The 2019 Village Appraisal is being compiled at present and when completed will give 40 years of information on the village.  The survey of properties and households was completed at the end of 2019 and the information from this is being collated to go into the draft document. It had been planned to present the draft at the Parish Assembly in April 2020 but due to the Coivid-19 pandemic this was not possible as work was halted during the lockdown.  It is now hoped that the draft, or at least a progress report, will be available for discussion by the village at the Parish Assembly on 23rd June 2021. Following completion a printed copy will be delivered to every household in the property as well as being available electronically.

Below are previous appraisals which make interesting reading.  The background and aims of these appraisals is below:-

In 1979, 1989 and 1999 the Parish Council undertook appraisals of the village which were a survey of the parish as it was at those dates and also encompassed the views of its inhabitants as to its future.

These documents were produced as a useful guide to the Parish Council itself as well as to the District and County Council Planning Authorities, and also served to stimulate and inform discussion within the village.

The survey for the 2009 Appraisal was carried out electronically and a smaller number of responses were received, making it a less comprehensive but still valuable and interesting document.  Printed copies were not produced but the electronic version is available below. 

You will need Acrobat Reader to view them which is available for free

1979 - A complete copy of the 1979 Shipton Gorge Village Appraisal It has been retyped from the original, and whilst it has been checked, please refer to a copy of the original if you need to be certain of the original published version.

1989 - A complete copy of the 1989 Shipton Gorge Village Appraisal

1999 - A complete copy of the 1999 Shipton Gorge Village Appraisal 

2005 - In 2005, as part of the preliminary work for the production of a Parish Plan, a survey of the village was carried out and the results analysed. 

The Parish Plan initiative by government encouraged villages to produce a plan that would be a vision of how residents would like their village to be. It was to be a stepping stone for communities to apply for grants, such as those for transport and community services. Shipton Gorge Parish Council felt this should be carried out for the village and a Parish Plan Steering Committee was set up in 2008 under the chairmanship of Simon Cleveland. A grant of £2,372 was received from Dorset County Council to assist with the funding of the process. This produced the 2009 Village Appraisal to provide a background for the plan but due to lack of time and of active engagement and enthusiasm of the village community, a final Parish Plan was never completed. The survey was mainly undertaken online and the response rate was lower than for previous appraisal questionnaires. However the finished 2009 appraisal document contains useful data on the village at that time and is available below. 

2009 - A complete copy of the Shipton Gorge Parish Appraisal 2009 

Anyone who would like to know more about the village and its inhabitants can contact the Parish Clerk.