Sixpenny Handley

Sixpenny Handley Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England. It originally consisted of two distinct hundreds: Sexpena and Hanlega. Sometime around the 14th century, the two hundreds were united as the hundred of "Sexpenne et Henle". Sixpenny Handley Hundred contained the following parishes: Cann Compton Abbas East Orchard Fontmell Magna Iwerne Minster Melbury Abbas Sixpenny Handley (originally known as just Handley) West Orchard Sixpenny Hundred took its name from its meeting place at Sixpenny, now a farm, in the south west of the parish of Fontmell Magna. Sixpenny was first recorded in 932 as Seaxpenn, and means "hill of the Saxons" (from Old English Seaxe and Brythonic penn). The reference is to the hill now known as Pen Hill east of the modern farm, which probably marks an ancient boundary. Handley Hundred took its name from Handley (now known as Sixpenny Handley). Its meeting place is not known, but a possible location is a neolithic long barrow known as Wor Barrow, 1 km east of Handley. When the barrow was excavated by Augustus Pitt Rivers in 1893–94, execution burials were found at the site.

Garston Wood is a 34-hectare (84-acre) woodland nature reserve on the border between Dorset and Wiltshire in England, around 3 km (2 mi) north of the village of Sixpenny Handley, owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds to protect species living in the region. The reserve is a mixture of ancient woodland and managed coppices and scrubland. To help maintain the park, the RSPB sets annual population targets for certain breeding pairs of birds, and manages the forest by clearing out taller and non-native trees. In an effort to help tourists and volunteers enjoy the park, the RSPB holds an annual event programme, biannual volunteer working parties, and publishes a regularly updated trail guide. They also work to improve their visitor facilities, and maintain a media profile.

Wor Barrow is a Neolithic long barrow on Cranborne Chase, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Sixpenny Handley in Dorset, England. It is a scheduled monument. Its excavation by Augustus Pitt Rivers in 1893–1894 has been described as "an important event in the study of British archaeology".

Ackling Dyke is a section of Roman road in England which runs for 22 miles (35 km) southwest from Old Sarum (Sorviodunum) to the hill fort at Badbury Rings (Vindocladia). Part of the road on Oakley Down has been scheduled as an ancient monument.Much of the road exists as an exceptionally large embankment (agger), up to 50 ft (15 m) wide and 6 ft (1.8 m) high. This is much wider than most Roman roads. This would have been visible from a great distance and must have been intended to impress the native population, as it was unnecessary from an engineering viewpoint. It provided a rapid transit route for soldiers across Cranborne Chase.In addition, in places the road cuts straight through prehistoric earthworks and barrows, showing the Roman attitude to the existing British social structure as well as proving to early antiquaries that barrows preceded the Roman period. At Bokerley Junction it cuts through both Bokerley Dyke and Grim's Ditch before being overlaid by a turnpike, now the A354. Three miles (5 km) further west at Wyke Down it cuts through the Dorset Cursus. A series of watchtower sites have been identified along the route.After leaving the Salisbury suburbs, the route crosses open country throughout, and nowhere comes close to any settlement. Apart from a one-mile (1.6 km) section of the main Salisbury–Blandford road which follows its course, the road can mostly be followed along minor lanes and tracks. At Old Sarum the road connected with the Port Way to Silchester (Calleva Atrebatum) and London; and from Badbury Rings roads led to the harbour at Hamworthy (Moriconium) and to Dorchester (Durnovaria).Part of the road is on the Heritage at Risk Register because of the potential damage from arable ploughing.

Oakley Down Barrow Cemetery is a group of Bronze Age round barrows on Cranborne Chase, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the village of Sixpenny Handley in Dorset, England. It is a scheduled monument.

Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) covering 379 square miles (980 km2) of Dorset, Hampshire, Somerset and Wiltshire. It is the sixth largest AONB in England. The area was designated as an AONB in 1981 and confirmed in October 1983. Since 2014, the AONB Partnership of local authorities has used the abbreviated name Cranborne Chase AONB in its promotion of the area.The AONB includes several distinct landscape areas, among them: Cranborne Chase, an area of chalk downland in the south. West Wiltshire Downs, an area of chalk downland in the north. The Vale of Wardour, a wide clay valley between the two areas of downland. The area around Stourhead and Longleat on the Somerset-Wiltshire border, which has a distinctive characteristic of upper greensand hills.Much of the landscape is farmed chalk downland. The people who populated the area thousands of years ago constructed Ackling Dyke and the Knowlton Circles. The area was later the scene of conflict in the Civil War, seeing the destruction of Old Wardour Castle. Other features include the Larmer Tree Gardens at Tollard Royal; and Fovant, where soldiers training during the First World War cut regimental badges into the chalk hillside. The AONB includes two large blocks of woodland, Grovely Wood and Great Ridge Wood.

The Dorset Cursus is a Neolithic cursus monument that spans across 10 km (6¼ miles) of the chalk downland of Cranborne Chase in east Dorset, United Kingdom. Its extreme length makes it a notable example of this class of linear earthwork; it is better interpreted as a pair of same-length cursus constructed end to end, with the more southerly cursus (the Gussage Cursus) pre-dating the northerly one (the Pentridge Cursus).

Cranborne Chase (grid reference ST970180) is an area of central southern England, straddling the counties Dorset, Hampshire and Wiltshire. It is part of the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The area is dominated by, and often considered to be synonymous with, a chalk downland plateau. Part of the English Chalk Formation, it is adjacent to Salisbury Plain and the West Wiltshire Downs in the north, and the Dorset Downs to the south west. The highest point is Win Green Down, in Wiltshire, at 910 feet (280 m).Historically a medieval hunting forest, the area is also noted for its Neolithic and Bronze age archaeology and its rural agricultural character.

Woodcutts is a hamlet within the parish of Sixpenny Handley and is located in the north of Dorset, near to the Wiltshire border. Originally named "Woodcotes", in its present form the 18th century country estate still consists of the Manor House, the Manor Farm, a number of cottages, a school house and a chapel. It lies within the Cranborne Chase an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The estate and much of the land and several of the properties were bought and amalgamated with the neighbouring Rushmore Estate by its owner Augustus Pitt Rivers, a noted archaeologist of the 19th century, for the purpose of doing archeological research. Woodcutts includes the site of a Romano-British settlement excavated in 1884-5 by Pitt Rivers. The 1st Woodcutts Scouts group was founded in 1957 and provides activities for the young people of the area with Beavers, Cubs, Scouts and Explorer sections.

Bowerchalke Downs (grid reference SU004218) (also known as Woodminton, Marleycombe Down and Knowle Down), is a 134 hectares (330 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in southern Wiltshire, England, notified in 1971. The downs encompass the entire southern outlook of the village of Bowerchalke, about 9 miles (14 km) south-west of Salisbury, and are adjacent to both the Hampshire and Dorset county boundaries. The Bowerchalke Downs lie within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and are part of the Southern England Chalk Formation. The English Nature citation from 1971 states that the site has an extensive area of floristically rich chalk grassland. Among the diverse plant species are sheep's-fescue Festuca ovina, meadow oat-grass Avenula pratensis, and dwarf sedge Carex humilis.

Woodcutts Settlement is an archaeological site of the late Iron Age and Romano-British period on Cranborne Chase, England. It is situated about 1 mile (1.6 km) north of the hamlet of Woodcutts, and about 1.75 miles (2.8 km) north-west of the village of Sixpenny Handley, in Dorset, near the boundary with Wiltshire. It is a scheduled monument.

Woodyates is a hamlet, sometimes considered a village, in the civil parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in the county of Dorset, near its border with Wiltshire, in the west of England.