Puddletown Hundred

Puddletown is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is situated by the River Piddle, from which it derives its name, about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the county town Dorchester. Its earlier name Piddletown fell out of favour, probably because of connotations of the word "piddle". The name Puddletown was officially sanctioned in the late 1950s. Puddletown's civil parish covers 2,908 hectares (7,185 acres) and extends to the River Frome to the south. In 2013, the estimated population of the civil parish was 1450. Puddletown's parish church has significant architectural interest, particularly its furnishings and monuments. It has a 12th-century font and well-preserved woodwork, including 17th-century box pews. Thomas Hardy took an interest in the church, and the village provided the inspiration for the fictional settlement of Weatherbury in his novel Far from the Madding Crowd; Weatherbury Farm, the home of principal character Bathsheba Everdene, is based on a manor house within the parish.

Athelhampton (also known as Admiston or Adminston) is a settlement and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated approximately 5 miles (8 km) east of Dorchester. It consists of a manor house and a former Church of England parish church. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of the civil parish is 30.

The Devils Brook is a Dorset watercourse of that rises near Higher Ansty (on Pleck Farm, in Pleck or Little Ansty), near to the source of the River Divelish. It flows past Dewlish (to which it lent its name) and joins the River Piddle at Athelhampton, which in turn flows into Poole Harbour. Its length is given variously from 6 miles (9.7 km) to 9.16 miles (14.74 km). The river has a catchment area of 3,364.34 hectares (8,313.5 acres).

Burleston is a village in Dorset, England. Burleston is listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, having at that time a small population of nine households and the Abbey of Milton St. Peter.

Tincleton is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated near the River Frome, approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of the county town Dorchester. The name of the village comes from the Old English "Tin la Ton", or "farm in a valley". In 2001 Tincleton had a population of 142. Dorset County Council's latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 150.The parish manor house, Clyffe House, was rebuilt in the Tudor style in 1842 by Benjamin Ferrey. In 1849 the parish church, which is dedicated to St John the Evangelist, was also built by Ferrey, in a 13th-century style. It replaced an earlier church to the south which was demolished when Ferrey's building was finished. Ferrey also designed a school, which was also built in the 1840s. This is now called The Old School House and contains Tincleton Gallery, which has information about the historical setting and the schoolchildren, with photos dating back to 1913.The artist Simon Gudgeon operates a sculpture park, "Sculpture by the Lakes", nearby.

Waterston Manor, Puddletown, Dorset is a manor house with 17th century origins, that was extensively rebuilt after a fire in 1863 and remodelled in 1911. The manor was the inspiration for Weatherbury Farm in Thomas Hardy's novel, Far from the Madding Crowd. It is a Grade I listed building.

St John's Church is a Church of England church in Tincleton, Dorset, England. It was designed by Benjamin Ferrey and built in 1849–50. The church has been a Grade II listed building since 1956.

Woodsford is a village and civil parish beside the River Frome, Dorset, England, about 4 miles (6.4 km) east of the county town Dorchester. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population is 80.

Thomas Hardy's Cottage, in Higher Bockhampton, Dorset, is a small cob and thatch building that is the birthplace of the English author Thomas Hardy. He was born there in 1840 and lived in the cottage until he was aged 34—during which time he wrote the novels Under the Greenwood Tree (1872) and Far from the Madding Crowd (1874)—when he left home to be married to Emma Gifford. The cottage was built by Hardy's great-grandfather in 1800. It is now a National Trust property, and a popular tourist attraction. The property has a typical cottage garden, and the interior displays furniture which, although not from the Hardy family, is original to the period. The property is situated on the northern boundary of Thorncombe Wood. It is only three miles from Max Gate, the house that Hardy designed and lived in with Emma Gifford from 1885 until his death in 1928. The cottage was given listed building status in 1956 and is listed Grade II the National Heritage List for England.In 2012 the go ahead was given to a project to build a new visitor centre near the cottage. The project also included new trails in Thorncombe Wood. The project, which secured £525,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund, was a joint partnership between Dorset County Council and the National Trust. The visitor centre opened in September 2014.

Moreton railway station serves the villages of Moreton and Crossways in Dorset, England. It is operated by South Western Railway and is served by their trains between London Waterloo and Weymouth. The station is 130 miles 24 chains (209.7 km) down the line from Waterloo.

Frome Billet is a former village in Dorset, just to the north of West Stafford.It is mentioned in the Domesday Book. There is slight archaeological evidence of a mediaeval settlement. It is now represented only by Stafford House.

West Stafford is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated in the Frome valley 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 291. The village contains the public house 'The Wise Man Inn', and St Andrew's Church. The river Winterbourne runs beside the village and 2 miles south lies the village of West Knighton. Thomas Hardy, when training as an architect, assisted in the design of Talbothays Lodge and the cottages opposite. The village is also accepted as the setting for part of Hardy's novel Tess or the D'Urbevilles, during the period when Tess works at the Talbothays Dairy. Reginald Bosworth Smith, schoolmaster, author and President of the Oxford Union, was born in West Stafford on 28 June 1839. His father, Reginald Southwell Smith, was the fourth son of Sir John Wyldbore Smith, Baronet, of Sydling St Nicholas, Dorset.