West Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and was a merger of the boroughs of Bridport, Dorchester and Lyme Regis, along with Sherborne urban district and the rural districts of Beaminster, Bridport, Dorchester and Sherborne. Its council was based in Dorchester.
The district and its council were abolished on 1 April 2019 and, together with the other four districts outside the greater Bournemouth area, replaced by a new Dorset unitary authority.[1]
At the 2001 census, West Dorset registered a population of 92,350. The population structure reflected the rural nature of the district. The area was a popular retirement area which also exported young people due to the lack of career options. This was reflected in the age structure, with 12.3% of the population over 75, compared to 7.5% in the whole of England; 51.7% were between 15 and 59, compared to 59.1% in England. 34.4% of dwellings were pensioner households, compared to 23.8% in England.
The district was an example of the low ethnic minority populations in rural areas, with 96.7% white British ethnicity, compared to 87.0% in England.
The district had a high level of car ownership, at 83.1% of households compared to 73.2% in England.
Almost all of the West Dorset area fell within the West Dorset constituency; a small part was in South Dorset.
The main settlements in West Dorset were Dorchester, Sherborne and Bridport. Dorchester, in the south of the district, is the county town of Dorset and has been an important settlement since Roman times. Sherborne, in the north, is an important market town which was, for a time, the capital of Wessex. Bridport, in the west, is popular with tourists visiting the Jurassic Coast, as is the smaller coastal town of Lyme Regis at the county border with Devon.
Settlements with a population over 2,500 are in bold.