East Dorset was a

local government district The districts of England (also known as local authority districts or local government districts to distinguish from unofficial city districts) are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. As the st ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. Its council met in

Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South West England, and the name of the Church of England church in that town. It lies at the confluence of the River Stour and the River Allen, north of P ...

between 2016 and 2019. The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban District with Wimborne and Cranborne Rural District, plus the parish of St Leonards and St Ives transferred from the

Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District Ringwood and Fordingbridge was a rural district in Hampshire from 1932 to 1974. It was formed by the merger of part of the disbanded Christchurch Rural District along with Ringwood Rural District and Fordingbridge Rural District. Its main u ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English cities on its south coast, Southampton and Portsmouth, Hampshire ...

. The district was renamed East Dorset with effect from 1 January 1988. The district was abolished in 2019 at the same time that

Dorset County Council Dorset County Council (DCC) was the county council for the county of Dorset in England. It provided the upper tier of local government, below which were district councils, and town and parish councils. The county council had 46 elected council ...

and the other districts in the county were abolished, with the area becoming part of the

unitary authority on 1 April 2019. The popularity of the area, being close to the New Forest, Bournemouth and the Dorset coast saw a rapid expansion in housing from the 1970s with the

Verwood Verwood is a town and civil parish in eastern Dorset, England. The town lies north of Bournemouth and north east of Poole as the crow flies. The civil parish comprises the town of Verwood together with the extended village of Three Legged ...

Ferndown Ferndown is a town and civil parish in Dorset in southern England, immediately to the north of Bournemouth and Poole. The parish, which until 1972 was called ''Hampreston'', includes the communities of Hampreston, Longham, Stapehill and Tri ...

West Moors West Moors is a village in Dorset, England, on the northern fringe of the Poole-Bournemouth conurbation, just outside the larger settlements of Ferndown and Verwood. The parish of West Moors had an estimated population of 7,400 in 2004, inc ...

and

Corfe Mullen Corfe Mullen is a village in Dorset, England, on the north-western urban fringe of the South East Dorset conurbation. The village had a population of 10,133 at the 2011 Census. It is served by six churches, four pubs, five schools, a library, ...

populations more than quadrupling. Rural landscape prevailed in the north and west of the area.

retained its identity as a historic market town. The most notable geography is lowland

heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a cooler a ...

, managed by East Dorset Countryside Management Services in partnership with the

Forestry Commission The Forestry Commission is a non-ministerial government department responsible for the management of publicly owned forests and the regulation of both public and private forestry in England. The Forestry Commission was previously also resp ...

. The expansion of housing has led to a massive decrease in the area of this unusual and unique habitat, which once covered 500 km² but now covers only 15% of that. Statistics released by the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for ...

show that

life expectancy Life expectancy is a statistical measure of the average time an organism is expected to live, based on the year of its birth, current age, and other demographic factors like sex. The most commonly used measure is life expectancy at birth ...

at birth for males in East Dorset was 80.1 years in 2001–2003, the highest in the United Kingdom. Female life expectancy at birth for the same period was 83.4 years, ranking seventh in the UK. The figures for East Dorset during 1991-1993 were 77.9 years for males and 82.5 for females.

Governance

East Dorset District Council was elected every four years, with latterly 36

councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

s being elected at each election. After 1976 the

Conservative party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

held a majority on the council apart from a period between the 1995 and 1999 elections when the Liberal Democrats had control. Following the 2015 election the council's politicians were:- The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2019 and, together with the other 4 Dorset districts outside the greater Bournemouth area, formed a new

unitary authority.

Settlements

:''Settlements with a population over 2,500 are in bold.'' *

Alderholt Alderholt is a large village and civil parish in east Dorset, England; situated west of Fordingbridge. The parish includes the hamlets of Crendell and Cripplestyle. The local travel links are located from the village to Salisbury railway sta ...

