Dorset
Dorset | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Primary Destinations | |||
Blandford Forum • Dorchester • Poole • Weymouth | |||
Other Important Destinations | |||
Bere Regis • Swanage • Wimborne Minster | |||
Current Highway Authorities | |||
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council • Dorset Council | |||
Borders | |||
Devon • Hampshire • Somerset • Wiltshire | |||
National Highways Roads | |||
A31 • A35 • A303 | |||
Dorset is a traditional county on the South Coast. The county name, occasionally given as Dorsetshire, is derived from the county town of Dorchester.
Geography & Economy
The county has a varied coastline, which is longer than expected as it incorporates the Isle of Portland and Poole Harbour. The coast is known for its rock features and fossils. There are a few wide river valleys in the county, for example the Frome and Stour, with surrounding areas being undulating, although hills never get particularly high. The majority of the county is rural, with a few larger settlements in the south. Sandbanks, on the edge of Poole, has some of the most expensive property in the world.
Dorset is well known for quarried stone, particularly from Purbeck and Portland, although quarrying is no longer as widespread due to depletion of stock. The county has two large harbours at Poole and Portland, with Brownsea Island in the former having a role in the foundation of the Scouting movement. Agriculture was once the main industry in the county but tourism now plays a major part, primarily due to the beaches. Other tourist attractions include the mediaeval Corfe Castle and Maiden Castle, an Iron Age hillfort.
Roads
The south of the county has a good road network radiating from Dorchester or Poole, although there are fewer roads in the north. One road reaches Portland, whilst Purbeck can be reached by road or ferry from Poole; taking the latter will require the driver to follow the Studland Motor Road, the country's first road specifically only for the use of motor vehicles.
Most non-trunk roads within the historic county are maintained by Dorset Council whilst the Poole area in the east of the historic county is managed by Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council, and tiny areas in the west are managed by Devon and Somerset County Councils. National Highways maintain the A31/A35 route across the south of the county and the A303 which just crosses the county boundary in the north. See also: Dorset Turnpikes.
Dorset is known for its fingerposts at road junctions, which have a dial at the top with the name of the junction and the grid reference. See Category:Dorset Traditional Fingerpost Junctions.
Route | From | To | Length |
|
---|---|---|---|---|
A30 | Hounslow | Land's End | 284 miles | View |
A31 | Guildford | Bere Regis | 86.8 miles | View |
A35 | Honiton | Swaythling, Southampton | 97 miles | View |
A37 | Bristol | Dorchester | 60 miles | View |
A303 | Popham | Upottery | 95 miles | View |
A338 | Bournemouth | Bessels Leigh | 90.4 miles | View |
A341 | Kinson | Merley | 5.1 miles | View |
A347 | Ferndown | Bournemouth | 6.7 miles | View |
A348 | Trickett's Cross | Mountbatten Arms roundabout, Poole | 5.1 miles | View |
A349 | Merley | Poole | 4.4 miles | View |
A350 | Stanton St Quintin | Lower Hamworthy | 68.1 miles | View |
A351 | Lytchett Minster | Swanage | 14.9 miles | View |
A352 | Wareham | Sherborne | 36.7 miles | View |
A353 | Broadwey | Warmwell | 5.8 miles | View |
A354 | Salisbury | Easton, Portland | 53.2 miles | View |
A355 | Sherborne | Durweston | 18.1 miles | View |
A356 | Bower Hinton | Grimstone | 21.8 miles | View |
A357 | Wincanton | Durweston | 19.5 miles | View |
A3030 | Lydlinch | Sherborne | 6.9 miles | View |
A3030 | Ringwood Road | Alder Road | 1.6 miles | View |
