Sandford is a village in the English county of

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

, on the A351 road some two miles from Wareham and seven miles from

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

. Sandford forms the only significant settlement within the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

of Wareham St. Martin, which otherwise covers much of the rural area to the north of Wareham. The parish was formerly part of the Purbeck

local government district Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Local'' (comics), a limited series comic book by Bria ...

and now lies within the unitary authority of

. It is within the

Mid Dorset and North Poole Mid Dorset and North Poole is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Vikki Slade, a Liberal Democrat. Boundaries 1997–2010: * The District of Purbeck wards of Bere Regis, Lytchett Matravers ...

constituency of the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Prior to

Brexit Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...

in 2020, it was in the

South West England South West England, or the South West of England, is one of the nine official regions of England, regions of England in the United Kingdom. Additionally, it is one of four regions that altogether make up Southern England. South West England con ...

constituency of the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

. The

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

is also called St. Martin, and includes Holton Heath with the surrounding countryside. The total population at the 2011 census was 2,774. To the north lies Gore Heath, part of Wareham Forest, which is the subject of a controversial proposal for

gravel extraction A gravel pit is an open-pit mine for the extraction of gravel. Gravel pits often lie in river valleys where the water table is high, so they may naturally fill with water to form ponds or Excavation lake, lakes. Gravel pit lakes are typically n ...

.''Dorset gravel plan for forest gets over 200 objections''
at www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 14 Dec 2014''Gravel plan to ‘destroy’ area''
at www.bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 14 Dec 2014.

References

External links

Villages in Dorset {{Dorset-geo-stub