°N 2.2011°W / 50.9138; -2.2011

Iwerne Courtney, also known as Shroton, is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies within the North Dorset administrative district, approximately 4 miles (6 km) north-west of the town of Blandford Forum. It is sited by the small River Iwerne between Hambledon Hill to the south-west and the hills of Cranborne Chase to the east. In 2001 the parish had 187 households and a population of 400. In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 410.

Toponymy

The names Iwerne Courtney and Shroton both have long histories. Iwerne (pronunciation: /ˈjuːɜːrn/) is a Celtic rivername that perhaps refers to a goddess or may mean "yew-river". The village was recorded as Ywern in 877 AD, and in 1086 in the Domesday Book it was Werne. The addition of Courtney is a result of land by the Iwerne stream being owned in the 13th century by the Courtenay family, the Earls of Devon.

The name Shroton derives from the Old English scīr-rēfa and tūn, meaning "sheriff's estate" or "sheriff's town", and its use is due to the lord and tenant-in-chief at the time of Domesday being Baldwin of Exeter, the sheriff of Devon. In 1403 the name was recorded as Shyrevton.