Dorchester is Dorset's county town, on the River Frome, and its parish includes Poundbury and Fordington.
Photo: Alex Liivet a derivate work by MrPanyGoff, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia CommonsComing soon
Every business we list is phoned and checked first, so towns fill up one at a time. Many businesses based nearby already cover Dorchester: try the trade you need across Dorset.
Dorchester is in the Dorset Council area, so planning applications and building control go through Dorset Council.
The centre of Dorchester is in a conservation area, and there are 278 listed buildings within a kilometre of the centre, 4 of them Grade I. In a conservation area the work you can do without planning permission is more limited, so check before changing windows, doors, roofs or front boundaries. Listed buildings need listed building consent for most changes, inside and out.
The Dorset National Landscape is within 2km of the centre of Dorchester. If your home is inside a National Landscape, permitted development rights are more limited, so check before extending.
Some land within a kilometre of the centre of Dorchester is in Flood Zone 3, the Environment Agency's highest flood risk category, from rivers. Check the flood risk for your address before major ground-floor work, and ask about flood-resilient options when you replace floors, kitchens or electrics.
Updated 7 November 2026
