{{Short description|Hamlet in Dorset, England}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Use British English|date=June 2025}} {{Infobox UK place | official_name= Nether Cerne | country= England | region= South West England | static_image_name= Idyllic village - geograph.org.uk - 519501.jpg | static_image_caption= Nether Cerne | population= 20 | population_ref= <ref name=dcc>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|title=Parish Population Data|publisher=[[Dorset County Council]]|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=7 March 2015}}</ref> | os_grid_reference= SY670983 | coordinates = {{coord|50.7829|-2.4691|display=inline,title}} | post_town= Dorchester | postcode_area= DT | postcode_district= DT2 | dial_code= | constituency_westminster= [[West Dorset (UK Parliament constituency)|West Dorset]] |unitary_england = [[Dorset (district)|Dorset]] |lieutenancy_england = [[Dorset]] }}
'''Nether Cerne''' is a hamlet and [[Civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in the [[English county]] of [[Dorset]]. It lies within the [[Dorset (unitary authority)|Dorset]] unitary authority administrative area, about {{convert|5|miles|km}} north of the county town [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] and {{convert|12|miles|km}} south of [[Sherborne]]. The [[A352 road]] which connects those towns lies about {{convert|250|m|yards}} to the west. [[Dorset County Council]]'s latest (2013) estimate of the parish population is 20.<ref name=dcc/>
==Etymology== For Cerne, see [[River Cerne#Etymology |River Cerne: Etymology]].
==Description== Nether Cerne is sited by the small [[River Cerne]] which rises near [[Minterne Magna]] {{convert|4|miles|km}} to the north and runs in a narrow valley which is aligned roughly north-south. The Cerne Valley is one of several roughly parallel valleys which drain the [[Escarpment|dip slope]] of the [[Dorset Downs]].
The settlement of Nether Cerne comprises a church and adjacent late 17th-century house, plus a few cottages.<ref name=Gant/> In 1906 [[Sir Frederick Treves, 1st Baronet|Sir Frederick Treves]] described the house and church as ''"ancient old cronies, still hobnobbing together"''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Sir Frederick Treves|title=Highways and Byways in Dorset|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924028032351|publisher=Macmillan & Co. Ltd|page=[https://archive.org/details/cu31924028032351/page/n364 339]|year=1906}}</ref> [[All Saints Church, Nether Cerne|All Saints Church]] was originally built from rubble and flint in the second half of the 13th century,<ref name=Gant>{{cite book|author=Roland Gant|title=Dorset Villages|publisher=Robert Hale Ltd|pages=148–9|year=1980|ISBN=0 7091 8135 3}}</ref> though it was restored in 1876<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.opcdorset.org/NetherCerneFiles/NetherCerne.htm|title=Nether Cerne|accessdate=20 February 2013|publisher=Dorset OPC Project}}</ref> and has a 15th-century tower.<ref name=Gant/> It is maintained by [[Churches Conservation Trust|The Churches Conservation Trust]] (previously the Redundant Churches Fund).<ref name=Gant/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Commons category-inline}}
[[Category:Hamlets in Dorset]] [[Category:Civil parishes in Dorset]]