Tarrant Launceston

Tarrant Monkton is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated in the Tarrant Valley about four miles (six kilometres) east-northeast of Blandford Forum. Within the parish boundary, 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 kilometres) over hills to the west, lies the major part of Blandford Camp army base (including the Royal Signals Museum). In the 2011 census the parish—including the army base—had a population of 1,986. The village is centred on the All Saints Parish Church, opposite which is the Langton Arms, a public house and restaurant.

Tarrant Hinton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated in the Tarrant Valley, approximately five miles (eight kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 160.The village's name appears in medieval sources. In 935, King Æthelstan granted land at Tarrant Hinton to the nuns of Shaftesbury Abbey under condition that they would pray hard for the king.The village no longer has a public house, shop or post office, but it has a medieval parish church and a newly rebuilt village hall. In 2001 the ecclesiastical parish of Tarrant Hinton was grouped with nine other surrounding parishes to form the Chase Benefice in the Anglican Diocese of Salisbury. Tarrant Hinton is well known as the location of the Great Dorset Steam Fair, which is annually visited by some 200,000 people. There is a local church benefice newsletter published regularly called the Tarrant Times.

The Great Dorset Steam Fair (abbreviated GDSF, and since 2010 also known as The National Heritage Show) is an annual show featuring steam-powered vehicles and machinery. It now covers 600 acres (2.4 km2) and runs for five days. This used to be from the Wednesday after the UK August bank holiday, but from 2016 has been from the Thursday before the Bank Holiday until the Bank Holiday itself. It is reputedly the largest collection of steam and vintage equipment to be seen anywhere in the world. The fair was founded by the Dorset Steam & Historic Vehicle Club, and has been held in Dorset, England, every summer since 1969. The show is now organised by Michael Oliver's son, Martin Oliver, through Great Dorset Steam Fair Ltd.

Tarrant Rawston is a hamlet and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is named after the River Tarrant which flows through the parish. It has a small church, built of flint and stone, which is situated within the garden of the neighbouring farmhouse. Surrounding the village are many pre-historic barrows. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 40.

Eastbury Park was a country estate near Tarrant Gunville in Dorset, England. It contained a large mansion designed by Sir John Vanbrugh. The mansion has not survived, but its former service wing has become a country house known as Eastbury House, a Grade I listed building.

Chettle House is a Grade I listed country manor house with Queen Anne style architecture in Chettle, North Dorset, England, about 6 miles (10 km) northeast of the town of Blandford Forum. It was built in 1710 for George Chafin, to designs of the architect Thomas Archer. The builders were William and Francis Smith from Warwick.The property was bought by the banker William Castleman in 1846, who together with his solicitor son Charles Castleman built the first railway into Dorset in 1845–47 (the Southampton and Dorchester Railway, which was known as "Castleman's Corkscrew" because of its convoluted route). By that time the house "was a ruin used for storing grain, sans floors, ceilings or fireplaces", according to a 2019 report. During the renovations, the family modified some of the interior layout; that included lowering the north and south wings.Pevsner called it "the plum among Dorset houses of the early 18th century, and even nationally outstanding as a specimen of English Baroque".In 1946, the property was inherited by Esther Bourke who eventually converted it into a series of flats. As of 2010, the property was still owned by the Bourke family, who were also long-time owners of the entire community in a form of "benevolent feudalism".In May 2015, the manor was listed for sale at a guide price of £3.95m, and soon sold, "reputedly for more than 50% above the guide price", and was described by Country Life as "arguably, the country-house sale of 2015". The article described the property as "the magnificent, 14,580sq ft mansion, set in 117 acres of gardens, grounds, parkland and woodland, needed substantial renovation". The new owners planned to restore the house into a single family private home.As of late 2020, the owners were Tom and Rosamond Sweet-Escott, who received a Georgian Group award the previous year for the restoration they had completed, with the guidance of Hugh Petter of Adam Architecture. A November 2020 article in Country Life highlighted the results of the work and documented them with photographs.

Chettle is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies 6 miles (10 kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum. It is sited at the head of a gently sloping valley on the dip slope of the chalk formation called Cranborne Chase. The A354 trunk road crosses the valley about 1 km to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90. A 2008 report indicated that the entire village was owned by the Bourke family and operated in the mode of "benevolent feudalism". A news item from 2015 confirmed the ownership and provided the following update about the community:The tiny hamlet, with its hotel, manor house, 40 cottages, farms and lumber yard has belonged to the Bourke family for more than 400 years, in a benign throwback to feudal times. Chettle House, the village manor, is a red brick Baroque mansion designed by Thomas Archer, a pupil of Vanbrugh, and built by the Bastard brothers of Blandford Forum during the reign of Queen Anne. Pevsner called it "the plum among Dorset houses of the early 18th century, and even nationally outstanding as a specimen of English Baroque". Two rounded ends were added to the house in 1912. From the 1950s to 2015 the house was a series of flats. After 2015, extensive renovations were completed by new owners; the house and gardens were closed to the public.A book about Chettle, "Enduring Village", was published in August, 2008.

