DORSETSHIRE, an English county, situated on the south-western coast. In British times, and previous to the landing of Caesar, it was inhabited by the Durotriges and Morini, two appellations derived from the British language, and signifying dwellers on the coasts of the ocean. By the Romans this county constituted a portion of Eritannia Prima; and the Saxons called it Dorsetta (a word having the same meaning as the above British appellation), and included it in the kingdom of Wessex. Kingston Hall and Corfe Castle are mentioned as royal residences.

On the north Dorsetshire is bounded by Somersetshire and Wiltshire, on the east by Hampshire, on the west by Devonshire and a part of Somersetshire, while the British Channel bounds it on the south. The irregularities of its form prevent its being compared to any determinate figure; the northern boundary has a considerable angular projection in the middle; the southern coast runs out in various points and headlands; and the western coast inclines towards Devonshire, with an irregular line. Its greatest length from north to south is about thirty-five miles, and its breadth from east to west fifty-five; its circumference, including about 775,000 acres, is nearly 160 miles.

Dorsetshire is divided into thirty-four hundreds, containing more than 390 parishes, nine boroughs, and twenty-two market-towns, the principal of which are Dorchester, Bridport, Sherborne, Lyme-Regis, Shaftesbury, Warcham, Weymouth, Melcombe Regis, Poole, and Blandford. This county formerly returned twenty members to the House of Commons; but by the recent law it will only elect thirteen, viz. three for the county, two for Dorchester and for Poole, and the two boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, now formed into one, will elect two members; Bridport, Lyme, Shaftesbury, and Warcham, each of which towns returned two, will in future elect but one. Corfe Castle has been disfranchised. Dorsetshire forms part of the see of Bristol. Its bishop was established at Sherborne by Henry the Eighth, but was shortly added to the diocese of Bristol. In remote times it had been a part of the sees of Oxford, of Salisbury, and of Winchester successively.

The surface of Dorsetshire is hilly and uneven. A great portion of the county has the appearance of downs, open and uninclosed portions, covered with sheep. More sheep are pastured in the neighbourhood of Dorchester than in any other district, though great numbers of both sheep and oxen are fed in the valley of Blackmore, which is celebrated as rich pasture land, containing upwards of 170,000 acres. There are also in this district several orchards, producing excellent cider. On the south-western side there are many'vales of great luxuriance; but on the south-eastern there is much waste land, dreary and barren, hardly supporting, even in the summer months, a few sheep and cattle, and supplying the neighbouring villages with heath for fuel. Even in this region, however, cultivation is advancing, and detached portions are improved. The turnpike-roads in this county are numerous, rendering travelling easy and commodious.

These downs are principally of a light chalky soil, with a turf remarkably fine, producing hay, in the inclosed parts, of an excellent quality, on which beasts will thrive well in winter without any other food. About Bridport the lower lands are mostly a deep rich loam; but on the hills, throughout the western district, the soil is a sandy loam, intermixed with flint, -well adapted for the growth of beech. To the north of Sherborne, where is some of the best land in the county for the plough, it is a stone brack, which is the case in the Isle of Portland and the Isle of Purbeck. In the centre of the county the soil is good and the land well managed.

Dorsetshire is not awell-ŵöodëd county; and, in general, native timber is scarce and dear. In some local spots, where the land is cold and wet, such as Duncliff in the vale of Blackmore, Heycombc Wood in the vale of Sherborne, and others of a similar nature, some plantations may be seen.

The air of Dorsetshire is remarkably mild and salubrious; which, added to the beauty of its scenery, has obtained for it the appellation of the Garden of England. Weymouth has long been celebrated as a fashionable watering-place; and, owing,to the general calmness of the sea there, its pleasant situation, and its commodiousness for bathing, it has, through the frequent visits of the royal family, risen to great consequence.
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The chief port in the county is Poole, situated on an estuary formed by the mouth of the Frome. Its entrance is defended by Brownsea Castle, and it is very secure in all winds. It is the chief place for equipping ships for the Newfoundland fishery; and considerable trade is carried on from it with Spain, Portugal, and the Mediterranean. Swanage, Weymouth, Bridport, and Lyme have harbours capable of admitting small vessels only.

The rivers of Dorsetshire are the Frome, the Stour, the Piddle, and the Ivel. The Frome rises in the north-western part of the county, near Evershot; and, passing by Dorchester, reaches Poole, and falls into its bay. The Stour enters this county from Wiltshire, near Gillingham, and, pursuing a southern and south-eastern direction, enters Hampshire. The Piddle rises in the north, and, flowing to the south-east, unites with Poole Bay. The Ivel, anciently Yoo, has its origin from several springs near Hore-thorn, in a hill north-east from Sherborne, from which town it flows into Somersetshire, and falls into the Parret.

