CRITCHELL (LONG), a parish in the hundred of
KNOWLTON, Shaston (East) division of the county of
DORSET, 65 miles (W. S. W.) from Cranborne, containing
108 inhabitants. The living is a rectory, with which the
rectory of Moor-Critchell was united in 1774, in the
archdeaconry of Dorset, and diocese of Bristol, rated in
the king's books at £12.13. 8., and in the patronage
of Charles Sturt, Esq. The church, dedicated to St. Mary,
has a tower at the west end, with a massive buttress on
its north side, in which there is a niche, and beneath it
three shields much defaced. Long Critchell, which received
its distinguishing appellation from its greater
length in comparison with the adjoining parish of Moore-
Critchell, is divided into two tythings, called Critchell-
Go\iis and Critchell-Lucy, so called from their ancient
Iprds.