A3031 | Parkstone | Poole | 0.7 miles | View |
A3032 | High Street | Maumbury Road | 0.5 miles | View |
A3036 | South Petherton | Stonehenge | 48.1 miles | View |
A3040 | Wallisdown | Branksome | 1.5 miles | View |
A3049 | Poole | Boscombe | 8.6 miles | View |
A3052 | Charmouth | Clyst St Mary | 27.0 miles | View |
A3066 | Haselbury Plucknett | Bridport | 13.6 miles | View |
A3070 | Raymond's Hill | Lyme Regis | 3.3 miles | View |
B341 | Oakley | Canford Magna | 1.5 miles | View |
B3061 | Alder Road, Branksome | Dorset Way, Canford Heath | 2.8 miles | View |
B3061 | Boscombe | West Howe | 5.0 miles | View |
B3065 | The Avenue | Shore Road | 2.5 miles | View |
B3067 | Upton | Lytchett Minster | 1.9 miles | View |
B3068 | Upton Bypass | Alderney | 5.5 miles | View |
B3069 | Corfe Castle | Langton Matravers | 4.4 miles | View |
B3070 | Wareham | Lulworth Cove | 9.0 miles | View |
B3071 | Wool | Lulworth Camp | 3.6 miles | View |
B3072 | Ferndown | Verwood | 6.8 miles | View |
B3073 | Christchurch | Wimborne Minster | 11.8 miles | View |
B3074 | near Sleight | Canford Heath | 5.1 miles | View |
B3075 | Stoborough Green | Spetisbury | 11.4 miles | View |
B3076 | Almer | Spetisbury | 1.7 miles | View |
B3078 | Brook | Pamphill, Wimborne Minster | 26.6 miles | View |
B3081 | Ashley | Prestleigh | 45.2 miles | View |
B3082 | Wimborne Minster | North of Blandford Forum | 10.7 miles | View |
B3083 | East Street | Milldown Road | 0.4 miles | View |
B3090 | Ilchester | Stonehenge | 42.4 miles | View |
B3090 | Wimbourne Road | Ringwood Road | 0.8 miles | View |
B3091 | Shaftesbury | Sturminster Newton | 8.4 miles | View |
B3093 | The George roundabout, Poole | Oakdale | 0.8 miles | View |
B3093 | Prestleigh | Shaftesbury | 19.2 miles | View |
B3094 | Mere | Milton-on-Stour | 2.4 miles | View |
B3142 | Puddletown | Higher Waterston | 2.4 miles | View |
B3143 | Stock Gaylard Estate | Dorchester (E) | 16.4 miles | View |
B3144 | Max Gate | Bridport Road | 1.7 miles | View |
B3145 | Lattiford | Sherborne | 9.8 miles | View |
B3146 | Holnest | Duntish | 3.2 miles | View |
B3147 | Dorchester (North) | Dorchester (South) | 2.2 miles | View |
B3147 | Blackmarsh Farm | South Street | 1.0 mile | View |
B3148 | Marston Magna | Sherborne | 4.3 miles | View |
B3150 | Stinsford Hill | Poundbury | 2.7 miles | View |
B3153 | Rodwell, Weymouth | Wyke Regis | 0.9 miles | View |
B3154 | Charlestown, Weymouth | Rodwell, Weymouth | 1.2 miles | View |
B3154 | Fortuneswell | Easton | 1.2 miles | View |
B3155 | Weymouth | Preston | 2.9 miles | View |
B3155 | Wyke Regis | Westham | 0.5 miles | View |
B3156 | Wyke Regis | Charlestown | 1.8 miles | View |
B3156 | Wyke Regis | Weymouth | 0.9 miles | View |
B3157 | Weymouth | West Bay | 18.5 miles | View |
B3158 | Wessex Roundabout, Weymouth | Lanehouse | 0.9 miles | View |
B3158 | The Esplanade, Weymouth | Weymouth railway stations | 0.16 miles | View |
B3159 | Weymouth | Winterbourne Abbas | 8.9 miles | View |
B3160 | Bridport | West Bay | 1.7 miles | View |
B3161 | Bridport | Haselbury Plucknett | 13.9 miles | View |
B3162 | Bridport By Pass | Chard | 17.9 miles | View |
B3163 | Toller Down Gate | Broadwindsor | 6.4 miles | View |
B3164 | Whetley Cross | Birdsmoorgate | 5.2 miles | View |
B3165 | Somerton | Lyme Regis | 30.5 miles | View |
B3166 | Monkton Wyld Cross | Red Cross | 0.5 miles | View |
B3351 | Corfe Castle | Studland | 5.7 miles | View |
B3368 | Westbourne | Sandbanks | 2.6 miles | View |
B3369 | Poole Civic Centre | Sandbanks Ferry | 3.6 miles | View |
B3390 | Affpuddle | Warmwell | 7.7 miles | View |
C12 | Dorchester | A352 | 10.3 miles | View |
T8 | London | Penzance | View | |
T37 | Folkestone | Honiton | View |
Key
Turnpikes
Junctions
Dorset is also known for its traditional fingerpost junctions, many of which still exist.
Bridges, Tunnels, and other Crossings