Although neither coal nor any metallic ores have ever been worked in Dorsetshire, the stone quarries of Purbeck and Portland have long been celebrated. Purbeck, though called an island, is more properly a peninsula, of an irregular oval form, about twelve miles in length and seven in breadth. The soil is altogether calcareous, and for the most part a continued mass, either of white or a brownish limestone, the latter having a mixture of sea-shells. The quarries on the south side of the isle afford an inexhaustible fund of natural curiosities. The best quarries are at Kingston, Worth, Langton, and Swanwick. The Swanwick stone is white, full of shells, takes a polish, and looks like alabaster. About Warcham and Morden is found a stone of an iron colour, called fire-stone. Near Dunshay, marble of various colours, blue, red, gray, and spotted, is dug up; but all of a coarse grain. Much of the stone of this district was used in the building of St Paul’s Cathedral, Westminster Bridge, and Ramsgate Pier, and may be discovered in many of our ancient cathedrals, churches, grave-stones, and monuments. One of the most valuable products of Purbeck is a white clay used for making pipes, and very extensively applied to the manufacture of China. Large quantities of it are dug, and many vessels loaded with it for Staffordshire, at Russell Quay, within the port of Poole.

The rocks in the Isle of Portland rise frequently to 100 or 150 feet in height, and large masses lie scattered on the shore. These are composed of calcareous grit, containing moulds or larox of various shells, and emitting, when rubbed with steel, a bituminous smell. The grit is cemented together by a calcareous paste. The quarries are scattered among these rocks, more or less, in every part of the isle; but those of most repute are at Kingston. At this place there is a pier, whence upwards of 6000 tons of stone, on an average, are supposed to be shipped off annually. The first stratum in these quarries is about one foot of blackish or reddish earth; then six feet of stone, not fit for exportation. Below this is the bed of good stone, ten or twelve feet deep, and beneath it flint or clay. The stratum of stone that is worked for sale lies nearly parallel with the upper surface of the island, and without much earth or rubbish on it. When the beds are cleared, the quarrymen proceed to cross-cut the large flats, which is done with wedges. The beds being cut into distinct lumps, are squared by the hammer to the largest size which it will admit; and blocks are thus formed from half a ton to six or eight tons weight. The colour of the Portland stone, or free stone as it is sometimes called, from the freedom with which it maybe broken into any shape, is well known, as almost white, and as composing the materials of the most splendid erections in London, as well as in other parts of the British empire.

The general practice and management of tillage in this county is less attended to than any part of agriculture; for it appears to be the plan of the farmers to put the seed into the ground with as few ploughings as possible. The sowing of wheat is often effected with one ploughing; and symmetry and neatness are so much disregarded, that, in small pieces of land, the ploughman will vary three or four yards from a straight line. The plough used is called a sull, and is long, large, and heavy, with one small wheel at the side of the beam, and worked by four horses or six oxen, two abreast. In the neighbourhood of the towns, land lets for from forty to fifty shillings the acre; and, in general, arable land from twenty to thirty.

Barley is found to make the best returns; and from 10,000 to 12,000 bushels of salt are annually made in some of the towns. Flax and hemp are objects of great importance about Bridport, Bradford, and Beminster. The seed is imported from Riga, and the average crop is from fifty to sixty dozen pounds per acre, worth from four shillings and sixpence to seven shillings per dozen. It is a precarious crop, depending very much on the season; and hence the quantity cultivated has of late years been gradually diminished.

The sheep of Dorsetshire have long been celebrated. They are horned, white faced, with long small white legs, the carcass rather long and thin, the mutton fine grained and of good flavour, weighing per quarter, in wethers at three years and a half old, from sixteen to twenty pounds. Their wool is fine and short; and the breed has the peculiar property of producing lambs at any period. The stock of the county is supposed to be 800,000, of which number 150,000 are annually sold and sent out of the county. The produce of the wool yearly is estimated at 90,000 weight, of thirty-one pounds each.

The breed of horses is not particularly regarded. The oxen are principally of the red Devon breed, crossed with the Hampshire and Wiltshire; and are frequently employed in agriculture. Cows are much used for the dairy, very little account being made of their size or colour, if they produce much milk. Butter is the greatest produce, though some cheese is also manufactured.

The mackerel fishery is of considerable consequence to this county. Vast numbers are taken near Abbotsbury, and along the shore from Portland to Bridport. The season for taking them is from the middle of March till midsummer, in nets or seines. Herrings and other fish common in these seas are also taken in abundance.

The manufactures of Dorsetshire are not extensive. The principal are those of flax and hemp, in the neighbourhood of Bridport and Beminster, and also on a smaller scale in the Isle of Purbeck; of all sorts of buttons, chiefly at Blandford, and to a smaller extent at Shaftesbury; and of a sort of flannel or coarse woollen cloth, called swanskin, at Sherminster. At Stalbridge is a manufacture for spinning silk, and at Sherborne is another upon a larger scale. Some worsted stockings are made at Wimborne.

