Clandon Barrow

Winterborne St Martin, commonly known as Martinstown, is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Dorchester, beside Maiden Castle. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 780. In the centre of the village is the parish church of St Martin, which dates from the 12th century and has a Norman font. Other amenities in the village include a public house, village hall and post office. Bronze Age barrows including Clandon Barrow surround the village, and Maiden Castle hillfort is nearby. The stream running through the village is a winterbourne though rarely dries out in the summer now. Winterborne St Martin is in the UK Weather Records for the Highest 24-hour total rainfall, which was recorded in the village on 18 July 1955. The total recorded was 279 mm (11 inches) in a 15-hour period. However this record was surpassed by Seathwaite in Cumbria in 2009.

Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hillfort 1.6 mi (2.6 km) southwest of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on the site consists of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and bank barrow. In about 1800 BC, during the Bronze Age, the site was used for growing crops before being abandoned. Maiden Castle itself was built in about 600 BC; the early phase was a simple and unremarkable site, similar to many other hill forts in Britain and covering 6.4 ha (16 acres). Around 450 BC it was greatly expanded and the enclosed area nearly tripled in size to 19 ha (47 acres), making it the largest hill fort in Britain and, by some definitions, the largest in Europe. At the same time, Maiden Castle's defences were made more complex with the addition of further ramparts and ditches. Around 100 BC, habitation at the hill fort went into decline and became concentrated at the eastern end of the site. It was occupied until at least the Roman period, by which time it was in the territory of the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe. After the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, Maiden Castle appears to have been abandoned, although the Romans may have had a military presence on the site. In the late 4th century AD, a temple and ancillary buildings were constructed. In the 6th century AD the hill top was entirely abandoned and was used only for agriculture during the medieval period. Maiden Castle has provided inspiration for composer John Ireland and authors Thomas Hardy and John Cowper Powys. The study of hill forts was popularised in the 19th century by archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers. In the 1930s, archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler undertook the first archaeological excavations at Maiden Castle, raising its profile among the public. Further excavations were carried out under Niall Sharples, which added to an understanding of the site and repaired damage caused in part by the large number of visitors. Today the site is protected as a Scheduled Monument and is maintained by English Heritage.

Poundbury is an experimental urban extension on the western outskirts of Dorchester in the county of Dorset, England. The development is led by the Duchy of Cornwall, and had the keen endorsement of King Charles III when he was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. Under the direction of its lead architect and planner Léon Krier, its design is based on traditional architecture and New Urbanist philosophy. Due for completion in 2025, it is expected to house a population of 6,000. There are 2,000 people in more than 180 businesses engaged in its development and construction. Poundbury has been praised for reviving the low-rise streetscape built to the human scale and for echoing traditional local design features, but it has not reduced car use, as originally intended. A 2022 report said: "Poundbury has been highlighted for its pedestrian and public transport links and not being as 'car-based' as other developments across the country."

Winterborne Monkton is a small village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies close to the A354 road between the county town Dorchester, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) to the north, and the coastal resort Weymouth, 5 miles (8.0 km) to the south. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population was 50.Winterborne Monkton village consists of a few houses and the church of St Simon & St Jude. The hill fort of Maiden Castle stands to the northwest.

