My Area UK

West Knighton

West Knighton is a town or village in Dorset, England. There are five bus stops and the nearest railway station is Moreton, 4.9 km away. In June 2026, there were around 3 recorded street crimes, most commonly Other theft. This page gathers weather, crime, food hygiene, transport, flood risk, house prices, population, deprivation and your local MP for the West Knighton area — all from official UK open data.

On deprivation, the Dorset area is less deprived than the average in England (IoD2019). The wider council area has around 379,579 residents at roughly 152 people per km².

Council
Dorset
County
Dorset
Constituency
West Dorset
Police force
Dorset
55/ 100

My Area Score

Good

Ranked 118th of 294 English council areas — better than 60% of them.

Low crime86
Home affordability30
Affordable rents51
Good schools16
Life expectancy87
Low deprivation62
Employment82
Low council tax0

A percentile blend of eight open measures (100 = best in England); bars show this area’s England-wide percentile on each. See the rankings · methodology

Weather

16°CSunny

  • Today: 17° / 11° · 9% rain
  • Tomorrow: 17° / 11° · Overcast

Source: WeatherAPI

Daylight

Sunrise 06:34Sunset 19:39

13h 5m of daylight today

Next bank holiday: Christmas Day, Fri 25 Dec

Source: sunrise-sunset.org · gov.uk

Air quality

38US AQI · Good

Main pollutant: fine particles (PM2.5)

Source: WAQI · Bournemouth, United Kingdom

Crime

4 reported · July 2026 300% YoY

  • Violence & sexual offences2
  • Anti-social behaviour1
  • Other theft1

Neighbourhood team: Dorchester · Dorset

Local policing priorities

  • Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) - youth related nuisance Location: South Walks and Trinity Street Issue: Young people are gathering in groups…
  • Criminal damage and nuisance Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Location: River Walks Issue: Criminal damage to the boardwalk and reports of ASB…

Source: data.police.uk (within ~1 mile)

Road safety

686 reported road collisions (2024)

156 killed or seriously injured · 883 casualties · 18.1 collisions per 10,000 residents

Source: DfT reported road collisions (STATS19)

Food hygiene

22 food businesses within 2 miles

  • 16 rated 4–5 ★ (16 top)
  • 0 rated 0–2 (poor)

Source: Food Standards Agency

Flood risk

No active flood warnings nearby.

Buses & trains

  • Nearest station: Dorchester South (4.7 km)
  • 2 bus stops within ~½ mile

Live trains from Dorchester South (4.7 km):

Loading live departures…

Source: OpenStreetMap, National Rail

House prices

£325,410 average 1.6% YoY

Across Dorset · to 2026-06

Detached£515,144
Semi-detached£330,336
Terraced£264,807
Flat£167,991

Source: UK House Price Index (HM Land Registry)

Private rents

£1,051 average monthly rent 4.8% YoY

  • 1 bed £728
  • 2 bed £961
  • 3 bed £1,184

Source: ONS Price Index of Private Rents · to 2026-07

Affordability

9.9× house price to earnings

A typical home costs 9.9 times median annual pay (9.5× for cheaper homes vs lower pay).

Source: ONS house price to workplace earnings ratio · 2025

Fuel prices

  • Cheapest petrol: 163.9p · Morrisons (8.6 km)
  • Cheapest diesel: 182.9p · Morrisons (8.6 km)

5 stations within ~8 miles

Source: CMA fuel price scheme

EV charging

17 charging locations within ~8 km

  • 5 with rapid charging (50 kW+)
  • Fastest nearby: 75 kW
  • Nearest: Silverlake (2.2 km)

Source: Open Charge Map

Sport & leisure

  • Sports pitches2
  • Playgrounds1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Population

379,579 residents in Dorset · 152/km²

  • Under 16: 15%
  • 16–64: 55%
  • 65+: 30%

Source: ONS Census 2021 (local authority)

Deprivation

Less deprived than the average in England

Ranked 197 of 317 English local authorities (1 = most deprived)

3% of neighbourhoods are in England’s most deprived 10%

Source: English Indices of Deprivation 2019

Council tax

£2,765 a year · Band D, 2026-27

Most homes here are Band C (23% of 187,680)

A £1,843
B £2,151
C £2,458
D £2,765
E £3,379
F £3,994
G £4,608
H £5,530

Source: VOA council-tax stock · MHCLG band levels 2026-27

Schools

184 schools · 51,332 pupils

119 primary · 18 secondary · 47 other

Ofsted: 68 of 86 graded schools rated Good or Outstanding (79%)

158inspected under Ofsted’s 2024+ framework (graded by area, no single overall grade)

Secondary schools:

