Population 310 Region South West Sovereign state United Kingdom Local time Monday 4:10 AM District North Dorset | OS grid reference ST923047 Country England Post town BLANDFORD FORUM Shire county Dorset UK parliament constituency North Dorset | |
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Weather 4°C, Wind NE at 11 km/h, 92% Humidity | ||
Tarrant Keyneston is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset, situated in the Tarrant Valley 5 miles (8.0 km) southeast of Blandford Forum in the North Dorset administrative district. In the 2011 census the parish had 152 dwellings, 145 households and a population of 310.
Map of Tarrant Keyneston, UK
On the hills northwest of the village are the earthworks of Buzbury Rings (or Busbury Rings), the remains of an Iron Age and Romano-British fortified encampment or settlement, described by Sir Frederick Treves in 1905 as "a circle of entrenchments, composed of a stout vallum and a ditch". The outer enclosure covers about 10 acres (4.0 ha) and within this is an inner enclosure, covering about 3 acres (1.2 ha), which is the location of most of the finds from the site, including Roman pottery, animal bones and daub imprinted by wattles. The site has been much damaged by ploughing and by the road between Wimborne Minster and Blandford Forum, which crosses the site.
The village's parish church has a 15th-century tower, though the rest of the building was rebuilt in 1852 by Thomas Henry Wyatt. The chancel of the earlier building contained an anchorite's cell. Richard Poore is most likely to have been buried at Tarrant Keyneston in accordance with his wishes.
Almost all of Tarrant Keyneston parish is within the Cranborne Chase and West Wiltshire Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).