Upwey is a suburb of Weymouth in south Dorset, England. The suburb is situated on the B3159 road in the Wey valley. The area was formerly a village until it was absorbed into the Weymouth built-up area. It is located four miles north of the town centre in the outer suburbs. During the Census 2001 the combined population of Upwey and neighbouring Broadwey was 4,349. The village has a 13th-century parish church, dedicated to Saint Laurence, and a manor house, Upwey Manor, which was owned by the Gould family. A disc barrow is located above the village on the Ridgeway at map reference SY 663866. The former United Reformed Church was built in 1880–81 and closed in 1992.The River Wey rises at the foot of the chalk ridge of the South Dorset Downs, which rise above Upwey to the north, and flows through the village. The source is known as the Upwey wishing well and was a tourist attraction as far back as the Victorian era. There is now a tea room at the site, complete with mature water gardens. In the 18th century a water mill was built on the river, rebuilt in 1802; it featured in Thomas Hardy's The Trumpet Major; he also wrote a poem "At the Railway Station, Upway", which most likely relates to Upwey station. Another famous name associated with Upwey is that of Lucille Ball the American actress, comedian who was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609–1675), left England on the ship Lyon's Whelp for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorset, England. Along with his two brothers, William helped to found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the US Revolutionary War and two of them became governors of the state of Rhode Island. Upwey features in Edward Chaney's Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer le Page as the place in which Chaney got to know Gerald Edwards and encouraged him to complete his novel. Edwards died in the since-demolished 654 Dorchester Road, Upwey, on 29 December 1976.Upwey lends its name to Upwey, Victoria, in Melbourne, near Belgrave, Victoria.

St Laurence's Church is a Church of England parish church in Upwey, Dorset, England. Much of the existing church dates to the late 15th century, with some earlier fabric and later additions of the 19th and 20th centuries. It is a Grade II* listed building.

The Thomas Hardye School is a secondary academy school in Dorchester, Dorset, England. It is also part of the DASP group.

The Ridgeway Hill Viking burial pit at Ridgeway Hill near Weymouth, Dorset, was a mass grave of 54 skeletons, including 51 skulls, of Scandinavian men executed some time between AD 970 and 1025. The men are believed to have been Vikings executed by local Anglo-Saxons. The dismembered skeletons were discovered by archaeologists in June 2009, and their identity and approximate ages were later confirmed by forensic analyses. Although the immediate circumstances of the deaths is unknown, the event occurred at a time of conflict between the native Anglo-Saxons and Viking invaders, and it has been suggested that the Vikings had been captured during an attempted raid into Anglo-Saxon territory. There is a possibility it could be linked to the St. Brice's Day massacre order of 1002. It is suggested that the 'Oxford Massacre' was not an isolated incident and could have been part of a kingdom-wide order to eradicate the Vikings.

St Mary's Church is a Church of England parish church in Bradford Peverell, Dorset, England. It was designed by Decimus Burton and built in 1849–50. The church is a Grade II* listed building.In the churchyard is Bradford Peverell's war memorial which contains the names of those who fell in both World Wars. It was completed and erected in January 1921 and is made of Dartmoor granite. It became a Grade II listed monument in 2015.

Bradford Peverell is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, 2 miles (3.2 km) north-west of the county town Dorchester. It is sited by the south bank of the River Frome, among low chalk hills on the dip slope of the Dorset Downs. The A37 road between Dorchester and Yeovil passes to the north of the village on the other side of the river's water meadows. In the 2011 census the population of the parish (which includes the hamlet of Muckleford to the north-west) was 370.Bradford Peverell is the birthplace of the historian John Hutchins, who was born here in 1698. His work on the history of the county, History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset, was published in 1774. In the 1st century a Roman aqueduct ran through where the village is now sited; it followed a line from Notton, a few miles upstream, to Dorchester, which then was the Roman town of Durnovaria. The remaining sections of the aqueduct are a scheduled monument.In 1850 the parish church was rebuilt in a 13th/14th-century style, though various fittings and monuments were retained from the earlier building. The new design was by Decimus Burton. The church is Grade II* listed.The Frome Valley Trail long-distance footpath runs through the village.

Monkton and Came Halt was a railway station between Weymouth and Dorchester in the county of Dorset in England. It was on what is now the Heart of Wessex Line and South West Main Line.

St George's Hundred, later often George Hundred, was a hundred (administrative division) in the county of Dorset, England, containing the following parishes: Bradford Peverell Broadmayne Charminster Frome Whitfield (absorbed by Dorchester Holy Trinity in 1610) Stinsford Stratton Winterborne St Martin