Parish Details
The parish is roughly rectangular and approximately 1800 acres in size. It lies across the valley of the South Winterborne river and is about 4 miles west of the county town of Dorchester.
It lies on chalk with extensive areas of later gravel deposits. Many older buildings are built using the local flint together with stone brought from the nearby ridgeway.
The southern boundary lies on the south Dorset ridgeway (locally known as the seawall !) at about 776ft (236m) above sea level. The ground slopes down the river at approximately 300ft (91m) broken by deep dry cut valleys. On the north side of the river the ground rises to the north boundary on the old Roman Road at a height of 400ft (122m)
Here is a link to a West Dorset District Council conservation appraisal made in 2012 :