East Dorset

This article is about the former district. For the constituency, see East Dorset (UK Parliament constituency). For the village in the United States, see East Dorset, Vermont.
East Dorset District
Non-metropolitan district
Image: 150 pixels
Coat of arms
East Dorset shown within Dorset
East Dorset shown within Dorset
Coordinates: 50°48′59.84″N 1°58′53.36″W / 50.8166222°N 1.9814889°W / 50.8166222; -1.9814889
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Constituent countryEngland
RegionSouth West England
Non-metropolitan countyDorset
StatusAbolished
Admin HQWimborne
Incorporated1 April 1974 to 30 March 2019
Government
 • TypeNon-metropolitan district council
 • BodyEast Dorset District Council
 • LeadershipAlternative - Sec.31 ( )
Area
 • Total
136.8 sq mi (354.4 km2)
Population
 (mid-2018)
 • Total
89,400
 • Density650/sq mi (250/km2)
 • Ethnicity
99.0% White
Time zoneUTC0 (GMT)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+1 (BST)
ONS code19UD (ONS)
E07000049 (GSS)
OS grid referenceSU0130301959
Websitewww.dorsetforyou.gov.uk

East Dorset was a local government district in Dorset, England. Its council met in Wimborne Minster between 2016 and 2019.[1][2]

The district (as Wimborne) was formed on 1 April 1974 by merging Wimborne Minster Urban District with Wimborne and Cranborne Rural District, plus the parish of St Leonards and St Ives transferred from the Ringwood and Fordingbridge Rural District in Hampshire.[3] The district was renamed East Dorset with effect from 1 January 1988. The district was abolished in 2019 at the same time that Dorset County Council and the other districts in the county were abolished, with the area becoming part of the Dorset unitary authority on 1 April 2019.

The popularity of the area, being close to the New Forest, Bournemouth and the Dorset coast saw a rapid expansion in housing from the 1970s with the Verwood, Ferndown, West Moors and Corfe Mullen populations more than quadrupling. Rural landscape prevailed in the north and west of the area. Wimborne Minster retained its identity as a historic market town.

The most notable geography is lowland heath, managed by East Dorset Countryside Management Services in partnership with the Forestry Commission. The expansion of housing has led to a massive decrease in the area of this unusual and unique habitat, which once covered 500 km2 but now covers only 15% of that.

Statistics released[4] by the Office for National Statistics show that life expectancy at birth for males in East Dorset was 80.1 years in 2001–2003, the highest in the United Kingdom. Female life expectancy at birth for the same period was 83.4 years, ranking seventh in the UK. The figures for East Dorset during 1991-1993 were 77.9 years for males and 82.5 for females.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference relocation was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Contact East Dorset District Council". www.dorsetforyou.gov.uk.
  3. ^ "The English Non-Metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972", legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, SI 1972/2039, retrieved 30 June 2022
  4. ^ Life expectancy at birth in the United Kingdom, Office for National Statistics