List of boroughs in Dorset
Encyclopedia
List of Dorset Boroughs
The following were historically borough
s in the county
of Dorset
.
The following were historically borough
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
s in the county
County
A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain modern nations. Historically in mainland Europe, the original French term, comté, and its equivalents in other languages denoted a jurisdiction under the sovereignty of a count A county is a jurisdiction of local government in certain...
of Dorset
Dorset
Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...
.
Boroughs, pre-Conquest
- BridportBridportBridport is a market town in Dorset, England. Located near the coast at the western end of Chesil Beach at the confluence of the River Brit and its Asker and Simene tributaries, it originally thrived as a fishing port and rope-making centre...
- Dorchester
- ShaftesburyShaftesburyShaftesbury is a town in Dorset, England, situated on the A30 road near the Wiltshire border 20 miles west of Salisbury. The town is built 718 feet above sea level on the side of a chalk and greensand hill, which is part of Cranborne Chase, the only significant hilltop settlement in Dorset...
- WarehamWareham, DorsetWareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
- Wimborne MinsterWimborne MinsterWimborne Minster is a market town in the East Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town...
(see also Lapsed boroughs below)
Boroughs, post-Conquest
- Blandford Forum (from 1605)
- Corfe Castle (from 1268 or 1576)
- Lyme RegisLyme RegisLyme Regis is a coastal town in West Dorset, England, situated 25 miles west of Dorchester and east of Exeter. The town lies in Lyme Bay, on the English Channel coast at the Dorset-Devon border...
(from 1284 or -85) - Melcombe RegisMelcombe RegisMelcombe Regis is an area of Weymouth in Dorset, England.Situated on the north shore of Weymouth Harbour and originally part of the waste of Radipole, it seems only to have developed as a significant settlement and seaport in the 13th century...
(from 1268) - PoolePoolePoole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
(from 1248; a County of itselfCounty corporateA county corporate or corporate county was a type of subnational division used for local government in England, Ireland and Wales.Counties corporate were created during the Middle Ages, and were effectively small self-governing counties...
from 1571) - SherborneSherborneSherborne is a market town in northwest Dorset, England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. The population of the town is 9,350 . 27.1% of the population is aged 65 or...
(from 1227) - Weymouth (from 1252)
"Lapsed" boroughs
- CastletonCastleton, DorsetCastleton is a village in west Dorset, England. The village had a population of 130 in 2001. Castleton is in the group parish of Yeo Head together with the three village parishes of Poyntington, Goathill and Oborne. This parish is within the district of West Dorset....
(in OborneOborneOborne is a village in north west Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale close to the border with Somerset, on the A30 road adjacent to the town of Sherborne. The village has a population of 115 . Oborne is in the group parish of Yeo Head together with the three villages of Castleton,...
) - CharmouthCharmouthCharmouth is a village at the mouth of the River Char in West Dorset, England, with a population of 1,687 according to the 2001 census.-The village:...
- Newton (in StudlandStudlandStudland is a small village on the Isle of Purbeck in the English county of Dorset. It is famous for its beaches and nature reserve. In 2001 Studland had a population of 480, the lowest in 50 years...
) - StoboroughStoboroughStoborough is a village in the English county of Dorset. It is situated one mile to the south of the town of Wareham, and separated from it by the River Frome.Stoborough forms part of the civil parish of Arne, within the Purbeck local government district....
(in Wareham Holy TrinityWareham, DorsetWareham is an historic market town and, under the name Wareham Town, a civil parish, in the English county of Dorset. The town is situated on the River Frome eight miles southwest of Poole.-Situation and geography:...
) - Whitchurch CanonicorumWhitchurch CanonicorumWhitchurch Canonicorum or Whitechurch Canonicorum is a village in south-west Dorset, England, situated in the Marshwood Vale five miles northwest of Bridport.The village has a population of 647 ; 10.1% of dwellings are second homes...
- Wimborne MinsterWimborne MinsterWimborne Minster is a market town in the East Dorset district of Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town...
Sources
- Boswell, Edward, 1833: The Civil Division of the County of Dorset (published on CD by Archive CD Books Ltd, 1992)
- Hutchins, Rev John, History of Dorset, vols 1-4 (3rd ed 1861-70; reprinted by EP Publishing, Wakefield, 1973)
- Mills, A D, 1977, 1980, 1989: Place Names of Dorset, parts 1-3. English Place Name Society: Survey of English Place Names vols LII, LIII and 59/60