Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi), Dorset borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. The county town is Dorchester, in the south. After the reorganisation of local government in 1974, the county border was extended eastward to incorporate the Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.
East Stour is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies within the North 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.
Shaftesbury is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated on the A30 road, 20 miles west of Salisbury, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset, being built about 215 metres above sea level on a greensand hill on the edge of Cranborne Chase.
Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, 6 miles east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. In the 2011 census the population of Sherborne parish and the two electoral wards was 9,523. 28.7% of the population is aged 65 or older.
Kimmeridge is a small village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula on the English Channel coast in Dorset, England. It is situated about 4.5 miles (7.2 km) south of Wareham and 7 miles (11 km) west of Swanage. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.
Abbotsbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The settlement is in the unitary authority of Dorset about 1 mile (1.6 km) inland from the English Channel coast. The village, including Chesil Beach, the swannery and subtropical gardens, is owned by the Ilchester Estate, which owns 61 square kilometres of land in Dorset. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 481.
Sturminster Newton is a town and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset, England. It is situated on a low limestone ridge in a meander of the River Stour. The town is at the centre of a large dairy agriculture region, around which the town's economy is built. The larger part of the town (Sturminster) lies on the north side of the river, and includes most shops and services, whilst to the south is the smaller Newton. Between these two areas is a wide flood plain. The town was the home of poet and author William Barnes, and, for part of his life, Thomas Hardy. The town has 43 shops, a primary and secondary school, and a school and college catering for children with Special educational needs. In the 2011 census the town's civil parish had a population of 4,945.
Blandford Forum, commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour about 13 miles northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this was abolished and its area incorporated into the new Dorset unitary authority.
Beaminster is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Council administrative area approximately 15 miles (24 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in a bowl-shaped valley near the source of the small River Brit. The 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of Beaminster parish is 3,100.
Corscombe is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, in the Dorset Council administrative area. The parish includes the small settlements of Benville and Toller Whelme to the south and in the 2011 census had a population of 445.
Puddletown is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated by the River Piddle, from which it derives its name, about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the county town Dorchester. Its earlier name Piddletown fell out of favour, probably because of connotations of the word "piddle". The name Puddletown was officially sanctioned in the late 1950s. Puddletown's civil parish covers 2,908 hectares and extends to the River Frome to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 1450.
Bere Regis is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated 6 miles (9.7 km) north-west of Wareham. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,745.
Hilfield is a small, scattered village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs 7 miles (11 km) south of Sherborne. Dorset County Council's 2013 estimate of the parish population is 50.
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.
Marshwood is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated on the northern edge of the Marshwood Vale approximately 5.5 miles (8.9 km) northeast of Lyme Regis. Dorset County Council estimate that the parish had a population of 310 in 2013. Figures published from the 2011 census are for Marshwood parish combined with the small neighbouring parish of Bettiscombe: the combined population was 346.
Woodsford is a village and civil parish beside the River Frome, Dorset, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the county town Dorchester. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population is 80.
Berwick St John is a village and civil parish in south-west Wiltshire, England, about 5 miles (8 km) east of Shaftesbury in Dorset.
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.
The Marshwood Vale is a low-lying, bowl-shaped valley of Lower Lias clay, in the western tip of the county of Dorset in south-west England. It lies to the north of the A35 trunk road between the towns of Bridport and Lyme Regis, and to the south of the two highest hills in Dorset, Lewesdon Hill (279m) and Pilsdon Pen (277m). It is drained by the River Char, which flows south-west to its mouth on the English Channel coast at Charmouth. All of the vale lies within the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
