Dorchester

Dorchester, now an unimportant village of Oxfordshire, 9 miles SE. of Oxford, was the seat of the Mercian bishops from the 7th century till 1073, when the see was transferred to Lincoln. The Augustinian abbey church (mainly 13th century; recently restored) is lavishly ornamented, and has an interesting 'Jesse' window. Pop. of township, 813. See J. H. Parker's History of Dorchester (1882).