Dorset

Dorset (pronounced ) (sometimes in the past called Dorsetshire), is a in   on the  coast. The is, situated in the south of the county at 50.71667°N, -2.43333°W. Between its extreme points Dorset measures 80 km from east to west and 64 km north to south, and has an area of 2652 sqkm. Dorset borders to the west,  to the north-west,  to the north-east, and  to the east. Around half of Dorset's population lives in the. The rest of the county is largely rural with a relatively low population density. Dorset's motto is 'Who's Afear'd'.

Dorset is famous for its coastline, the, which features landforms such as , the , and , as well as the holiday resorts of , , , , and. Dorset is the setting of the novels of, who was born near Dorchester. The county has a long history of human settlement and some notable archaeology, including the s of and.

History
The earliest recorded use of the name was in AD 940 as Dorseteschire, meaning the dwellers (saete) of 'Dornuuarana' (Dorchester), the place of fisticuffs (: 'Dwrn', 'fist'; and 'gwarae', 'play').

The first known settlement of Dorset was by hunters, from around 8000. Their populations were small and concentrated along the coast in the, and  and along the. These populations used tools and fire to clear these areas of some of the native. Dorset's high chalk hills have provided a location for defensive settlements for millennia, there are and  burial mounds on almost every chalk hill in the county, and a number of  s, the most famous being. The chalk downs would have been deforested in these times, making way for farmland.

Dorset has many notable artefacts, particularly around the Roman town, where Maiden Castle was captured from the ic  by  in 54 AD, early in the Roman occupation. Roman roads radiated from Dorchester, following the tops of the chalk ridges to the many small Roman villages around the county. In the Roman era, settlements moved from the hill tops to the valleys, and the hilltops had been abandoned by the fourth century. A large defensive ditch,, delayed the conquest of Dorset from the north east for up to two hundred years. The documents many Saxon settlements corresponding to modern towns and villages, mostly in the valleys. There have been few changes to the parishes since the Domesday Book. Over the next few centuries the settlers established the pattern of farmland which prevailed into the nineteenth century, as well as many, which were important landowners and centres of power.

In the twelfth century, Dorset was fortified with the construction of the defensive castles at , , and , and the strengthening of the  such as at. In the seventeenth century, Dorset had a number of strongholds, such as  and , which were ruined by  forces in the war. In the intervening years, the county was used by the and  for hunting and the county still has a number of s. Throughout the late  times, the remaining hilltop settlements shrank further and disappeared. From the to  periods, farms specialised and the monastic estates were broken up, leading to an increase in population and settlement size. During the, Dorset remained largely rural and still retains its agricultural economy. The lived in Dorset, and the farming economy of Dorset was central in the formation of the  movement.

Physical geography
Most of Dorset's landscape falls into two categories, determined by the underlying. There are a number of large ridges of, much of which have been cleared of the native  and are mostly  and some  agriculture. These limestone areas include a band of which crosses the county from south-west to north-east incorporating, the  and. Between the areas of downland are large, wide s (primarily  with some  and ) with wide s. These vales are primarily used for  agriculture, dotted with small villages, farms and s. They include the   and.

South-east Dorset, around Poole and Bournemouth, lies on very non-resistant clays (mainly  and ), s and s. These thin soils support a  habitat which supports all seven native British  species. The  runs through this weak rock, and its many  have carved out a wide estuary. At the mouth of the estuary sand have been deposited turning the estuary into, one of several worldwide which claim to be the second largest natural  in the world (after , though Sydney's claim is disputed). The harbour is very shallow in places and contains a number of islands, notably, famous for its sanctuary and as the birthplace of the  movement. The harbour, and the chalk and limestone hills of the s to the south, lie atop Britain's largest onshore. The field, operated by from, produces a high-quality oil and boasts the world's oldest continuously pumping well (, since the early 1960s) and longest horizontal drill (8 km), ending underneath Bournemouth ). The  produced by  from the local clays is famous for its quality.

