Dorchester
Shown within Dorset (above) and the UK. Image File history File links DorsetDorchester. ...
OS Grid Reference:	SY690906
Lat/Lon:	50°42′N 2°26′W
Population:	16,171 (2001 Census)
Dwellings:	7,386 (2001 Census)
Formal status:	County town
Administration
County:	Dorset
Region:	South West
Nation:	England
Post Office and Telephone
Post town:	Dorchester
Postcode:	DT1
Dialling Code:	01305

Dorchester

Dorchester is a market town in southern central Dorset, England, situated on the River Frome and A35 road 20 miles west of Poole and eight miles north of Weymouth. In 2001 the town had a population of 16,171 and a catchment population of approximately 40,000. There were 7,386 dwellings in 2001 and 205 shops in 1991. Dorchester has been the county town of Dorset since 1305. Download high resolution version (1802x2589, 189 KB) File links The following pages link to this file: Dorchester Categories: GFDL images | GBdot ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... A dwelling is a structure in which humans or other animals live. ... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ... Dorset (pronounced Dorsit, sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the southwest of England, on the English Channel coast. ... The BOGUS regions, also known as BOGUS FASCIST SCOTTISH Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity in England. ... South West England is one of the regions of England. ... Home Nations is a term used to refer to the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland - England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (collectively, but also as separate entities, distinct from the United Kingdom as a whole), or the nations of the British Isles (traditionally... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... Dorchester, Dorset, main street. ... Dorchester, Dorset, main street. ... The market town is a medieval phenomenon. ... Dorset (pronounced Dorsit, sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire) is a county in the southwest of England, on the English Channel coast. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location (dark green) within the British Isles Languages None official English de facto Capital None official London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001... The River Frome is a river in Dorset in the south of England. ... The A35 is a trunk road in England. ... A mile is a unit of distance (or, in physics terminology, length) currently defined as 5,280 feet, 1,760 yards, or 63,360 inches. ... Poole is a coastal town, port and tourist destination in the traditional county of Dorset in southern England. ... Weymouth Promenade in 1993 Weymouth is a coastal town in Dorset, England. ... 2001: A Space Odyssey. ... For the term related to television programmes, see watershed (television). ... A county town is the location of the administrative headquarters of a county. ... Events August 5 - English troops capture William Wallace Wenceslas III becomes king of Bohemia Archbishop of Bordeaux, Bertrand de Got, was elected as Pope Clement V. Philip IV of France accused the Knights Templar of heresy. ...

A market is held in the town on Wednesdays and Sundays.

The town has two railway stations, which connect the town to London, Southampton via the South Western Main Line and to Westbury, Bath and Bristol via the Heart of Wessex Line. Dorchester South railway station on the South Western Main Line, once an idiosyncratic structure where trains running in one direction would reverse and then rejoin the through line, was rebuilt in 1989, but Dorchester West railway station on the Heart of Wessex Line is still the original Great Western Railway structure designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel. This article is about the British city. ... Southampton is a city and major port situated on the south coast of England. ... The South Western Main Line is the railway line from London Waterloo to Weymouth on the Dorset coast. ... Westbury is a town and civil parish in the west of the English county of Wiltshire. ... For other uses, see Bath (disambiguation). ... Bristol (IPA: brĭstəl) is a city, unitary authority and ceremonial county in South West England. ... Heart of Wessex Line branding on a Class 31 locomotive The Heart of Wessex Line is a United Kingdom railway line that runs from Bristol to Westbury to Weymouth. ... Dorchester South railway station in July 2005 Dorchester South railway station on 11th February 2006 Dorchester South railway station on 11th February 2006 Dorchester South railway station on 11th February 2006 Dorchester South railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Dorchester in Dorset. ... Dorchester West railway station is one of two railway stations serving the town of Dorchester in Dorset. ...

In the late 1980s Dorchester was bypassed. The 1980s decade refers to the years from 1980 to 1989, inclusive. ...

Charles, Prince of Wales has recently built the self-contained village of Poundbury on the western fringes of the town. The Prince of Wales The Prince Charles, Prince of Wales (Charles Philip Arthur George Mountbatten-Windsor) (born 14 November 1948), is the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. ... View of Poundbury, Dorset. ...

