Waterston Manor

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.

Puddletown Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Athelhampton Burleston Milborne St Andrew (part) Puddletown Tincleton Tolpuddle

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.

Piddlehinton is a village and civil parish in west Dorset, England, situated in the Piddle valley 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 403. Piddlehinton formerly constituted a liberty containing only the parish itself. The local schools are Piddle Valley First School, St Mary's Middle School in Puddletown, The Thomas Hardye School and Dorset Studio School in Dorchester, members of the DASP group. The village has one public house called The Thimble, the village has recently made a shop in the village not far from the Thimble inn public house The nearest shop is in Piddletrenthide. St Mary's Piddlehinton is the local church. A microbrewery—the Dorset Piddle Brewery—was established in Piddlehinton in 2008 and produces 300 gallons of ale every week. During the build-up to D-Day the US Army operated from an airstrip in Piddlehinton using Piper L-4 Grasshoppers of the 62nd Armed Field Artillery Battalion. The exact location of the airstrip in Piddlehinton is unknown. Piddlehinton is at the southern end of the Piddle Valley electoral ward, which extends north up the valley to Buckland Newton and had a population of 1,988 in the 2011 census.Piddlehinton run two adult football teams, which both play in the Dorset Football League. The First XI are in division 2, whilst the reserves are in division 3. The reserves are the current holders of Dorset Division 4, after winning the league in the 2017/2018 season.

Kingston Maurward College is a college for land-based studies situated two miles east of Dorchester, Dorset, England. The college is a member of the Landex group [1], an association of institutions that provide courses in agriculture and horticulture. Kingston Maurward House on the college grounds is used for administration purposes and private functions.

Kingston Maurward House is a large Grade I listed Georgian English country house set in a 750-acre (3 square km) estate in Dorset situated in the Frome valley two miles east of Dorchester.

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.

Doles Ash is a farm in Dorset, England, a few kilometers east of Piddletrenthide and south of Plush. The farm features in Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'urbervilles as Flintcomb-Ash, the "starve-acre" farm where Tess goes to dig swedes with Marion.

Stinsford is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, about 1 mile (1.6 km) east of Dorchester. The parish includes the settlements of Higher and Lower Bockhampton. The name Stinsford may derive from stynt, Old English for a limited area of pasture. In the 2011 United Kingdom census, the parish had a population of 334.The parish has five large country houses - Birkin House, Frome House, Kingston Maurward House, the Elizabethan era Old Manor House and Stinsford House. Much of the land in the parish is occupied by Kingston Maurward College, a further education college.

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.

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.

Piddletrenthide Liberty was a liberty in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Gorewood (from 1858) Minterne Magna (part) Piddletrenthide