Most of was designated a  in 2001 because of its geological. The coast documents the entire era from  to, and has yielded many important s, including the first complete  and fossilised Jurassic trees. The coast also features examples of most notable coastal landforms, including a textbook example of  and. Jutting out into the is a limestone island, the, connected to the mainland by , a. One of the best ways to explore the Jurassic Coast is to follow the National Trail that runs along it.

In the west of the county the chalk and clay of south-east England begins to give way to the and  of neighbouring. Until recently at 277 m, was thought to be the highest hill in Dorset, but recent surveys have shown nearby  to be higher, at 279 m. Lewesdon is also a.

The county has the highest proportion of s in England&mdash; including an (44% of the whole county), a  (114 km), 's' (92 km) and '' (19945 ha).

The climate of Dorset has warm summers and mild winters, being the third most southern county in the UK, but not westerly enough to be afflicted by the storms that  and  experience. Dorset shares the greater winter warmth of the south-west (average 4.5 to 8.7 °C), while still maintaining higher summer temperatures than that of Devon and Cornwall (average highs of 19.1 to 22.2 °C). The average annual of the county is 9.8 to 12 °C, apart from the. In coastal areas around Dorset it is rare to have frosts, and it almost never snows.

The south coast counties of Dorset,, , and  enjoy more sunshine than anywhere else in the , receiving 1541–1885 hours. Average annual rainfall varies across the county&mdash;southern and eastern coastal areas receive as little as 741 per year, while the Dorset Downs receive between 1061 and 1290 mm per year; less than Devon and Cornwall to the west but more than counties to the east.

Demographics


Dorset has a of 407,217, plus 165,370 in  and 137,562 in  (total 710,149&mdash;mid-year estimates for 2006). The following statistics exclude Poole and Bournemouth, which are no longer part of the administrative county.

91.3% of Dorset's population were born in and 95.2% were born in the. 98.8% are indigenous, an extreme example of the disproportionately small population in rural areas. 78% of the population are and 13.7% are not religious.

Dorset has the second highest proportion of elderly people of any county in Britain, second only to, 25.9% of the population are over 65 and 13.9% of the 16–74 age range are retired. The county has the lowest of the 34, at 9.6 births per 1000. It has the third highest mortality rate, behind East Sussex and. In 1996 deaths exceeded births by 1,056, giving a natural population decline of 2.7 per 1000, however, in 1997 there were 7,200 migrants moving to Dorset and the, giving Dorset the second highest net population growth, behind , at 17.3%.

Politics
Dorset County Council is based at County Hall in Dorchester. Following the local council elections in May 2005, 24, 16 , four and one independent councillor sit on the county council. All Labour councillors were elected in the built up area of ; rural areas elected Conservatives and Liberal Democrat councillors.

This pattern is repeated at the national level. is represented in Parliament by Labour MP, though this constituency was Labour's smallest majority and was one of the most fiercely contested seats in the General Election of 2005. In the event, the seat went against the national trend and Mr Knight's majority increased slightly on a swing from the Conservatives. In all other Dorset constituencies, the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are the most successful parties: is represented by the Liberal Democrats, and,  and  by the Conservatives.

The built up area of Poole and Bournemouth is divided into three constituencies,, and , all of which are currently represented by Conservative MPs.

Economy and industry


In 2003 the (GVA) for the county was 4,673 million, with an additional £4,705 million for Poole and Bournemouth. 4% of GVA was produced by, 26% from and 70% from. The average GVA for the 12 statistics regions of South West England was £6,257 million. Using 2004 population estimates, the GVA per person was £6,671 for Dorset, £15,683 for Poole and Bournemouth, £15,235 for the South West and £16,100 for the UK.

The principal industry in Dorset was once agriculture. It has not, however, been the largest employer for many decades as has substantially reduced the number of workers required. Agriculture has become less profitable and the industry has declined further. Between 1995 and 2003 GVA for primary industry (largely agriculture with some fishing and quarrying) declined from £229 to 188 million&mdash;7.1% to 4.0% of the county's GVA. In 2002, 1903 sqkm of the county was in agricultural use, down from 1986 sqkm in 1989, although the figure has fluctuated somewhat. , the principal animal stock in the county, fell from 240,413 to 178,328 in the same period, the herds falling from 102,589 to 73,476. and farming has declined similarly.

