Coordinates: 50°48′36″N 2°44′28″W / 50.810°N 2.741°W / 50.810; -2.741

Beaminster
Beaminster
St. Mary's parish church
Beaminster  Beaminster shown within Dorset
Population	2,936 (2001 census)[1]
OS grid reference	ST4701
- London	145 miles (233 km)
Civil parish	Beaminster
District	West Dorset
Shire county	Dorset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	Beaminster
Postcode district	DT8
Dialling code	01308
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	West Dorset
Website	beaminster.co.uk
List of places: UK • England • Dorset

Beaminster /ˈbɛmɨnstər/BEM-in-stər is a small town and civil parish in the West Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, at the head of the valley of the River Brit.^[2] Beaminster is 45 miles (72 km) south of Bristol, 38 miles (61 km) west of Bournemouth, 35 miles (56 km) east of Exeter and 15 miles (24 km) northwest of the county town of Dorchester. The 2001 Census recorded a parish population of 2,936.^[1]

History[link]

In the English Civil War the town declared for Parliament and was sacked by Royalist forces in 1644. The town suffered accidental fires in 1684 and 1781.^[3] The town did not get a railway and thus remained relatively small.

Horn Park, about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-west of Beaminster, is a neo-Georgian country house of five bays and two-storeys designed by architect T. Lawrence Dale and completed in 1911.^[4] Inside the house the central corridor is barrel vaulted and leads to a drawing room whose groin vault is reminiscent of the work of Sir John Soane (1753-1837).^[4] The drawing room includes Jacobean re-used from a 16th century country house at nearby Parnham,^[4] which was being altered and restored at about the time that Horn Park was being built.^[5] Horn Park is Listed Grade II. Its gardens are occasionally open to the public as part of the National Gardens Scheme.

Economy & society[link]

The town hosts the Beaminster Festival, an annual music and art festival.^[6] Whitcombe Disc Golf Course at Beaminster has hosted the British Open Disc Golf Championship on a number of occasions and the European Disc Golf Championship in 2003.^[7] Clipper Teas Ltd is based in Beaminster. It is currently held by the Dutch company Royal Wessanen.^[8][9]

Transport[link]

The nearest railway station is 5 miles (8.0 km) north of the town at Crewkerne. Exeter International Airport is 30 miles (48 km) to the west. The main road through the town is the A3066, which leads to Bridport to the south and Mosterton and Crewkerne to the north.

Education[link]

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (April 2012)

St Mary's Church of England Primary School^{[clarification needed]}

Beaminster secondary school is a small school with about 700 pupils, from year 7 to year 11. It has a combined sixth form with the Sir John Colfox secondary school, in the nearby town of Bridport.

Now Beaminster Technology College, it "is a good school that is well-led and managed" (Ofsted report 2008) and is set to receive Bridport's Mountjoy Special School into its curtilage when the latter moves in the near future. More future plans include a new emphasis on training for facets of sustainable agriculture.

Notable people[link]

Beaminster is the hometown of actor Martin Clunes,^[10][11] and was where singer PJ Harvey went to school^{[citation needed]}. Mat Follas has his restaurant The Wild Garlic^[12] in the town square. Beaminster is also home of Lynne Reid Banks, author of The L-Shaped Room and The Indian in the Cupboard.^[13].

See also[link]

• Beaminster Forum and Redhone hundred

References[link]

Sources[link]

• Newman, John; Pevsner, Nikolaus (1972). Dorset. The Buildings of England. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. pp. 84–89. ISBN 0-14-071044-2. 

External links[link]

• Beaminster at the Open Directory Project
• Census data

Martin Clunes
Clunes on location for Doc Martin in 2007.
Born	Alexander Martin Clunes (1961-11-28) 28 November 1961 (age 50) Wimbledon, South West London, England
Education	Royal Russell School The Arts Educational Schools
Occupation	Actor, comedian, broadcaster, film director, musician, television personality
Years active	1982–present
Spouse	Lucy Aston (1990–97, divorced) Philippa Braithwaite (1997–present)
Children	Emily Clunes

Alexander Martin Clunes (born 28 November 1961) is an English actor and comedian. Clunes is perhaps best known for his roles as Gary Strang in Men Behaving Badly, Doctor Martin Ellingham in Doc Martin and the title character in Reggie Perrin.

Early life[link]

Clunes is the son of the classical actor Alec Clunes, who died of lung cancer when Clunes was eight and a half years old. He has an older sister, Amanda.^[1] His mother Daphne, later a board member of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, once worked for Orson Welles.^[2] Clunes was educated at two independent secondary schools, the Royal Russell School in Croydon and The Arts Educational Schools, in Chiswick, London.^{[citation needed]}

Career[link]

Clunes served his first role in rep at the Mercury Theatre, Colchester,^[3] and his first television appearance came in the 1980s Doctor Who story Snakedance as the spoiled Lon.^[3] But a sporadic career led to his supplementing his income as a photo model for Gilbert and George, and he can be seen in their 1983 work World.^{[citation needed]}

He got his first regular television role as one of the sons in the BBC sitcom No Place Like Home,^[4] and then starred in two series of the sitcom All at No 20.^[5]

While Clunes was appearing on stage at the Hampstead Theatre, Harry Enfield came to see him; the acquaintanceship developed into a friendship where Clunes played characters in Enfield's sketch shows.^{[citation needed]} Enfield then recommended Clunes for the role of Gary in the sitcom Men Behaving Badly,^{[citation needed]} written for Enfield by Simon Nye, bringing Clunes his best-known role to date and for which he won a BAFTA television award in 1996.^{[citation needed]} He played the part of Group Captain Barker in the 2-part TV mini-series Over Here that same year.

