East Stour is a village and civil parish in the ceremonial county of Dorset in southern England. It lies within the Dorset administrative district, about two miles south of the town of Gillingham. The village is 1⁄2 mile from the east bank of the River Stour in the Blackmore Vale and two miles west of the broadly conical local landmark Duncliffe Hill. Above the west bank of the river, about one mile away, is the village of West Stour. The A30 London to Penzance road passes through the village. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 573.
The Blackmore Vale is a vale, or wide valley, in north Dorset, and to a lesser extent south Somerset and southwest Wiltshire in southern England.
North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England, between 1974 and 2019. Its area was largely rural, but included the towns of Blandford Forum, Gillingham, Shaftesbury, Stalbridge and Sturminster Newton. Much of North Dorset was in the River Stour valley, known as the Blackmore Vale. The economy of North Dorset was largely based on dairy agriculture.
Marnhull is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies in the Blackmore Vale, three miles north of Sturminster Newton. The resort towns of Bournemouth and Weymouth are approximately 30 miles south. Marnhull is sited on a low ridge of Corallian limestone above the valley of the River Stour, which forms the northern and western boundaries of the parish. In the 2011 census the parish had 962 dwellings, 905 households and a population of 1,998.
Buckhorn Weston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated in the Blackmore Vale about 3 miles west of the town of Gillingham. It lies on the western edge of the former royal hunting ground of Gillingham Forest. The underlying geology is Oxford clay and Corallian limestone. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 356.
Child Okeford is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, 3 miles east of the small town of Sturminster Newton in the North Dorset administrative district. Child Okeford lies downstream from Sturminster, along the River Stour, which passes half a mile west of the village. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,114.
Fifehead Neville is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated in the Blackmore Vale about two miles southwest of the town of Sturminster Newton. In the 2011 census the population of the parish was 147.
Lydlinch is a village and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale in north Dorset, England, about three miles west of Sturminster Newton. The village is sited on Oxford clay close to the small River Lydden. The parish – which includes the village of King's Stag to the south and the hamlet of Stock Gaylard to the west – is bounded by the Lydden to the east and its tributary, the Caundle Brook, to the north.
Manston is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, lying next to the River Stour in the Blackmore Vale, two miles east of Sturminster Newton. The geology of the parish consists mostly of Kimmeridge clay, with a thin strip of Corallian limestone in the west.
Motcombe is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It lies about two miles north of Shaftesbury. It is sited on Kimmeridge clay soil beneath hills at the edge of the Blackmore Vale. The parish is one of the largest in Dorset. In the 2011 census the parish had 611 dwellings, 564 households and a population of 1,474.
Okeford Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated in the Blackmore Vale three miles south of the town of Sturminster Newton. It is sited on a thin strip of greensand under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes the village of Belchalwell to the west and most of the hamlet of Fiddleford to the north—had 404 dwellings, 380 households and a population of 913.
Wootton Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in South West England. It lies approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Lyme Regis in a small side valley of the River Char, close to the Marshwood Vale. The civil parish covers an area of 3,307 acres (1,338 ha) and includes the ecclesiastical parish and small settlement of Monkton Wyld to the west. In the 2011 census the civil parish had 180 dwellings, 134 households and a population of 345.
Sturminster Newton Hundred or Sturminster Newton Castle Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes:
Almer is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sturminster Marshall, in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. Almer is located on the A31 road near Winterborne Zelston, Huish Manor, Sturminster Marshall and opposite the Drax estate. The main features of the village are Almer Manor, Almer Parish church and the old school house. The school was co-educational; it opened in 1925 and closed in 1964. The Almer School Honours tablet is now kept in Winterborne Zelston village hall. The seven residential properties in Almer are owned and let by the Charborough (Drax) Estate. In 1931 the parish had a population of 108. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Sturminster Marshall.
Margaret Marsh is a hamlet and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale, halfway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Sturminster Newton. It is sited on Kimmeridge Clay close to a small tributary stream of the River Stour. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 60. In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 40. The parish church has a 15th-century tower and 13th-century font, but the rest of the building was rebuilt in 1873. For local government purposes the parish is grouped with the parishes of East Orchard and West Orchard, to form a Group Parish Council.
Hammoon is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, sited on a river terrace of alluvial silt by the River Stour, about two miles east of the small town of Sturminster Newton. Its name is derived from the Old English ham, meaning dwelling, and the surname of the Norman lord of the manor. In 2001 the parish had 19 households and a population of 49. In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 40.
At 258 metres, Bell Hill is one of the highest hills in the county of Dorset, England and a high point on the Wessex Ridgeway.
St Aldhelm's Church is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in the village of Belchalwell, Dorset. It is in the ecclesiastical parish of Belchalwell, which is part of the Benefice of Hazelbury Bryan and the Hillside Parishes.
