St Andrew's Church, Okeford Fitzpaine

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.

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.

Belchalwell Street is a village in Dorset, England, at the foot of Bell Hill, generally included in the village of Belchalwell.

St Aldhelm's Church is a Grade II* listed Anglican church in the village of Belchalwell, Dorset. It is in the ecclesiastical parish of Belchalwell, which is part of the Benefice of Hazelbury Bryan and the Hillside Parishes.The church is situated on higher ground above Belchalwell village. The oldest parts of the church are of the 12th century; much of the building is of the 15th century.

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

Belchalwell is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Okeford Fitzpaine in the Blackmore Vale, in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. It lies 2+1⁄2 miles (4 kilometres) south of Sturminster Newton and 6 miles (10 kilometres) northwest of Blandford Forum. Belchalwell Street is sited on Upper Greensand, with Lower Belchalwell on the boundary of Gault and Kimmeridge Clay, both beneath the north slopes of Bell Hill, part of the Dorset Downs. In 1881 the parish had a population of 169. On 25 March 1885 the parish was abolished and merged with Okeford Fitzpaine and Fifehead Neville.Belchalwell is Saxon in origin, with a medieval church, St Aldhelm's Church, much renovated. The name of the village describes a cold well on a hillside. The village has approximately 30 properties with fewer than a hundred residents, and is much reduced in size from former times, largely due to reductions in agricultural employment, which has always been the primary industry. One former resident was the TV personality Jack Hargreaves.

At 258 metres, Bell Hill is one of the highest hills in the county of Dorset, England and a high point on the Wessex Ridgeway.

Piddles Wood is a small area of woodland south of the River Stour, Dorset, and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The site was notified as an SSSI in 1985. The nearest settlement is the town of Sturminster Newton. The local planning authority is North Dorset District Council and Dorset County Council, but part of the site is managed by the Dorset Naturalists' Trust.Piddles Wood was first documented in the 13th century as Puttekwurth and Putteleswurthe. A "wurth" is an enclosure, and "Pyttel" was an Old English surname, so the name could mean "Pyttel's enclosure". However, another etymology is possible as "puttoc" is an Old English word for a kite, with "pyttel" or "piddle" also being used. It is also known as "Hanging Ground".The area of the site is 62.2 hectares (154 acres). Woodlands in North Dorset are scarce, and Piddles Wood is one of only a handful of such sites. Due to the heavy neutral and lighter acid soil types—caused by the underlying Kimmeridge Clay and Plateau Gravels—the site has a varying woodland flora, containing broadleaved, mixed and yew lowland. However, it is dominated by oak and coppiced hazel—for which reason the site was listed as an SSSI—and its flora and fauna is typical of oak woodland in Dorset. Piddles Wood has an abundance of ground flora, including woodruff (Galium odoratum), sanicle (Sanicula europaea), early purple orchid (Orchis mascula), wood spurge (Euphorbia amygdaloides) and orpine (Sedum telephium). The site is also very rich for insect fauna, and among the butterflies found on the site are the white admiral (Limenitis camilla), wood white (Leptidea sinapis) and silver-washed fritillary (Argynnis paphia); it was previously home to the pearl-bordered fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne), although this is now believed to be extinct in Dorset. Adjacent to the edge of the site is an extensive poultry farm, containing approximately 100,000 birds.

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.

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 railway station was a station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway (S&DJR), serving the village of Shillingstone in the English county of Dorset. Shillingstone is the last surviving example of a station built by the Dorset Central Railway (one of the forerunners of the S&DJR).The station closed in 1966, when services were withdrawn from the S&DJR route. Since 2001, enthusiasts have been working to re-open the station as a heritage railway attraction. The main building has now been renovated, and opened to the public as a museum, shop and refreshment room in 2008.