He has since appeared in films and television shows such as An Evening With Gary Lineker,^{[citation needed]} Staggered (starred and directed),^{[citation needed]} Hunting Venus, The Booze Cruise, Saving Grace, and Jeeves and Wooster. In 1998, he was featured in Sweet Revenge and appeared as Richard Burbage in the Oscar-winning film Shakespeare in Love. Clunes has also acted frequently for the radio, including a guest appearance in the BBC Radio 4 series Baldi.

In 2001, he played Captain Stickles in the BBC adaptation of R. D. Blackmore's Lorna Doone.

In 2002, he played serial killer John George Haigh in A Is for Acid, and took the lead in ITV's production of Goodbye Mr Chips.^[6]

Clunes was one of the eponymous leads in the 2004 ITV romantic comedy-drama William and Mary, which ran for three series, with Julie Graham. Clunes had worked with Julie Graham previously on Dirty Tricks (2000).^[7]

Clunes on location for Doc Martin in 2007

His leading role in the ITV comedy drama series Doc Martin from 2004^[8] marked a successful change of direction for Clunes. In 2005, his portrayal of the ornery vascular surgeon turned cranky general practitioner won him a nomination for Most Popular Actor in the National Television Awards. The show is produced for ITV by Buffalo Pictures Ltd.^[9] the production company he runs in partnership with his wife, Philippa Braithwaite. At the media launch for the third series of Doc Martin in September 2007, Clunes announced that as ITV had not yet commissioned a fourth series, that he planned to take a year's break from work to relax and rediscover his passion for acting, move to the far side of the camera and plans to grow his hair again as he "misses his locks.".^[10] The final episode of Series 3 succeeded in attracting nearly 10 million viewers or 40% of audience share.^[11] There was, however, mixed reaction from fans to Series 3's dénouement.^[12][13][14] In an interview in November 2007 on ITV's GMTV, he promised that there would be a fourth series but not for another year (2009).^[15] The fourth series of Doc Martin was broadcast in 2009 and a fifth series commenced broadcasting in September 2011.

In August 2007 he starred in ITV's The Man Who Lost His Head.^[16]

Clunes is a regular voice over artist and is the voice of Kipper in the animated children's series Kipper the Dog.

A sponsor of numerous charities, he has made a short online film with Stephen Fry about HIV discrimination for the Terrence Higgins Trust.^[17] He is also a patron of the Born Free Foundation and has filmed several adverts for the wildlife charity. He has been involved in Comic Relief which funds Survival International and African Initiatives, two organisations working with the Maasai on indigenous land rights issues.^[18]

Clunes also appeared in a television dramatisation of Fungus the Bogeyman playing Jessica White's father.

On 9 November 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate from Bournemouth University.^[19]

In January 2008, ITV announced its forthcoming sponsorship opportunities for Autumn 2008, which included Martin Clunes: a man and his dogs, a documentary that sees Martin Clunes charting the family tree of his dogs.^[20] There will be a book to accompany this programme, for which Clunes hopes to take the photographs.^[21]

From 24 April 2009, Clunes starred on BBC One television in the title role of Reggie Perrin, a re-make of classic 1970s British situation comedy The Fall and Rise of Reginald Perrin. In the same year he appeared in a 3 part ITV series Islands of Britain in which he travelled around several of the country's lesser known islands.

Clunes guest-hosted the comedy panel game show Have I Got News for You in 2010.

In 2011, Clunes voiced the mischievous dog Dudley in the short film Me or the Dog, starring Edward Hogg and directed by Abner Pastoll. Clunes has also appeared in some Churchill advertisements.

Personal life[link]

Clunes' first marriage was to the actress Lucy Aston.^{[citation needed]} They divorced in 1997 and Clunes married future Doc Martin television producer Philippa Braithwaite that same year.^[22][23] In 1999, Braithwaite gave birth to their daughter, Emily.^[24][25] Clunes lives with his family in Beaminster, Dorset.^[26] In 2010, Clunes was named president of the Royal International Horse Show, held annually at the All England Jumping Course, Hickstead. He was also named President of the British Horse Society from 1 June 2011.^[27]

Clunes is one of the Patrons of Honour for Dorset-based Children's Hospice, Julia's House.^{[citation needed]} Clunes also supports Weldmar Hospicecare Trust in Dorset.^[28] In January 2011, Clunes also became Patron of Animal Care in Egypt - a charity veterinary hospital for working animals in Luxor, Egypt.^[29]

Awards[link]

• 1995 – British Comedy Awards, Top TV Comedy Actor : Men Behaving Badly – Gary Strang
• 1996 – BAFTA Awards, Best Comedy Performance : Men Behaving Badly – Gary Strang
• 1999 – Screen Actors Guild Awards, Outstanding Performance by a Cast : Shakespeare in Love – Richard Burbage
• 2007 - Honorary Doctorate from Bournemouth University

References[link]

External links[link]

• Martin Clunes at the Internet Movie Database