West Compton Manor Location

Surrounding Area

West Compton Manor, the rental cottages and coarse fishing lakes are on a small private estate in West Compton, in an area of designated outstanding natural beauty.  We are only a few minutes drive from the World Heritage Site of Dorset's Jurassic coast, situated just off the A35 between the pretty market town of Bridport and the county capital of Dorchester.

Maiden Newton

The nearest town to West Compton is bustling Maiden Newton which is 3 miles away.  Maiden Newton has a petrol station, corner shop and post office, Chalk and Cheese pub, Girling and Bowditch vets, Le Petit Canard restaurant, No 64 newsagent and coffee shop and fantastic Amber Hardware which has everything you could possibly want and if by a small chance they haven't Carol will order it for you. 

There is a village hall, playground, youth club, football team, Greenford Primary School, fire statin, doctors surgery and train station which runs from Cheltenham through Cardiff, Bristol, Bath, London Paddington and Yeovil.  Maiden Newton trains also go directly to Dorchester West and Weymouth.

St Marys Church is in the same parish as St Michaels, West Compton and is part of the Melbury Team.

Bridport

Bridport is a buzing town with an ecclectic mix of people, many artists and musicians live in the area and there is allways something of interest going on.  The shops are mostly small independent traders providing everything from gifts to local produce.  There is a Waitrose, Morrisons, Co-Op and Lydl in Bridport, as well as the farmers market which is held on the 2nd Sunday of every month at the Bridport Arts Centre on South Street.

Bridport's general market on Wednesdays and Saturdays offers many different traders selling everything from IT equipment to clothing and hardware.  The antiques and bric-a-brac stalls which line South Street are a particular attraction of the Saturday market, drawing people from as far away as London.

Bridport also has what's known as the Antiques Quarter situated on St Michaels Trading Estate, where the old factory buildings house a large selection of antique stalls and artists studios.  From March to October on the last Sunday of every month, there is a Vintage Market with live music and street traders selling food.

There is a thriving night life in Bridport, with many of the pubs and bars hosting local bands.  The Electric Palace offers a mix of theatre, comedy, cinema and music and often hosts well know acts such as Bad Manners and Chris Difford from Squeeze who produced numbers such as Cool for Cats.  The Bridport Arts Centre is another exciting and thriving venue for great entertainment.  The many restaurants in Bridport offer everything from Jalopy's Pizza served from a VW camper van to the Taj Mahal featured on Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall's River Cottage.  There are numerous pubs, the Ropemakers being the usual music venue, several winebards of which my favorite is the Beach and Barnicotte and the cocktail bar at the Bull Hotel.

Dorchester

Dorchester is the county capital of Dorset and was home to Thomas Hardy who set his novel The Mayor of Casterbridge in the town.  The literary conection continues with William Barnes, Hardy's mentor living in a village to the east of the town and in the 20th century Sylvia Townsend Warner and Valentine Ackland lived near by, as did the famous Powys brothers, TF John Cowper and Llewelyn, not to mention Alyse Gregory the latter's partner.  But perhaps one of the most famous visitors is TE Lawrence who is burried at Moreton and lived close by at Clouds Hill.

The history of Dorchester and Dorset can be found in the County Museum in the town centre.  Maiden Castle the largest hill fort in England is situated 2 miles south of the town.  First occupied around 3000 BC it contains a complicated arrangement of ramparts and ditches.  In AD43 the Romans attacked the town and in about the 4th century they built a temple of which the foundations are still visible today.  Other evidence of the Roman occupation include the remains of a town house in the grounds of County Hall, very close to the towns centre. 

Dorchester also offers a wide selection of high street shops and some smaller independant traders and the popular French market is held every year on the August bank holiday.