Dorset

Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. It comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Around half of the population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation, while the rest of the county is largely rural. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site.

About Dorset in brief

Summary Dorset Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. It comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. 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. The Romans conquered Dorset’s indigenous Celtic tribe, and during the Early Middle Ages, the Saxons settled the area and made Dorset a shire in the 7th century. Dorset has a varied landscape featuring broad elevated chalk downs, steep limestone ridges and low-lying clay valleys. Three-quarters of its coastline is part of the Jurassic Coast Natural World Heritage Site due to its geological and palaeontologic significance. It is the birthplace of Thomas Hardy, who used the county as the principal setting of his novels, and William Barnes, whose poetry celebrates the ancient Dorset dialect. There are no motorways in Dorset but a network of A roads cross the county and two railway main lines connect to London. The county has a variety of museums, theatres and festivals, and is host to the Great Dorset Steam Fair, one of the biggest events of its kind in Europe. The first human visitors to Dorset were Mesolithic hunters, from around 8000 BC. During the Iron Age, the British tribe Durotriges established the Dorset Cursus, a 10.

5-kilometre monument for ritual or ceremonial purposes. The former was the sailing venue in the 2012 Summer Olympics, and both have clubs or hire venues for sailing, Cornish pilot gig rowing, sea kayaking and powerboating. The last recorded Viking raid on the British Isles occurred in the eighth century, and the Black Death entered England at Melcombe Regis in 1348. It was mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in AD 845 and in the 10th century the county’s archaic name, Dorseteschyre, was first recorded. The Roman legion under the command of Vespasian, the Roman settlement of Durnovaria was established near Bokerley Dyke, a large defensive ditch built by the post-Roman inhabitants near the border with modern-day Hampshire, near the town of Dorchester. The Saxons named the town Dornwaraceaster and Dornsæte came into use as the name for the inhabitants of the area from Dorn and the Old English word sæte. It is first mentioned as a town in the 1st century and its name is first recorded in the 11th century, when it was given the name Dorset by the Saxon king Durnovarius and his son Durno. The name Dorn Waraceaster means ‘place with fist-sized pebbles’ or ‘Dorn’ in Old English. It has ports at Poole, Weymouth and Portland, and an international airport near Bouremouth.