Goathill is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in the county of

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 ...

, situated in northern Dorset, a couple of miles east of the town of

Sherborne Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. T ...

. It lies very close to the county boundary however, and for much of its history (until 1896) lay instead within the neighbouring county of

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lor ...

, and has been described as being "just in Dorset by a nanny-goat's whisker". It remains part of the

diocese of Bath and Wells The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the ...

. Goathill, together with the three village parishes of

Poyntington Poyntington is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in South West England. It lies on the edge of the Blackmore Vale about north of Sherborne. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 128. Poyntington shares a grouped pa ...

, Castleton and

Oborne Oborne is a village and civil parish in north west Dorset, England, situated just north of the A30 road approximately northeast of Sherborne, and is close to the border with Somerset. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 10 ...

, form a group of parishes that share a grouped parish council called Yeohead & Castleton Parish Council. The parish was part of the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Horethorne. St Peter's church and a mill are the major buildings. Nearby is Goathill Quarry, a place of special scientific interest to geologists as it allows the

Fuller's earth Fuller's earth is any clay material that has the capability to decolorize oil or other liquids without the use of harsh chemical treatment. Fuller's earth typically consists of palygorskite ( attapulgite) or bentonite. Modern uses of fuller's e ...

layers to be established in relation to the

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

.English Nature citation sheet for the site
(accessed July 2009)

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 ...

estimate that in 2013 Goathill parish had a population of 10. To the north, in Somerset, is the village of

Milborne Port Milborne Port is a village, Wards and electoral divisions of the United Kingdom, electoral ward and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in Somerset, England, east of Sherborne, and in the South Somerset district. It has a population of 2,802. ...

References

External links

{{Dorset Hamlets in Dorset Places formerly in Somerset Civil parishes in Dorset