Sturminster Newton & Stalbridge

Sturminster Newton and Stalbridge sit in north Dorset’s Blackmore Vale, straddling the River Stour and surrounding dairy farmland. Sturminster Newton is a market town built around a stone bridge and a restored watermill on the Stour; the mill and river shape the town’s plan and past trade in grain and dairy. Stalbridge lies a few miles to the north and is noted for an unusually wide high street, a legacy of market plots and fairs that left long frontages for shops and yards. Both places retain a network of small businesses, workshops and agricultural premises.

Local routes follow the river and its floodplain meadows, linking parish churches, hedged lanes and farm tracks. Farming on valley pastures still determines field boundaries and seasonal rhythms, with cattle and forage cropping common. Community life centres on weekly markets, village halls and volunteer groups, while craft producers and farm shops supply local cheeses and meats. Historic mills, bridges and stone cottages sit alongside modern services, so the area functions as a working rural district and a service centre for neighbouring farms.