Tarrant Rushton is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. The village is situated in the Tarrant Valley about three miles (five kilometres) east of Blandford Forum. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 80. Starting in the north east the parish adjoins Moor Crichel, Witchampton, just touches Wimborne Minster to the east, then Shapwick, Tarrant Crawford, Tarrant Keynston and Tarrant Rawston. The ancient church of St Mary is built of flint and stone and parts of it date from Norman times. The church accommodates 120 persons and the registers date from 1700. At one time there was a hospital or charity in the parish dedicated to St Leonard. There has not been a post office in the parish, but there was a parish school which in 1895 catered for 45 children. Abbey Crofts which in the 1890s had a population of 7 was transferred to Tarrant Crawford. The population in 1891 was 177. The 2,073 acres (839 hectares) are light loam and used to be mainly for cultivation of wheat. To the east of the village is Tarrant Rushton Airfield. It was built during World War II, during which it played a vital role, and remained in use until 1980.

Tarrant Gunville is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated at the head of the Tarrant Valley on Cranborne Chase five miles (eight kilometres) northeast of Blandford Forum. The parish covers 3,469 acres (1,404 hectares) at an elevation of 70 to 170 metres (230 to 560 feet). In the 2011 census the parish—which includes the settlement of Stubhampton to the north—had 119 dwellings, 108 households and a population of 233.The parish has three round barrows and an unexcavated Iron Age enclosure with a 15' deep ditch, which Pevsner suspects was built in a hurry. The medieval settlements in the parish were Stubhampton and Gunville. The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, is on the edge of Tarrant Gunville. It is on the site of an earlier building which probably dated from around 1100. The present building has a south porch, aisles and tower arch that are partly 14th-century, and a 15th-century west tower that was partly rebuilt in the 16th century, but the chancel and nave were rebuilt in 1843. The architect of the rebuilding was Thomas Henry Wyatt. Eastbury House, the surviving part of a much larger house designed by John Vanbrugh and built between 1717 and 1738, stands just east of Tarrant Gunville village. The larger part of the house was demolished in 1782. The grounds still display evidence of the original gardens, designed by Charles Bridgeman. It is probable that several of the ashlar and flint houses in the village were built using material taken from the demolished house. The photographer Thomas Wedgwood moved into the surviving part of Eastbury in 1800; his brother, the potter Josiah, had bought nearby Gunville House in 1799, shortly after its construction.The modern village hall was completed in 2001. There are 23 structures in the parish that are listed by English Heritage for their special historical or architectural interest. These include Eastbury House (Grade I) and the parish church (Grade II*).

Royal Air Force Tarrant Rushton or more simply RAF Tarrant Rushton is a former Royal Air Force station near the village of Tarrant Rushton east of Blandford Forum in Dorset, England from 1943 to 1947. It was used for glider operations during World War II and later revived for civilian operations. It is currently disused, though some buildings survive. Today it serves as a visual reference point (VRP) for VFR flights, in particular NW departures from Bournemouth Airport.

Blandford Camp is a military base comprising some 390 hectares of downland lying 2 miles (3 km) north-east of Blandford Forum in the county of Dorset in southern England. Significant areas of the camp are Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Blandford Camp is currently the home of the Royal Signals, housing both the headquarters of the corps as well as the headquarters of the Defence College of Communications and Information Systems (DCCIS), the Royal School of Signals (which includes 11 Signal Regiment), the Royal Signals Museum and the HQ Station (G4RS) of the Royal Signals Amateur Radio Society. A number of other telecommunications-related units, such as the MOD Land Systems Reference Centre, are also housed on the site. Over the years, however, the camp has been home to Royal Navy, Royal Air Force, Army and joint-Service units, as well as to a US Army hospital complex. The site has also been used as a road racing circuit.

The Defence School of Communications and Information Systems (DSCIS) is a Defence Training Establishment of the British Ministry of Defence. It was formed on 1 April 2004 and comprises a headquarters and The Royal Signals School at Blandford Camp, and No.1 Radio School at RAF Cosford, including the Aerial Erectors School at RAF Digby.