| Official Name: | Pentridge |
| Country: | England |
| Region: | South West England |
| Static Image Name: | Pentridge, parish church of St. Rumbold - geograph.org.uk - 521772.jpg |
| Static Image Caption: | Parish church of Saint Rumbold |
| Population: | 215 |
| Population Ref: | (2001) |
| Os Grid Reference: | SU033178 |
| Coordinates: | 50.959°N -1.954°W |
| Label Position: | bottom |
| Post Town: | SALISBURY |
| Postcode Area: | SP |
| Postcode District: | SP5 |
| Dial Code: | 01725 |
Pentridge is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge, in the Dorset district, in the ceremonial of Dorset, England, lying in the north-east of the county. It is situated on the edge of Cranborne Chase down a dead-end minor lane just south of the A354 road between the towns of Blandford Forum (ten miles to the south-west) and Salisbury (twelve miles to the northeast). In 2001 the parish had a population of 215. The civil parish was abolished on 1 April 2015 and merged with Sixpenny Handley to form "Sixpenny Handley and Pentridge".[1]
The village name derives from the Celtic pen ("hill") and twrch ("boar"), and thus means "hill of the wild boar"; its existence was first recorded (as "Pentric") in the eighth century, eighty years before the birth of Alfred the Great.[2]
The village is located amongst many Neolithic, Roman and Saxon earthworks, notably Bokerley Dyke, a long defensive ditch which was dug by the Romano-British to keep out the Saxon invaders.
Nearby is Pentridge Hill, formed by a band of more resistant chalk than the surrounding land.
Approximately 2 km East of Pentridge is Blagdon Hill. On 17th January 1947 Mr.A.L.Parke of Salisbury reported that the round barrows on this hill had been recently "trenched" and a grave was opened. He supposed it to be the main interment, it "being situated in a hole scooped in the solid chalk". He further stated that " a few sherds of a well baked urn were found" and "fragments of burnt bone and charcoal accompanied" the urn. [3]