{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Dorset, England}} {{Use British English|date=September 2023}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | official_name = Powerstock | static_image_name = Powerstock village centre - geograph.org.uk - 698231.jpg | static_image_caption = Powerstock | coordinates = {{coord|50.7635|-2.6865|display=inline,title}} | map_type = Dorset | population = 290 | population_ref = <ref name=dcc>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882|title=Parish Population Data|date=20 January 2015|accessdate=7 March 2015|publisher=Dorset County Council}}</ref> | unitary_england = Dorset | lieutenancy_england = Dorset | region = South West England | constituency_westminster = West Dorset | post_town = Bridport | postcode_area = DT | postcode_district = DT6 | os_grid_reference = SY517962 | website = [http://www.powerstock.org.uk Village photos] | dial_code = 01308 }}
'''Powerstock''' is a village and civil parish in south west Dorset, England, situated in a steep valley on the edge of the Dorset Downs, {{convert|5|mi|km|0}} north-east of the market town of Bridport. The civil parish includes the village of West Milton to the west and the summit and northern slopes of Eggardon Hill to the south-east. Powerstock village contains many cottages and two inns: ''The Three Horseshoes'' near the church and ''The Marquis of Lorne Inn'' on the other side of the valley in a small hamlet called Nettlecombe. The small Mangerton River runs through the valley.
In 2013 the parish had an estimated population of 290.<ref name=dcc/> In the 2011 census figures have been published for Powerstock parish combined with the small parish of North Poorton to the north; the population in this area was 358.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11127681&c=Powerstock&d=16&e=62&g=6418484&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1394831171649&enc=1|title=Area: Powerstock (Parish), Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics|publisher=Office for National Statistics|work=Neighbourhood Statistics|accessdate=14 March 2014}}</ref>
Powerstock was rated as among the "20 most beautiful villages in the UK and Ireland" by Condé Nast Traveler in 2020.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cntraveller.com/gallery/beautiful-villages-uk|title=THE 20 MOST BEAUTIFUL VILLAGES IN THE UK AND IRELAND, 20 October 2020|accessdate=14 March 2021}}</ref>
==History== The origins of the name Powerstock have not been fully determined; the second part derives from the Old English ''stoc'', meaning an outlying farmstead, but the first part—similar to the nearby settlement of Poorton—is unresolved.<ref name=Mills>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tXucAQAAQBAJ&q=powerstock+dictionary+place+names&pg=PA375|title=A Dictionary of British Place-Names|editor=David Mills|publisher=Oxford University Press|page=375|year=2011|isbn=9780199609086}}</ref> In the Domesday Book of 1086 it was recorded as ''Povrestoch''.<ref name=Mills/>
Powerstock Castle is a medieval motte and bailey castle. St Mary's Parish Church dates from the 12th century and is a Grade I listed building.<ref>{{cite web |title=Powerstock Pages 181-186 An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 1, West. |url=https://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol1/pp181-186 |website=British History Online |publisher=HMSO 1952 |access-date=11 June 2023}}</ref>
According to one source, the name was 'Poorstock' until the Bridport Railway was built through the village in 1857, when the change to Powerstock was made to avoid connotations of 'poor (rolling) stock'.<ref>Diana P Read ''Powerstock Station All Change''. {{ISBN|0-9527522-0-4}}</ref> However another source states the name existed in its current form as early as 1787.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dorsetlife.co.uk/2014/01/the-dorset-drive-the-valleys-of-the-west-and-the-scenic-coast-road/|author=Matt Wilkinson|title=The Dorset drive: The valleys of the West and the scenic coast road|date=January 2014|accessdate=15 May 2014|publisher=Dorset Life Magazine}}</ref> Powerstock railway station (and the entire Bridport branch line) closed on 5 May 1975.
==Landscape== '''Poorstock Forest''' was one of the 80 royal forests created by the Normans in the 11th, 12th and early 13th centuries, in part to support medieval hunting. The term ''forest'' originally referred to land where hunting and forestry rights were reserved for a monarch or the aristocracy.
The nearby Eggardon Hill (height {{convert|252|m|order=flip}}) lies about {{convert|1.5|mi}} south-east of the village. On the summit is a 14-hectare Iron Age hill-fort, from which can be viewed a wide panorama of the Dorset countryside. Just over a mile to the east of the village lies the nature reserve of Powerstock Common.
Another prominent hill is Drackenorth, some {{convert|3|km|order=flip}} north-northeast, which lies on the Jubilee Trail.
thumb|left|A cricket match at The Weir Cricket Ground, Nettlecombe There is also a cricket pitch located at The Weir playing field in Nettlecombe. This has traditionally been used by Powerstock and Hooke Cricket Club. It has also been used to host Powerstock's Village Fete.
==In popular culture== Powerstock was used as the filming location for a BBC production of Agatha Christie's ''A Murder is Announced'' and the 2010 Springwatch series.
{{clear}} center|750px|thumb|Panorama of Powerstock, December 2010
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Commons category|Powerstock}} {{Dorset}}
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Category:Villages in Dorset