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NOTE: On the OS boundary maps for Dorset in 1900 and 1935-44, both this parish and another one 24 miles to the northeast are labelled "Compton Abbas". After an hour of checking various sources it has been discovered that the current Compton Abbas is not far south of Shaftesbury and adjacent to Melbury Abbas, while the presetnt West Compton is southwest of Dorchester and adjacent to Compton Valence. No source checked (Wikipedia, GENUKI or A Vision of Britain Through Time) mention this in their descriptions. Do be cautious when tracing ancestors in either of these parishes.
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- the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia
West Compton (#25 on map) is a civil parish and a very small village in Dorset, England. From 1974 until 2019 it was situated in the West Dorset District municipality, about 7 miles to the east of the town of Bridport. The county town of Dorchester lies about 9 miles east-southeast. The A35 trunk road, which runs between these two towns, is about 2 miles to the south.
The hamlet is sited 160 metres above sea-level at the head of a small valley, formed by a tributary of the River Frome. The surrounding chalk hills are part of the westerly edge of the Dorset Downs, which here reach a height of 252 metres at Eggardon Hill, just over a mile to the west.
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Governance
West Compton was originally a parish in the Cerne Totbury and Modbury 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. West Compton 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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