Netherbury is situated one mile south of Beaminster and five miles north of Bridport, just off the A3066. Click here to see a map. It is a beautifully secluded small village, which straddles the river Brit. Nearby is Mapperton House, regularly open to the public, and a number of gardens which open to the public under the Yellow Book scheme.

There are no shops but we do have a pub, The Hare & Hounds, and a church - the Parish Church of St Mary the Virgin.

There is tremendous community spirit in the village and many local groups regularly come together to raise money for local charities, the church and village projects. Our Village Charities were founded in the sixteenth Century and still provide much needed support for our rural community in areas such as Education, Welfare and Village Amenities.

Regular events in the village include a Flower Show and a Medieval Fair as well as our Gardens Open weekend.

Talented locals include Nicola Leader, who drew the pictures for this site, award-winning natural history photographer Colin Varndell and stained glass worker Malcolm Webster, who worked on the west window of Sherborne Abbey. See our Village Web Directory for all Netherbury's web pages.

Check out the wonderful Dorset Page for details of other towns and villages in Dorset and the Dorset Countryside site.

The 1851 census shows the population of Netherbury (a parish which included several other villages) at over 2000, whereas now the village itself has around 300 residents.

A zip file containing the full 1851 census in the form of an Excel spreadsheet, together with some supporting notes is available here. Right-click to download it.

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