PREFACE A few years ago the Dorset Federation of Womens Institutes organised a Local History Competition. Forty- nine Institutes responded and sent in contributions ranging in length from a few paragraphs to more than a hundred pages, The late Canon Sanctuary, who acted as one of the judges, was struck by the amount of attractive material produced, and urged its publication in book form. Largely as a result of his interest the cause of local history was not allowed to fade from the minds of Institute members. They were asked to send in further items as they discovered them, and a fair amount of extra information has been collected since the close of thc competition. In editing this little book I have relied predominantly upon the material thus presented to me. For instance, Roman roof-tiles are frequently unearthed in different parts of the County, but the Corscombe and Halstock Institute mentioned such a discovery, and it is that example which has therefore been quoted. In some...