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- the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia
Puddletown (#16 on map) is a civil parish and a village in Dorset, England, located in the former municipality of West Dorset District. It is situated by the River Piddle, from which it derives its name, about 4.5 miles (7 km) northeast of the county town Dorchester. Its earlier name Piddletown fell out of favour, probably because of connotations of the word "piddle". The name Puddletown was officially sanctioned in the late 1950s. Puddletown's civil parish covers the large area (compared to neighbouring parishes) of 2,908 hectares (7,185 acres) and extends to the River Frome to the south. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 1450. Figures from the 2011 census have been published for Puddletown parish combined with the small parish of Athelhampton to the east; in this area there were 663 dwellings,[36] 614 households and a population of 1,405.
Puddletown's parish church has significant architectural interest, particularly its furnishings and monuments. It has a 12th-century font and well-preserved woodwork, including 17th-century box pews. Thomas Hardy (1840-1928) took an interest in the church, and the village provided the inspiration for the fictional settlement of Weatherbury in his novel Far from the Madding Crowd; Weatherbury Farm, the home of principal character Bathsheba Everdene, is based on a manor house within the parish.
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For more information, see the EN Wikipedia article Puddletown. This includes an expanded discussion of the town's name and a description of the parish's economic history.
Governance
Puddletown was originally a parish in the Puddletown Hundred, one of the hundreds or early subdivisions of the county of Dorset. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of the Dorchester Rural District.
In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, all urban and rural districts across England were abolished and counties were reorganized into metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts. Dorchester Rural District joined the non-metropolitan West Dorset District.
Under another set of local government reforms adopted on 1 April 2019, West Dorset District was abolished, and the county of Dorset (excluding Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole) became a single unitary authority. The area is now administered by Dorset Council.
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