Its name means Godman's Farm[2] and it is sited by the River Cerne amongst chalk hills of the Dorset Downs.

The story attached to the claim was that the original licence was granted by King Charles II when he requested that the village smith serve him a glass of porter.

The licence only applied to the smithy; adjacent living quarters, subsequently used by drinkers, were larger.

He was the English lord treasurer and ambassador and leader of the pro-Spanish, pro-Roman Catholic faction in the court of Charles I.

[5] The parish church is partly Norman, chiefly perpendicular, with a tower; and was recently repaired.