Shillingstone railway station

North Dorset Railway (previously known as the Shillingstone Station Project, the North Dorset Railway Trust and the Shillingstone Railway Project) is a heritage railway based at Shillingstone railway station on the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway in the United Kingdom.The project's present aim is to restore the current leased length of 1,200 feet (370 m) single track mainline, with a passing loop between the platforms. Double track has been laid through the station using 95 bullhead rail extending to the current northern and southern boundaries. A siding to serve the loading dock has been completed. A planning application was submitted in December 2020 to extend a single track north over Lamb House Bridge to Bere Marsh, with the ultimate aim to provide a rail link to Sturminster Newton, working in harmony with the North Dorset Trailway. The signal box, down platform shelter, permanent way huts, signals and pole route have been rebuilt. The NDRT rebuilt the 400 foot down platform wall and replaced and repaired the platform edge slabs. The North Dorset Trailway has been rerouted to run alongside the 395-foot (120 m) 'down' platform on a new embankment.There is a small museum on site. The Station Gardens are also a prominent feature for the 28,000 visitors that come annually. The NDR membership continues to grow and in 2020 exceeded 500.

Shillingstone is a village and civil parish in the Blackmore Vale area of north Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour between Sturminster Newton and Blandford Forum. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had 479 households and a population of 1,170.South of Shillingstone is a large area of woodland on Okeford and Shillingstone Hill which forms part of Blandford Forest.

Child Okeford (sometimes written Childe Okeford) is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England, 3 miles (5 kilometres) east of the small town of Sturminster Newton in the North Dorset administrative district. Child Okeford lies downstream from Sturminster, along the River Stour, which passes half a mile west of the village. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 1,114.

Shillingstone Quarry SSSI, Dorset (grid reference ST823098) is an 8.13 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset, England, notified in 1995.

Okeford Fitzpaine is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated in the Blackmore Vale three miles (five kilometres) south of the town of Sturminster Newton. It is sited on a thin strip of greensand under the scarp face of the Dorset Downs. In the 2011 census the civil parish—which includes the village of Belchalwell to the west and most of the hamlet of Fiddleford to the north—had 404 dwellings, 380 households and a population of 913.

Hammoon is a small village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, sited on a river terrace of alluvial silt by the River Stour, about two miles (three kilometres) east of the small town of Sturminster Newton. Its name is derived from the Old English ham, meaning dwelling, and the surname of the Norman lord of the manor ('de Moion' or 'Mohun'). In 2001 the parish had 19 households and a population of 49. In 2013 the estimated population of the parish was 40.

Hanford is a village and civil parish in the administrative area North Dorset, in the English county Dorset. The parish had 154 inhabitants in 2001.

Hanford School is a girls' boarding preparatory school located in Hanford, Child Okeford, Dorset, England, established in 1947 and located in a grade II* listed house built in 1604 by Sir Robert Seymer.

Hambledon Hill is a prehistoric hill fort in Dorset, England, in the Blackmore Vale five miles northwest of Blandford Forum. The hill itself is a chalk outcrop, on the southwestern corner of Cranborne Chase, separated from the Dorset Downs by the River Stour. It is owned by the National Trust.

Fiddleford is a hamlet in the county of Dorset in southern England. Fiddleford is situated between Sturminster Newton and Okeford Fitzpaine in the North Dorset administrative district. It was founded by an English nobleman named Fitela (Fitela's Ford), and the aforementioned ford is over the River Stour. The origin of the place-name is from Old English Fitela and ford meaning (homestead or farm) of a man called Fitela; the place-name appears as Fitelford in 1244.Fiddleford has approximately 25 houses, a manor house by the river (Fiddleford Manor), a public house (the Fiddleford Inn), and a large mushroom farm. Southwest of Fiddleford is Piddles Wood. Every second month residents of Fiddleford produce the 'Fiddleford Flyer', a local magazine.

The Ringmoor settlement is an Iron Age/Romano-British farming settlement in Dorset, England. It is between the villages of Okeford Fitzpaine and Turnworth, and lies on east-facing slopes of Bell Hill, on the Dorset Downs. The site is owned by the National Trust, and is a Scheduled Ancient Monument.

Turnworth is a small village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the Dorset Downs five miles (eight kilometres) west of Blandford Forum. It consists of a few cottages and farmhouses scattered around a church and manor house. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 30.In 1086 in the Domesday Book Turnworth was recorded as Torneworde; it had 19 households, was in Pimperne Hundred and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Alfred of 'Spain'.The church, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt in the 19th century with assistance from Thomas Hardy, who designed the capitals and possibly also the corbels. Hardy described Turnworth's position as being "stood in a hole, but the hole is full of beauty", and he used Turnworth House as the inspiration for Hintock House in his novel The Woodlanders.Nearby is Ringmoor, an ancient settlement on the top of the scarp face of the downs. The manor house in the area is Turnworth House, which was demolished in 1947.