Regional Info

Geography

The coast is always popular but it can be very crowded in the summer months. Inland Dorset is mostly downland to the East and more wooded and undulating in the West. Further North the Blackmore Vale is low lying and the Somerset Levels around Glastonbury can be very wet.

Cities and Towns

Starting in the East the conurbation of Bournemouth and Poole contains, at Sandbanks, some of the most expensive Real Estate in the country. Further North the cathedral city of Salisbury has lovely town houses. Going West along the A30 Shaftesbury and in particular Sherborne are both very popular. Yeovil is a very useful town although it has little charm. Further South Beaminster and Lyme Regis offer good facilities. In the North of the area Wells, another cathedral city, lying on the southern slopes of the Mendips also has good facilities.

Communications

The area is served by three railway lines to London. A line from Exeter to Paddington runs through Castle Cary.
A second Exeter to Waterloo line runs through Yeovil, Sherborne and Salisbury and a third line runs from Weymouth through Dorchester and Bournemouth to Waterloo. There is an airport at Bournemouth whilst those at Bristol, Exeter and Southampton are easily reached from anywhere in the area. The A303 was being improved some years ago but not a lot will happen in the future until a route around Stonehenge has been chosen.

Properties

As a rule of thumb prices go down as you go West. There is magic figure of two hours from London. If you go West of that line you will get more house for your money. At the western end of the area communications to London are not good even though the countryside is very beautiful. East to West communications within Dorset are very poor except along the South coast on the A31/A35 and to the North of the county along the A303.

There is as always a strong demand for good examples of any type of house in a good location.. A large Georgian Rectory might be as much as £3.0m. A run down farm with much potential and 150 acres will be asking £1.5m. A good seven bedroom edge of village house will be about £1.0m. and one with four bedrooms will be seeking £750,000.

Economy

The area is primarily agricultural with small market towns to service the farming industry. Tourism is becoming more and more important as agriculture declines. There is some manufacturing business mainly in the bigger towns. There are large military establishments at Yeovilton and Bovington on the South coast.

Schools

The whole area is very well supplied with all types of school including one of the best performing schools in the public sector. There are fee paying schools throughout the area. The best known are in Salisbury ,Shaftsbury, Sherborne, Wimborne, Shepton Mallet and Blandford.

Leisure

There are excellent sailing facilities at Poole and Weymouth which is being developed for the 2012 Olympics. Golf courses abound. Hunting and shooting are popular pastimes. Walkers are very well provided for with many footpaths and bridleways. The coastal path along the Jurassic coast is always popular.

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