The county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, is and has been divided in many ways.

Unitary authorities

* Dorset Council *

Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council is a unitary local authority for the district of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole in England that came into being on 1 April 2019. It was created from the areas that were previously administered by ...

These authorities are divided into wards for electoral purposes.

Boroughs

* See

List of boroughs in Dorset The following were historically ancient boroughs in the county of Dorset. Boroughs, pre-Conquest *Bridport * Dorchester *Shaftesbury * Wareham *Wimborne Minster (see also ''Lapsed boroughs'' below) Boroughs, post-Conquest * Blandford Forum (f ...

Boroughs were also divided into wards for electoral purposes. * See

List of sanitary districts in Dorset Under the Public Health Acts 1873 and 1875 the Poor Law Unions were used as the basis for sanitary districts. All municipal boroughs and areas with bodies such as improvement commissioners became Urban Sanitary Districts. (Any area which acquir ...

Constituencies

* See List of parliamentary constituencies in Dorset

Civil parishes

* See

List of civil parishes in Dorset This is a list of civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. There are 269 civil parishes. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole The former Bournemouth County Borough was mostly unparished and the former Poole Municipal Borou ...

Hundreds

* See

List of hundreds in Dorset This is a list of hundreds in the county of Dorset, England. Between the Anglo-Saxon period and the Local Government Act (1888), the county of Dorset was divided into hundreds and boroughs (and from the mediaeval period, liberties as well). The ...

Liberties

* See

List of liberties in Dorset Liberty (division), Liberties were an administrative unit of local government in England from the Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, co-existing with the then operative system of hundred (division), hundreds and boroughs but independent of bot ...

Unitary authorities

Boroughs

Constituencies

Civil parishes

Hundreds

Liberties

See also