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.
West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council was based in Dorchester. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and Lyme Regis, along with Sherborne urban district, and the rural districts of Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester and Sherborne. In 2006 the district was named 10th best place to live in the UK.
North Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. It 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 and is called the Blackmore Vale. The economy of North Dorset was largely dairy agriculture based.
Iwerne Minster is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It lies on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, approximately midway between the towns of Shaftesbury and Blandford Forum. The A350 main road between those towns passes through the edge of the village, just to the west. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had a population of 978.
Melbury Abbas is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, 3 km SSW of the town of Shaftesbury, east of the A350 Shaftesbury to Blandford Forum road.
Fontmell Magna is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale, close to the chalk hills of Cranborne Chase, on the A350 road five miles south of Shaftesbury and eight miles north of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 734.
Winterborne Kingston is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies 7 miles south of the town of Blandford Forum and 2 mi (3 km) northeast of the large village of Bere Regis. It is situated in a winterbourne valley on the edge of the dip slope of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the parish had 282 households and a population of 643. In 2001 it had a population of 613.
Mid Dorset and North Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Michael Tomlinson, a Conservative.
The Stour Valley Way is a 64-mile (103 km) long-distance footpath in southern England. From Stourton, Wiltshire, the path travels southeast through Dorset to Hengistbury Head near Christchurch.
Pimperne Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes:
Sixpenny Handley Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England. It originally consisted of two distinct hundreds: Sexpena and Hanlega. Sometime around the 14th century, the two hundreds were united as the hundred of "Sexpenne et Henle". Sixpenny Handley Hundred contained the following parishes:
The High Sheriff of Dorset is an ancient High Sheriff title which has been in existence for over one thousand years. Until 1567 the Sheriff of Somerset was also the Sheriff of Dorset.