Dorset is an ancient, mainly rural county of great beauty, in the south of England, surrounded by Devon, Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire. It is historically divided into the three parts of Deserta, Felix and Petraea. The English Channel provides the southern boundary. The spirit of Thomas Hardy haunts the county.
John Betjeman loved the euphony of the names of the various Dorset villages: "Rime Intrinsica, Fontmell Magna, Sturminster Newton and Melbury Bubb … Lord's Day bells from Bingham's Melcombe, Iwerne Minster, Shroton, Plush."