  • Beaminster SchoolGood
  • Dorset Studio SchoolGood
  • Gillingham SchoolGood
  • Shaftesbury SchoolGood
  • The Blandford SchoolGood
  • The Swanage SchoolGood
  • The Woodroffe SchoolGood
  • Wey Valley AcademyGood
  • All Saints' Church of England AcademyRequires improvement
  • Budmouth Academy WeymouthRequires improvement
  • Queen Elizabeth's SchoolRequires improvement
  • Ferndown Upper School
  • Lytchett Minster School
  • Sturminster Newton High School
  • The Gryphon School
  • The Purbeck School
  • The Sir John Colfox Academy
  • The Thomas Hardye School

Source: DfE Get Information about Schools · Ofsted · Dorset

Care & health services

385 CQC-registered services

  • Care homes121
  • GP practices59
  • Dentists84
  • Homecare agencies86
  • Hospitals & hospices14

CQC ratings: 96% of rated services Good or Outstanding · 2 Inadequate

Source: Care Quality Commission · Dorset

Heritage & planning

  • In a conservation area (West Knighton Conservation Area)
  • Not in the Green Belt
  • 33 listed buildings within ~1.5 km

Source: planning.data.gov.uk (England)

Planning decisions

662 applications decided

92.4% granted · 612 granted, 50 refused

Source: MHCLG planning statistics (PS2) · 2026 Q1

Your MP

Edward Morello

Liberal Democrat

West Dorset

Recent votes:

  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: Amendment 1
  • NoHealth Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 142
  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 140
  • AyeHealth Bill: Report Stage: New Clause 145

Source: UK Parliament

Council control

Liberal Democrat / Green coalition

  • Lab 2
  • Con 30
  • LD 42
  • Grn 4
  • Oth 4

Source: Open Council Data UK (CC BY-SA)

Amenities nearby

  • Schools1

Source: OpenStreetMap (within ~1 mile)

Local businesses

20,515 active business enterprises in the area

Source: ONS UK Business Counts (2025)

Jobs

5 jobs advertised

e.g. Delivery Opportunities Near Me? - Deliver with Uber Eats, Be Your Own Boss - Deliver with Uber Eats, Deliver with Uber Eats - Sign Up and Start Earning

Source: Adzuna

Local economy

£737 median full-time weekly pay

2.3% of residents aged 16–64 claim unemployment-related benefits

£27,403 disposable income per head (2024)

Source: ONS / Nomis (claimant count · ASHE) · ONS regional GDHI

Energy efficiency

43% of homes rated EPC C or above

Most common band: D · 186,790 certificates

9.9% of households were in fuel poverty (2023)

Source: MHCLG EPC statistics · DESNZ sub-regional fuel poverty

Grid electricity

57% low-carbon electricity

Solar 36% · Imports 30% · Gas 14% · Wind 12%

81 gCO₂/kWh · low intensity

Latest estimate for South England · National Grid ESO

Health

Life expectancy: 85.4 yrs women · 82.1 yrs men

Healthy life expectancy: 65.6 women · 65.3 men

66% of adults overweight or obese

Source: OHID Fingertips · 2025

Wellbeing

  • Life satisfaction7.6
  • Feeling worthwhile7.9
  • Happiness yesterday7.6
  • Anxiety yesterday (lower is better)2.9

Average rating out of 10 · ONS personal well-being 2022-23

Local petitions

Open UK Parliament petitions most signed in West Dorset:

Source: petition.parliament.uk · as of 2026-08-06

Notable places nearby

  • West Knighton, Dorset · 0.1 km

    West Knighton is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, situated 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of the county town Dorchester. It has an 11th-century church and a village pub. In the 2011 census the civil parish h…

  • Mayne Preceptory · 1.2 km

    Mayne Preceptory was a medieval house of Knights Hospitaller in Dorset, England, which caused the name of the settlement to change from Maine in Domesday to Friar Mayne by the mid-14th century. It was formerly located…

  • Broadmayne · 1.2 km

    Broadmayne is a village in the English county of Dorset. It lies two miles south-east of the county town Dorchester. The A352 main road between Dorchester and Wareham passes through the village. In the 2001 Census the…

  • Whitcombe, Dorset · 1.7 km

    Whitcombe is a small village and civil parish in the Dorset unitary authority area of Dorset, England, situated 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Dorchester. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the populatio…

  • Whitcombe Church · 1.8 km

    Whitcombe Church in Whitcombe, Dorset, England was built in the 12th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is now a redundant church in the care…

  • West Stafford · 2.0 km

    West Stafford is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated in the Frome valley 2 miles (3.2 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 291. The village contains t…

Source: Wikipedia (text under CC BY-SA)

Frequently asked questions

Where is West Knighton?
West Knighton is a town in Dorset, England, in the Dorset local authority.
How deprived is West Knighton?
The Dorset local authority, which includes West Knighton, is less deprived than the average in England on the IoD2019.