Beaminster Rural District

Beaminster ( BEM-in-stər) is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated in the Dorset Council administrative area approximately 15 miles (24 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester. It is sited in a bowl-shaped valley near the source of the small River Brit. The 2013 mid-year estimate of the population of Beaminster parish is 3,100. Beaminster is the product of the Anglo-Saxon age, dating back to around the 7th century, when it was known as Bebingmynster, meaning the church of Bebbe although the date of origin of the town is unknown. The place name and historic evidence indicates that it was probably the site of a primary Saxon minster church and was at the centre of a large episcopal estate. These are likely to have acted as a focus for a settlement, but evidence of its formation is lacking.In its history Beaminster has been a centre of manufacture of linen and woollens, the raw materials for which were produced in the surrounding countryside. The town experienced three serious fires in the 17th and 18th centuries; the first of these, during the English Civil War, almost destroyed the fabric of the town. Beaminster parish church is notable for its architecture, particularly its tower.

Beaminster Grammar School, known in its final years as Beaminster and Netherbury Grammar School, was a small grammar school in the town of Beaminster, in Dorset, England, founded about 1868 and closed in 1962.

Beaminster Forum & Redhone Hundred was a hundred in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Beaminster Bradpole Chedington Chardstock (transferred to Devon 1896) Corscombe Mapperton Mosterton Netherbury North Poorton South Perrott Stoke Abbott Toller Porcorum (part) Wambrook (transferred to Somerset 1895)

Holy Trinity Church is a former Church of England church in Beaminster, Dorset, England. The church was built in 1849–51 and made redundant in 1978. It is now a private residence known as Trefoil House.

Beaminster School is a co-educational secondary school and sixth form located in Beaminster in the English county of Dorset.It is a voluntary controlled Christian school administered by the Church of England Diocese of Salisbury and Dorset County Council. The school also has a specialism in technology, and was called Beaminster Technology College for a while. Beaminster School offers GCSEs, BTECs and NVQs courses as programmes of study for pupils, with some courses offered in conjunction with Kingston Maurward College. Beaminster Schools sixth form provision is offered in conjunction with the Sir John Colfox Academy in Bridport, and students in the sixth form have the option to study from a range of A Levels and further BTECs. Beaminster School received a 'Good' grade in its latest Ofsted report of November 2013.

Parnham House is a sixteenth-century Grade I listed house located about 1 mile (1.6 km) from Beaminster in Dorset, England. Historic England describes the house as "exceptionally important". In April 2017 the house was badly damaged by fire.

Netherbury is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. It lies within the Dorset Council administrative area, by the small River Brit, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) south of Beaminster and 4 miles (6.4 km) north of Bridport. The A3066 road connecting those towns lies 0.5 miles to the east.

Beaminster Tunnel or Horn Hill Tunnel is a 345-foot-long (105 m) road tunnel on the A3066 road between Beaminster and Mosterton in Dorset, England. The tunnel was constructed between 1830 and 1832; it was one of the first road tunnels built in Britain, and is the only pre-railway road tunnel in the country still in use. It was built to take a toll road underneath a steep hill to the north of Beaminster and make it easier for horse-drawn traffic to travel from the coast to the hinterland of Dorset. It underwent significant repairs in 1968 and again in 2009, but in 2012 a torrential rainstorm caused a landslide that resulted in the partial collapse of the tunnel's north entrance and the deaths of two people.

Melplash is a village in western Dorset, England. It is situated on the A3066 road 3 miles (4.8 km) north of Bridport and 2 miles (3.2 km) south of Beaminster. The construction of Christ Church between 1845 and 1846 was funded by James Bandinel (who was at one time secretary to William Wilberforce) in memory of his father, who had been vicar of Melplash and the neighbouring village of Netherbury. The church was designed by Benjamin Ferrey and built in Neo-Norman style. There was once a flax industry in the village. An annual agricultural show held in August by the name of The Melplash Agricultural Show started in the village in the 19th century but is now held on fields owned by the Melplash Agricultural Show Society at nearby West Bay. In 1938, the Melplash Players theatre group "had the advantage of coaching and casting" from Gertrude Bugler, previously of The Hardy Players.

At 244 metres, Beaminster Down is one of the highest hills in West Dorset, England.

Oxbridge is a hamlet in the English county of Dorset. It lies on the River Brit between Bridport and Beaminster.

Christ Church is a Church of England church in Melplash, Dorset, England. It was built in 1845–46 to the designs of Benjamin Ferrey and has been a Grade II* listed building since 1984. Today the church is part of the Beaminster Area Team Ministry.