Dorset Gazetteer of Historic Towns and Villages

Swanage is a resort town in the Purbeck area of south Dorset, blessed with a wide, sandy bay, and well suited to sailing and fishing. In AD 878 a great naval battle took place off Swanage in which King Alfred defeated a fleet of Danish ships.
Swanage, Dorset, England

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Tarrant Hinton is a picturesque rural village, of the sort that Dorset seems to specialise in. The parish church of St Mary is a beautiful 13th-century building with a Norman font and a superbly carved Easter Sepulchre. Nearby is Chettle House, designed by Thomas Archer, a manor in the Queen Anne style which is set in beautifully landscaped gardens.
Tarrant Hinton, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: Superb 16th century Easter Sepulchre in St Mary's church

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A small village in the Tarrant Valley, Tarrant Rushton boasts an unusual cruciform church, built in the 12th century. It is also home to RAF Tarrant Rushton, an airfield used in WWII for glider operations.
Tarrant Rushton, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: 12th century St Mary's church

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The name of this isolated village gives a clue to its history. The 'fratrum' refers to the brothers, or brethren, of the Knights Hospitaller of St John, who owned the manor during the medieval period. A thatched farm building is thought to have been the brother's refectory. The Toller part of the name refers to Toller Brook, now renamed as the River Hooke.
Toller Fratrum, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: The late Saxon font in St Basil's church

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The Latin version of Toller Porcorum tells us much about the history of this small Dorset village. Toller is a valley with a stream, while Porcorum refers to the pig breeding that once took place here. The Romans came here in AD 43, and a Roman altar forms part of the font in the 13th-century parish church of St Andrew and St Peter.
Toller Porcorum, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: 13th century church of St Andrew and St Peter

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The little Dorset village of Tolpuddle will forever be associated with the birth of trade unionism and six men known to history as the Tolpuddle Martyrs. In 1834, six men, agricultural workers in Tolpuddle, met in secret to discuss forming a union to bargain for better pay. At that time the weekly wage for workers was set at 9 shillings, a figure which really represented little more than starvation wages.

Tolpuddle, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: The Martyr's Tree on the village green marks the spot where trade union history was made

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The gateway to the Isle of Purbeck, Wareham is a little Saxon Town with a long main street with many fascinating 18th and early 19th Century buildings.
Wareham, Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England

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Weymouth is a large town on the south Dorset coast, sheltered by the broad curve of the Isle of Portland. The natural harbour at Weymouth was recognised by the Romans, but the area really began to grow in importance when Henry VIII established a naval base here. But it was left to a future monarch, George III, to popularise Weymouth as a seaside resort. Rich Georgians followed the king's lead, and Weymouth grew into a town of pleasant, terraced houses and a broad Esplanade by the shore.
Weymouth, Jurassic Coast, Dorset, England

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The historic market town of Wimborne Minster lies between the rivers Stour and Allen, in an area that has been settled since prehistoric times.  There was a Roman settlement here, but the real period of growth did not begin until the early 8th century, when Cuthburga, sister of King Ina, founded a Benedictine nunnery at Wimborne.

Wimborne Minster, Dorset, England

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Heritage Highlight: The Norman Minster church is a superb historic building, featuring a 17th-century chained library of precious books

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A small village near the old royal hunting ground of Cranborne Chase. Wimborne St Giles is the home of the Earls of Shaftesbury, whose manor, St Giles House, was begun in 1650. It is said that the statue of Eros in Picadilly Circus, London, was aligned so that his arrow points to Wimborne St Giles, a tribute to the 7th Earl, whose philanthropy helped raise public awareness of the plight of the poor in 19th century England.
Wimborne St Giles, Dorset, England, BH21 5NE

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Heritage Highlight: 18th century St Giles church

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