On the extended downs in the neighbourhood of Dorchester several tumuli are thrown up in all directions, proving this town to have been an important place in British times. Maiden Castle, situated on the apex of a hill about one mile south of the town, is undoubtedly the remains of an original British fortress. Nearly two miles north-west of Kingston-Hall, in the parish of Shapwicke, is a celebrated encampment called Bradbury Rings, which occupies the summit of a considerable eminence. This camp is of a circular form, with treble ramparts and ditches, having two entrances, one on the north-east and another on the western side. The circumference of the outer rampart is nearly a mile. In the parish of Lullworth [7:8:121]is another British fortification, consisting of three ramparts and ditches, including an area of about five acres. It is generally called Flowers’ Barrow, from the prevalence of these ancient sepulchres within its compass. Many of these barrows have been opened, and found to contain barnt bones, corroded metal, and remains of ancient warlike instruments. A barrow was opened some years ago at Stowborough, in which a body was discovered in an excavated oak trunk, wrapped in folds of skin. Between three and four miles from Corfe Castle eastward is Nine Barrow Down, an eminence which derives its name from the nine large barrows situated on it in a line. About a mile from Winterbourn Abbas is a small druidical circle, the diameter of whose area is twenty-eight feet; and the adjacent downs are much fuller of Celtic barrows than even Salisbury Plains. There is an endless field in many parts of the country for those fond of British antiquities.

The Via lccniana, or Icennine Way, enters the county near Woodyates; and passing through Dorchester, takes its course to Seaton in Devonshire. There are several smaller ways proceeding from Dorchester, Winborne Minster, and some other places in the county. The Roman stations in Dorsetshire appear, from the best authorities, to have been, Londinis, now Lymc-Regis; Canca-Arixa, Charmouth; Durnovaria, Dorchester; Vindogla∙ dia, Winborne; Clavinio, Weymouth; Morinio, Warcham; and Bolclannio, Poole. Near Dorchester are the remains of a Roman amphitheatre, which is computed to have held nearly 13,000 spectators. A large circular entrenchment maybe traced upon Woodbury Hill, supposed to have been the Castra Stativa of the Romans. On Hambledon Hill is another encampment; and also the remains of what has been thought to be a labyrinth. In the parish of Rampisham a beautiful tessellated pavement, about fourteen feet by ten, was discovered in 1799; and in the vale between Maiden-Newton and Frampton, at the distance of 150 yards from the river Frome, another of much larger dimensions was found in 1794. At Sturminster-Newton are the ruins of a castle, in the form of the letter D.

The remains of ancient castles are numerous in Dorsetshire. The principal are the following: Corfe, whose ruins are large, and allowed to be the noblest and grandest in the kingdom; Abbotsbury, a little north of East Bexing-ton; Brownsea Castle, in the island of the same name; and Portland Castle.

The abbeys whose ruins may yet be discovered are those of the monastery of Benedictines at Cranborne, a part of which now forms the parish church, one of the oldest in the county; Cerne Abbey, said to be founded by .St Augustin, the remains of which are not many, but interesting; Abbey Milton, whose church is now converted into a private chapel; and the monastery of Shaftesbury, the ruins of which are discernible neat the mansion of Sir Thomas Arundel. Some parts of the cloister and domestic buildings of the Abbey of Sherborne are now occupied by silk-machinery; besides inconsiderable remains of several more.

The church of Fordington is partly in the Saxon style; that of Corfe is Gothic. The churches of Dorchester, Sherborne, Millbourne, St Andrew, Rapisham, Weymouth, and Shaftesbury, are all venerable buildings; but Dorsetshire cannot boast of many instances of ancient ecclesiastical buildings.

Amongst the modern erections of this county should be mentioned the new jail of the county town. It was built according to Howard’s plan, under the direction of Bradburn the architect. In its external appearance it is peculiarly handsome and characteristic; and the interior possesses every convenience appropriate to its destination.

The principal noblemen and gentlemen’s seats of Dorsetshire are, Encombe, the seat of the Earl of Eldon; Grange, that of John Bond, Esq.; Moer Critchel, that of C. Sturt, Esq.; Parnham, that of Sir William Oglander, Bart.; Lullworth Castle, that of Cardinal Weld; Abbey Milton, that of Dawson Damer, Esq.; Sherborne Castle, that of the Earl of Digby; Kingston Hall, that of H. Bankes, Esq.; and Bridehead, that of E. Williams, Esq.

This county affords the following titles to different noble families; Earl of Dorchester, to the family of Carleton; Earl of Sherborne, to the family of Dutton; Earl of Shaftesbury, to that of Ashley Cooper; Viscount Bridport, to that of Hood; Duke of Portland, to that of Bentinck; Duke of Dorset, to that of Sackville; and Earl Digby, to that of Digby.

The inhabitants of this county were estimated in 1700 at 90,000, and in 1750 at 96,000. By the four decennial censuses, they appear to have been as follows: in 1801 115,319, in 1811 124,693, in 1821 144,499, and in 1831 150,400. The annual value of the real property of the county, according to the assessment of 1815, was L.698,395.