Melbury Abbas

Melbury Hill, whose summit is also called Melbury Beacon, is a prominent hill, 263 metres high, on the high chalk escarpment of the North Dorset Downs above the village of Melbury Abbas in the county of Dorset in southern England. From Melbury Beacon there are superb panoramic views of Blackmore Vale and Cranborne Chase, as well as the Saxon hilltop town of Shaftesbury less than 2 miles to the north.In 1588 an Armada beacon sited here formed part of a chain of signal beacons from London to Plymouth.There is a trig point on the summit and a National Trust-owned wood on its western flank above the A350 from Blandford Forum to Shaftesbury.

Cann is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated on the A350 road in the North Dorset administrative district, 1 mile (1.5 kilometres) south of Shaftesbury. The civil parish covers 2,600 acres (1,100 hectares) and has an underlying geology of Kimmeridge clay, greensand and gault clay. In the 2011 census the parish—which includes HM Prison Guys Marsh—had a population of 822.

Compton Abbas Airfield (IATA: n/a, ICAO: EGHA) is a grass airstrip 2.7 NM (5.0 km; 3.1 mi) south of Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. Compton Abbas Aerodrome has a CAA Ordinary Licence (Number P851) that allows flights for the public transport of passengers or for flying instruction as authorised by the licensee. The aerodrome is not licensed for night use.It was from this airfield in May 1993 that tycoon Asil Nadir flew to France in a six-seater Piper Seneca as he fled to Northern Cyprus.The airfield is owned and managed by film director Guy Ritchie, who also owns the neighbouring Ashcombe Estate. Ritchie took over the running of the airfield in February 2023 after acquiring it from the Hughes family, who had managed it for 35 years.The airfield is also used by Aero Legends which provide Supermarine Spitfire experiences, as well as a flight training facility, with multiple instructors.

Melbury Down is an area of downland in northern Dorset, England. It is owned by the National Trust. The chalk grassland here supports large butterfly populations, including very large numbers of Chalkhill Blue, and a colony of Silver-spotted Skipper.

Breeze Hill is a prominent, largely treeless, rounded summit, 262 metres high, on the edge of Cranborne Chase about a mile east of the village of Melbury Abbas, Dorset.Breeze Hill is 2 miles northeast of Compton Abbas and some 2+1⁄2 miles southeast of the town of Shaftesbury. The county boundary with Wiltshire runs past the summit some 200 metres to the northeast on the upper slopes of Charlton Down. The terrain drops steeply on three sides; the ridge on the fourth side running away to the southeast and east in a gentle curve towards Win Green hill, the highest point on Cranborne Chase. On the steep western scarp is Zig Zag Hill with the hairpin bends of the B3081. Near the hill is evidence of prehistoric activity in the form of tumuli, long barrows, earthworks and cross dykes. About a mile and a half away to the west-southwest is another prominent summit, Melbury Beacon

Compton Abbas is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It lies 3 miles (5 kilometres) south of the town of Shaftesbury. It is sited on greensand strata on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, below the chalk downs of Cranborne Chase. On top of these hills is Compton Abbas Airfield. The A350 road between Wiltshire and the south coast passes through the village. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 216. The name Compton Abbas derives from the Saxon "cumb-ton", meaning 'village in a narrow valley', plus "abbas" which refers to Shaftesbury Abbey (the land was owned by the abbess). The church, St. Mary's, was built in 1866 to replace the older structure which was more remote from the village. The tower of the Church of St Mary in East Compton is a Grade I listed building.

St Mary's School was a private Roman Catholic day and boarding school for girls, founded in 1945 in a rural setting near Shaftesbury, England. The school had a sixth form and was a member of the Girls' Schools Association. After operating at a loss for some time, the school closed in July 2020. Although the school's postal address was in Dorset, its site lay just over the county border in Wiltshire, within the parish of Donhead St Mary.

Shaftesbury School is a coeducational secondary day and boarding school located in Shaftesbury in the English county of Dorset.Previously a voluntary controlled Church of England school administered by the Diocese of Salisbury and Dorset County Council, The school converted to academy status under the Diocese of Salisbury in June 2014. The origins of the school date back to 1718 when the original ‘Blue Coat School’ was founded in Shaftesbury, and the school has offered boarding since 1898. It is one of only thirty-nine state boarding schools in England.The school currently has around a thousand students who each belong to one of four houses. Melbury (Green), Duncliffe (Red), Hambledon (Blue) and Gold (Yellow). The boarding house underwent a £3 million refurbishment and expansion in 2012 and now has over one hundred students from around the world. Shaftesbury School offers GCSEs, and BTECs as programmes of study for pupils. Shaftesbury School's sixth form provision has links to Sturminster Newton High School in Sturminster Newton, and students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of A Levels and further BTECs on two sites.

Redlane Hundred or Redland Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Buckhorn Weston Child Okeford East Stour Fifehead Magdalen Hanford (from 1858) Iwerne Courtney Kington Magna Manston Silton Sutton Waldron Todber West Stour

Shaftesbury Football Club are a football club based in Shaftesbury, Dorset, England. The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They are currently members of the Wessex League Premier Division.

Higher Wincombe is a farm and small hamlet in the parish of Donhead St Mary, Wiltshire, England. It lies at the head of the Nadder Valley, just beyond the north-east edge of the town of Shaftesbury, Dorset and within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Greatest Hits Radio Dorset (North Dorset) is an Independent Local Radio station serving North Dorset.