Maiden Newton

The River Hooke is a small river in the county of Dorset in southern England. It runs from its source at Toller Whelme through the villages and hamlets of Hooke, Kingcombe, Toller Porcorum and Toller Fratrum to join the River Frome at Maiden Newton, a course of some 6 miles. The river was formerly called the River Toller, whence the name of the three Toller villages, as well as of the hundred of Tollerford. At some point, however, this former name was replaced in use by reference to a particular feature in the river's course: "Hooke" is a derivation of hoc, Old English for "sharp bend in a stream". It is possible that this description gave the village of Hooke its name, which then transferred to the river by back-formation. Although the River Hooke is flanked on both sides by chalk slopes of the Dorset Downs, in its course it has cut down to greensand. According to the Dorset-born author and broadcaster Ralph Wightman, this has resulted in "many springy and boggy patches which are not typical of chalk valleys." Writing in 1965, Wightman commented that at Hooke village itself "the largest spring I have ever seen used to gush out of the steep hillside, and was immediately used for watercress."

Maiden Newton railway station is a railway station serving the village of Maiden Newton in Dorset, England. The station is located on the Heart of Wessex Line, 154.12 miles (248.03 kilometres) from the zero point at London Paddington, measured via Swindon and Westbury.

Frome Vauchurch is a parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, situated approximately 7 miles (11 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. It includes the hamlets of Frome Vauchurch, Higher Frome Vauchurch, Lower Frome Vauchurch and Tollerford. Frome Vauchurch is sited in the Frome valley amongst the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. The parish is adjacent to the village of Maiden Newton, with which the parish's hamlets are virtually contiguous. Dorset County Council's latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 160.The Frome Valley Trail and the Mackmillan Way long-distance trails pass through the parish.Frome Vauchurch was the home of the writers Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland. They moved into a house called Riversdale beside the River Frome in 1937, which they first rented and later bought.The Parish Church of St Francis is originally 12th century but was substantially rebuilt in the 17th century and restored in c.1879, and is a Grade II* listed building.

St Francis' Church is a Church of England church in Frome Vauchurch, Dorset, England. It has 12th-century origins, with a major rebuild in the 17th-century and restoration work in the 19th-century. The church is a Grade II* listed building.

Tollerford Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Chilfrome East Chelborough Evershot Frome St Quintin Frome Vauchurch Maiden Newton Melbury Sampford Rampisham Toller Fratrum Toller Porcorum (part) West Chelborough Wynford Eagle

Cruxton is a hamlet in the English county of Dorset. It lies eight miles north-west of the county town of Dorchester, and one mile south-east of the village of Maiden Newton. It is sited on the west bank of the River Frome, amongst the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. According to the Dorset author and broadcaster Ralph Wightman, the old house in the hamlet "was certainly a manor. William Crox gave thirty marks to have seizin of the vill in 1205."The Froome Valley Trail long distance foopath runs throught Cruxton.

Cattistock Halt railway station was a railway station in the county of Dorset in England. It was served by trains on what is now known as the Heart of Wessex Line. The station was initially timber but was rebuilt in 1959: the two platforms each with a concrete shelter were standard products of the former Southern Railway concrete factory at Exmouth Junction.

Chilfrome () is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southwest England. It lies in the Dorset unitary authority administrative area, approximately 9 miles (14 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is situated between the villages of Cattistock and Maiden Newton in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley in the Dorset Downs. The parish church was largely restored in 1864, though it has a thirteenth-century chancel-arch, a partly fourteenth-century nave, and windows dating from the fifteenth century. The parish church dates from the 14th century and is a Grade II* Listed Building. Dorset County Council estimate that in 2013 the population of the civil parish was 40.Three long-distance footpaths, the Wessex Ridgeway, the Macmillan Way and the Frome Valley Trail, all pass through the village.

Cattistock is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, sited in the upper reaches of the Frome Valley, 8 miles (13 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. The Dorset poet William Barnes called it "elbow-streeted Cattstock", a comment on the less-than-linear village street. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 509.

Toller Fratrum () is a very small village and civil parish in Dorset, England, near Maiden Newton, anciently in Tollerford Hundred. The name is taken from the village's situation on the brook formerly known as the Toller, now called the Hooke. The addition Fratrum is the Latin for of the brothers and refers to the mediaeval ownership of the manor by the Knights Hospitaller, which distinguishes it from the other Tollers, namely Toller Porcorum and Toller Whelme. It is often referred to as Little Toller. The village has a notable 16th-century farm house, Little Toller Farm, built largely by John Samways, who acquired the estate in 1540. The farm house was later occupied by the Fulford family. The church of Saint Basil was rebuilt in the 19th century but possesses not only an unusual Norman font, carved with archaic figures, but also a relief of Saint Mary Magdalene of the same period. Sir Francis Fulford, who acquired Toller Fratrum through marriage into the Samways family, was buried here in 1664. The independent book publisher, Little Toller Books, is based in the village. Dorset County Council's latest (2013) estimate of the population of the parish is 10.

West Dorset is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Chris Loder, a Conservative.

Wynford Eagle is a hamlet and small parish in Dorset, England, situated approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southwest of Maiden Newton and 7.5 miles (12.1 km) northwest of Dorchester. In the 2021 Census the parish population was recorded as 193.