On December 15, 2004, Dorchester was granted Fairtrade Town status. Fairtrade Town is a status awarded by the Fairtrade Foundation in the United Kingdom and Channel Islands, describing an area which is committed to the promotion of Fairtrade-labelled goods. ...

Dorchester is best known however, for it's famous football side All DAY. Made up of the Knights of Dorchester, in 2004 they swept all before them to win the Purbeck league. The side also contains it's own Posh and Becks story in Rob Butcher and Anna Purchase. You can locate many of the All Day squad in the above mentioned Poundbury.

History

Two miles southwest of the town centre, sat on a steep chalk hill, is the large Iron Age hill fort Maiden Castle, which was one of the most powerful settlements in pre-Roman Britain. The fort was important to the Romans and the Saxons, whose invasions of Dorset weren't seen as complete until they had captured the hill. The Needles, part of the extensive Southern England Chalk Formation For other uses, see Chalk (disambiguation). ... Iron Age Axe found on Gotland This article is about the archaeological period known as the Iron Age, for the mythological Iron Age see Iron Age (mythology). ... The term hill fort is commonly used by archaeologists to describe fortified enclosures located to exploit a rise in elevation for defensive advantage. ... Maiden Castle from the north Maiden Castle is a hill fort, mostly dating from the Iron Age, situated 2 miles south of Dorchester, in Dorset, England. ... Principal sites in Roman Britain Roman Britain refers to those parts of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire between 43 and 410. ... The Saxons or Saxon people are part of the German people with its main areas of settlements in the German Federal States of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and the Free State of Saxony. ...

The town, originally named Durnovaria, was founded by the Romans in AD 70. The town still has some Roman features, including part of the town walls and the foundations of a Roman town house, which are freely accessible near County Hall. There are many Roman finds in the County Museum. The Romans built an aqueduct to supply the town with water but only a few traces remain at nearby Whitfield Farm. Near the town centre is Maumbury Rings, an ancient British earthwork converted by the Romans for use as an Amphitheatre, and to the north west is Poundbury Hill, another pre-Roman fortification. For other senses of this name, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Dionysius Exiguus invented Anno Domini years to date Easter. ... Leinster House, 18th century Dublin townhouse of the Duke of Leinster. ... Pont du Gard, France, a Roman era aqueduct circa 19 BC, it is one of Frances top tourist attractions at over 1. ... Maumbury Rings is a Neolithic henge in the south of Dorchester town in Dorset, England. ... The name amphitheatre (alternatively amphitheater) is given to a public building of the Classical period (being particularly associated with ancient Rome) which was used for spectator sports, games and displays. ...

In the 17th century the town was at the centre of the Puritan emigration to America, and local Rector, John White, organised the settlement of Dorchester, Massachusetts. The town was heavily defended against the Royalists in the English Civil War. The Puritans were members of a group of English Protestants seeking further reforms or even separation from the established church during the Reformation. ... A memorial statue in Hanko, Finland, commemorating the thousands of emigrants who left the country to start a new life in the United States Emigration is the act and the phenomenon of leaving ones native country to settle abroad. ... World map showing North America A satellite composite image of North America. ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings. ... John White may refer to: John White (d. ... Dorchester is the largest neighborhood within the City of Boston located within Suffolk County, Massachusetts. ... Prince Rupert of the Rhine Cavaliers was the name used by Parliamentarians for the Royalist supporters of King Charles I during the English Civil War (1642–1651). ... The term English Civil War (or Wars) refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651. ...

In 1685 the Duke of Monmouth failed in his invasion attempt, and almost 300 of his men were condemned to death or transportation in Judge Jeffreys' "Bloody Assizes", held in the Oak Room of the Antelope Hotel, Dorchester. Events February 6 - James Stuart, Duke of York becomes King James II of England and Ireland and King James VII of Scotland. ... James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth James Crofts, later Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth, 1st Duke of Buccleuch (April 9, 1649–July 15, 1685) recognised by some as James II of England and James VII of Scotland, was born in Rotterdam in the Netherlands, the son of Charles II and... George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys may also refer to George Darell Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (1878-1960) George Jeffreys, 1st Baron Jeffreys (1648 – April 18, 1689), better known as Hanging Judge Jeffreys, became notorious during the reign of King James II, rising to the position of Lord Chancellor (and serving... The Bloody Assizes were the series of trials in the aftermath of the Battle of Sedgemoor, which ended the Monmouth Rebellion in England. ...