Chalbury Chalbury is a village in the English county of Dorset. It lies on the southern edge of Cranborne Chase within the East Dorset administrative district of the county, four miles north of Wimborne Minster and four miles west of Verwood. The village ...

Colehill Colehill is a parish, neighbouring Wimborne Minster, in Dorset, England, with a population of 7,000 (2001), reducing slightly to 6,927 at the 2011 census. History The name Colehill originated in 1431 as Colhulle, becoming Colhill in 15 ...

Cranborne Cranborne is a village in East Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the parish had a population of 779, remaining unchanged from 2001. The appropriate electoral ward is called 'Crane'. This ward includes Wimborne St. Giles in the west and sout ...

* Edmondsham *

Gussage Gussage is a series of three villages in north Dorset, England, situated along the Gussage Stream, a tributary of the River Allen on Cranborne Chase, north east of Blandford Forum and north of Wimborne. The stream runs through all three paris ...

Hinton Martell Hinton Martell (also known as Hinton Martel) is a village and former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Hinton, in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies within the East Dorset administrative district of the county, three m ...

Hinton Parva Hinton Parva is a hamlet former civil parish, now in the civil parish of Hinton, in east Dorset, England, three miles north of Wimborne Minster Wimborne Minster (often referred to as Wimborne, ) is a market town in Dorset in South Wes ...

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

, Horton *

Long Crichel Long Crichel () is a small village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Crichel, in east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase five miles northeast of Blandford Forum. In 2001 it had a population of 81. The civil parish was abol ...

Moor Crichel Moor Crichel () is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Crichel, in East Dorset, England situated on Cranborne Chase five miles east of Blandford Forum. The civil parish includes the hamlet of Manswood notable for a terrace o ...

Pamphill Pamphill is a village in south-east Dorset, England, just outside Wimborne Minster, four miles north of Poole. The village has a population of 704 (2001). Church of St Stephen In its current form, the Parish church of St Stephen dates from 190 ...

Pentridge Pentridge is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in the English county of Dorset, lying in the north-east of the county within the East Dorset administrative district. It is situated on the ed ...

* St Ives,

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston *St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St L ...

, Shapwick,

Sixpenny Handley Sixpenny Handley or Handley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in north east Dorset, England, situated on Cranborne Chase ten miles (16 km) north east of Blandford Forum. In the ...

Sturminster Marshall Sturminster Marshall is a village and civil parish in east Dorset in England, situated on the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Poole. The parish had a population of 1,895 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census and ...

West Parley West Parley is a village and civil parish in south-east Dorset, England, situated on the River Stour between Bournemouth and Ferndown and off of the B3073 road. The parish of West Parley covers an area of . It is also about to the closest majo ...

Wimborne St Giles Wimborne St Giles is a village and civil parish in east Dorset, England, on Cranborne Chase, seven miles north of Wimborne Minster and 12 miles north of Poole. The village lies within the Shaftesbury estate, owned by the Earl of Shaftesbury. A tr ...

Witchampton Witchampton is a village and civil parish in East Dorset, England, situated on the River Allen north of Wimborne Minster. The 2011 census recorded a population of 398. Witchampton lies close to where the dip slope of the chalk hills of Cranb ...

Woodlands Woodlands may back refer to: * Woodland, a low-density forest Geography Australia * Woodlands, New South Wales * Woodlands, Ashgrove, Queensland, a heritage-listed house associated with John Henry Pepper * Woodlands, Marburg, Queensland, a her ...

Premises

Until 2016 the council was based at Woodleaze, a large house at Furzehill in the parish of

, just north of the town of

. Woodleaze had previously served as the headquarters of Wimborne and Cranborne Rural District Council. In 2016 the council moved to Allenview House on Hanham Road in the town centre of Wimborne Minster.

References

{{Coord, 50, 48, 59.84, N, 1, 58, 53.36, W, display=title, region:GB_type:adm3rd Former non-metropolitan districts Non-metropolitan districts of Dorset 2019 disestablishments in England

Governance

Settlements

Premises

See also

References