West Dorset General Hospitals employs around 2,500 multi-disciplinary staff; the majority at the 500-bed  which provides a turnover of £76 million. This new hospital was a larger replacement for the now closed.

One of Dorset's famous products is the, a hard biscuit. It can be used as an accompaniment to, especially the local Dorset cheese,.

has grown as an industry in Dorset since the early 19th century. 4.2 million British tourists and 260,000 foreign tourists visited the county in 2002, spending a combined total of 768 million. Foreign tourism declined in 1999 (310,000, down from 410,000 in 1998), and again in 2002 (down from 320,000), the latter decline being blamed on the effects of the global economy and security.

Dorset has little manufacturing industry, at 14.6% of employment (compared to 18.8% for the UK), and is ranked 30th out the 34 non-metropolitan English counties. The for the county is 84% that of the national average.

Dorset will host the only Olympic event at the held outside London –  – at the  in. have been credited by the as the best in Northern.

Culture
As a largely rural county, Dorset has fewer major cultural institutions than larger or more densely populated areas. Major venues for concerts and theatre include Poole Borough Council's Lighthouse arts centre, Bournemouth's and Pavilion Theatre, Wimborne's, and the  theatre in Weymouth. Dorset's most famous cultural institution is perhaps the, founded in 1893 and now one of the country's most celebrated orchestras. Dorset is not especially famous in sport, though ,  , and minor  club  play in the county. The county is notable for its watersports, however, which take advantage of the sheltered waters of and  bays, and  and  Harbours.

Dorset is famed in for being the native county of  and , and many of the places he describes in his novels in the fictional  are in Dorset. The owns, in woodland east of Dorchester, and , his former house in Dorchester. Several other writers have called Dorset home, including (author of '), who lived in  for a time;  ('), who boarded at, poet ; ; , author of espionage novels;  (');  novelist ;  ('), lived in  before he died in late 2005; , who set a number of his most famous novels in Dorset and Somerset; and   wrote  while living in.

Dorset is also the birthplace of Sir, musicians  and ,  ,   and s  and. Sir lived in Dorset for some of his life, while  and   lived in Stalbridge Manor for a time. Dorset is a popular home for celebrities. Those who have moved to or own second homes in Dorset include and, actor , singer-songwriter , ,  singer  and footballer. Many of 's television programmes are filmed at his home, just outside of. , inventor of the lived in  near. Classical composer lived and worked near Blandford in Dorset.

Settlements and communications


Dorset is largely rural with many small villages, few large towns, and no cities. The largest is the  which consists of the  of, the historic port of  and the town of  plus many villages. Bournemouth was created in the when sea bathing became popular. As an example of how affluent the area has become, in Poole was worthless land unwanted by farmers in the nineteenth century, but is said to be amongst the highest land values by area in the world. Bournemouth and Christchurch were added to the county from in the county boundary changes of 1974.

The other two major settlements in the county are, (the county town), and , one of the first , frequented by , and still very popular today.

,, , and  are historical s which serve the farms and villages of the Blackmore Vale (Hardy's Vale of the Little Dairies). Blandford is home to the Badger brewery of. ,, and  are also market towns. Lyme Regis and are small coastal towns popular with tourists.

Still in construction on the western edge of Dorchester is the experimental of, commissioned and co-designed by. The suburb is designed to integrate residential and retail buildings and counter the growth of dormitory towns and car-oriented development.

Dorset is connected to by two main  lines. The runs through the north of the county at Gillingham and Sherborne. The runs through the south at Bournemouth, Poole, Dorchester and the terminus at Weymouth. Additionally, the runs from Weymouth to. Dorset is one of only four non metropolitan counties in England not to have a single motorway. The, and  s run through the county. The only passenger in the county is, and there are two passenger s, at Poole and Weymouth.