In 1613 and 1725 two great fires destroyed large parts of the town, but some of the mediaeval buildings, including Judge Jeffreys' lodgings, and the Tudor almshouse can still be found in the town centre, amongst the replacement Georgian buildings, many of which are built in Portland limestone. Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... Events February 8 - Catherine I became empress of Russia February 20 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... The Tudor style, a term applied to the Perpendicular style, was originally that of the English architecture and decorative arts produced under the Tudor dynasty that ruled England from 1485 to 1603, characterized as an amalgam of Late Gothic style formalized by more concern for regularity and symmetry, with round... The Almshouse at Sherborne, Dorset The Almshouse at Woburn, Bedfordshire West Hackney Almshouses in Stoke Newington, London. ... A Georgian house in Salisbury Georgian architecture at Royal Crescent, Bath, seen from a hot air balloon. ... Portland Stone is limestone from the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. ...

Local author and poet Thomas Hardy based the fictional town of Casterbridge on Dorchester. Hardy's childhood home can be found to the east of the town, and his house in town, Max Gate, is open to the public. William Barnes, the local dialect poet, was Rector of Winterborne Came, a small hamlet near Dorchester, for many years, and ran a school in the town. Both men have statues in the town centre. Both Thomas Hardy and poet Cecil Day Lewis are buried in Stinsford, one mile from Dorchester. A statue of Hardy stands beside the main crossroads in the town. Thomas Hardy, OM (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was a novelist, short story writer, and poet of the naturalist movement, who delineated characters struggling against their passions and circumstances. ... This list is of fictional cities: villages, towns, and cities that do not exist in the world we know. ... For the Nottinghamshire and England cricketer, see Billy Barnes Statue of William Barnes in Dorchester, Dorset, England William Barnes (1801 - 1886) was an English writer, poet, minister, and philologist. ... Cecil Day-Lewis (or Day Lewis) (27th April 1904-22nd May 1972) was a British poet. ... Stinsford is a village in south west Dorset, England, one mile east of Dorchester. ...

On the hills to the south east of the town stands Hardy's Monument, a memorial to the other local Thomas Hardy, Sir Thomas Masterman Hardy, who served with Horatio Nelson, which looks out over Dorchester, Weymouth, the Isle of Portland and Chesil Beach. Hardys Monument Hardys Monument is a 72 foot high monument erected in memorial of Captain Thomas Hardy, a commander at the Battle of Trafalgar. ... This article is about the naval officer. ... Lord Nelson Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson (September 29, 1758 – October 21, 1805) was a British admiral who won fame as a leading naval commander. ... Weymouth Promenade in 1993 Weymouth is a coastal town in Dorset, England. ... Chesil Beach from the hill above Fortuneswell, Portland Harbour is on the right. ... Chesil Beach from Fortuneswell Chesil Beach (sometimes called Chesil Bank) is a 18 mile (29km) long, 200 metre wide and 18 metre high shingle tombolo in Dorset, southern England. ...

Athelhampton is a fine 15th-century manor house five miles east of Dorchester. Athelhampton is one of the finest 15th-century manor houses in England, and is set in superb gardens. ... A manor house is a country house, which has historically formed the centre of a manor (see Manorialism). ...

" a man might as well spend time in Dorchester as in any town in England". -- Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe Daniel Defoe (1660 [?] â€“ April 1731) was an English writer, journalist and spy, who gained enduring fame for his novel Robinson Crusoe. ...

External links

• Dorset County Council
• Census data
• Dorchester Town Website (info, history, photos)
• Dorchester Town Disscusion Website (info, history, photos)
• Photographs of Dorchester
• Photographs of Dorchester

References

• Pitt-Rivers, Michael, 1969. Dorset. London: Faber & Faber.