South East Dorset conurbation
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Shown within Dorset: the towns of Poole (yellow), Bournemouth (blue) and Christchurch (red) form the main centres of the conurbation, which also spreads into east Dorset to the north and the New Forest district of Hampshire to the east. |
The
South Dorset conurbation is a multi-centred
conurbation on the south coast of
Dorset in
England. The area is rapidly becoming an amalgamation with the area of South West
Hampshire immediately on the fringe of the newly formed New Forest National Park. The main population centres are
Bournemouth,
Poole and
Christchurch however, the urbanised area spreads as far east as
Barton on Sea in Hampshire. There are a number of satellite towns peripheral to these main urban centres. In clockwise rotation these include:
Wareham,
Upton/
Lytchett Minster,
Wimborne,
Ferndown,
Verwood,
Ringwood (Hampshire),
New Milton/
Barton-on-Sea (Hampshire). The area is part of a
Green Belt.
The
2001 census gave a population of 383,713 for the conurbation, which it calls the
Bournemouth Urban Area, and divides into five parts : Bournemouth, Burton, Christchurch, New Milton/Barton on Sea, and Poole. The equivalent population according to the 1991 census was 358,321.[
1]
These places are all in the continuously built-up area.
*
Alderney (Poole)
*
Ashley (Hampshire)
*
Barton-on-Sea (Hampshire)
*
Bear Cross (Bournemouth)
*
Bear Wood (Poole)
*
Boscombe (Bournemouth)
*
Bournemouth*
Branksome (Poole)
*
Broadstone (Poole)
*
Burton*
Canford Cliffs (Poole)
*
Charminster (Bournemouth)
*
Christchurch (Dorset)
*
Corfe Mullen (Dorset)
*
Creekmoor (Poole)
*
East Howe (Bournemouth)
*
Ensbury Park (Bournemouth)
*
Ferndown (Dorset)
*
Hamworthy (Poole)
*
Highcliffe (Dorset)
*
Hinton (Hampshire)
*
Holdenhurst (Bournemouth)
*
Kinson (Bournemouth)
*
Lilliput (Poole)
*
Longham (Dorset)
*
Lytchett Minster (Dorset)
*
Moordown (Bournemouth)
*
Muscliff (Bournemouth)
*
New Milton (Hampshire)
*
Northbourne (Bournemouth)
*
Oakdale (Poole)
*
Parkstone (Poole)
*
Pokesdown (Bournemouth)
*
Poole*
Sandbanks (Poole)
*
Southbourne (Bournemouth)
*
Springbourne (Bournemouth)
*
Throop (Dorset)
*
Upton (Dorset)
*
Walkford (Dorset)
*
Wallisdown (Bournemouth/Poole)
*
Winton (Bournemouth)
*
Waterloo (Poole)
*
Westbourne (Bournemouth)
*
West Howe (Bournemouth)
*
West Moors (Dorset)
*
West Parley (Dorset)
There are a number of nearby towns and villages that are only separated from the conurbation by narrow gaps. These include
*
Bransgore*
Milford on Sea*
Lymington*
Ringwood*
St Ives*
St Leonards*
West Moors*
Wimborne MinsterThe conurbation is served by a number of main roads. The
M27 motorway, which feeds the
M3 to London, ends on the eastern edge of the New Forest near
Southampton, but extends west as the
A31 trunk road. The A31 serves as a bypass for the conurbation, north of Poole and Bournemouth but south of many of the satellite towns, and is dual carriageway for most of its length. To the west the A31 merges with the A35 at
Bere Regis where they continue west to
Dorchester and
Exeter. The A35 runs through the centres of the main towns in the conurbation. The
A338 is the main arterial route in Bournemouth, running as a dual carriageway from Bournemouth town centre to the A31, and as a single carriageway north to
Salisbury. The
A350 is Poole town centre's main artery, running north along Holes Bay to the A35, and as a single carriageway to
Bath and
Bristol. The
A337 runs east to Lymington and the New Forest.
The conurbation is served by the
South Western Main Line which runs from
London to
Weymouth via
Winchester,
Southampton and Dorchester. There are stations at New Milton, Hinton Admiral, Christchurch, Pokesdown, Bournemouth, Branksome, Parkstone, Poole, Hamworthy and Holton Heath. The
Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway to Bath had its southern terminus here, until its closure in the
Beeching Axe.
