Place details
Place nameDorset
Other namesDorsetshire, DOR
CountryUnited Kingdom
Latitude50.783
Longitude-2.317
SourceThesaurus of Geographic Names
Overview
Settled by Neolithic peoples from France 2000 BCE; evidence of Beaker people 1800 BCE and Romans until 5th century; formed core of Saxon kingdom of Wessex ca. 495 and called Wessex in Thomas Hardy novels; site of Tolpuddle martyrs cry for organized labor in the 19th century.