Seaborough

{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox UK place

| static_image_name = Seaborough, parish church of St. John - geograph.org.uk - 445179.jpg

| static_image_caption = Parish church of St John

| country = England

| official_name = Seaborough

| coordinates = {{coord|50.850|-2.813|display=inline,title}}

| map_type = Dorset

| population = 60

| population_ref = {{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|publisher=Dorset County Council|accessdate=7 March 2015|date=20 January 2015|title=Parish Population Data}}

| unitary_england = Dorset

| lieutenancy_england = Dorset

| region = South West England

| constituency_westminster = West Dorset

| os_grid_reference = ST429060

}}

Seaborough is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England. It is sited in the valley of the River Axe and lies approximately {{convert|2|mi|km}} south of Crewkerne in Somerset. The parish was historically in Somerset, part of the hundred of Crewkerne,{{cite web|title=Somerset Hundreds|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/SOM/Miscellaneous/|publisher=GENUKI|accessdate=8 October 2011}} but was transferred to Dorset in 1896.{{cite web|url=https://sanhs.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/10-J-W-Hart.pdf|title=The Changing Boundaries of Somerset|last=Hart|first=J.W.|publisher=Somerset Archaeological and Natural History Society|date=2020|page=167|accessdate=12 February 2025}}{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/SeaboroughFiles/Seaborough.htm|publisher=Dorset Online Parish Clerk|title=Seaborough|year=2012|accessdate=14 May 2013}} In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 60.

The village church is small and mostly not of ancient construction. Ralph Wightman, broadcaster, agriculturist and a native of Dorset, described it as "delightful", and claimed that the round arch of the porch was so low it "would remove the hat of any man of average height."{{cite book|author=Ralph Wightman|title=Portrait of Dorset|year=1983|edition=4|page=151|ISBN=0 7090 0844 9|publisher=Robert Hale Limited}}

Seaborough lies on the northern side of the Axe valley, beneath the {{convert|204|m|ft|adj=mid|-high}} Seaborough Hill. The minor lane which passes through the village and up the hill is noted for being particularly steep. At the bottom of the village the river is crossed by a small stone bridge, close to which is an old ducking pool, into which scolding wives would historically have been dipped in an attempt to 'cure' them of their condition.{{cite book|title=West Dorset Holiday and Tourist Guide|publisher=West Dorset District Council|page=17|date=c. 1983}}

In March 2013 a fire at the {{convert|100|m|ft|adj=mid|-long}} piggery at Seaborough Manor destroyed the building and killed about nine hundred pigs. Fifty firefighters took about three hours to tackle the blaze.{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-21978572|date=29 March 2013|publisher=BBC|accessdate=9 May 2013|title=Hundreds of pigs die in Beaminster farm fire}}