  gillingham  is a town and civil parish in the blackmore vale area of dorset, england. it lies on the b3095 and b3081 roads in the north dorset administrative district, approximately  south of the a303 trunk road and  northwest of shaftesbury. it is the most northerly town in the county. in the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 11,756. the neighbouring hamlets of peacemarsh, bay and wyke have become part of gillingham as it has expanded. gillingham is pronounced with a hard initial 'g' as in 'goat', unlike gillingham, kent, which is pronounced with a soft 'g' as in 'germany'. ==history== there is a stone age barrowthe dorset page's gillingham page in the town, and evidence of roman settlement in the 2nd and 3rd centuries; however the town was established by the saxons. the church of st mary the virgin has a saxon cross shaft dating from the 9th century.st mary the virgin the name gillingham was used for the town in its 10th century saxon charter, and also in an entry for 1016 in the annals, as the location of a battle between edmund ironside and the vikings. in the domesday book in 1086 it is recorded as gelingeham,{{cite book |url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=txucaqaaqbaj&pg=pa203&lpg=pa203&dq=gillingham+dictionary+british+place+names&source=bl&ots=d1ija1xnvp&sig=i9la1zeovffefzqfydu0udxtiuw&hl=en&sa=x&ei=gjbxu8lem
Civil_parishes_in_Dorset Post_towns_in_the_SP_postcode_area Towns_in_Dorset