The Incumbency of Bere Regis and Affpuddle
with Briantspuddle and Turnerspuddle

This benefice lies in beautiful rural Dorset, between Dorchester and Poole. The parish of Affpuddle with Turnerspuddle is situated on the river Piddle in a chalk valley ten miles east of Dorchester. To the north and east, about four miles by road from Affpuddle, lies the larger village of Bere Regis on the Bere stream, surrounded by farmland where the chalk downs meet the heathland. The benefice is in Purbeck, but lies on the edge of both Deanery and District boundaries and is split by a parliamentary boundary.

The benefice was formed on the retirement of the Rev. Johnson at Affpuddle in 1976, and the parishes were joined under the care of Canon Denis Shaw in 1977. Previous to this change, Affpuddle was joined with Tolpuddle, and Bere Regis had a longstanding daughter church at Winterborne Kingston.

The grid references of the villages mentioned in the parish title are:

Bere Regis church SY84379477, Affpuddle church SY80549370, Briantspuddle SY81909320, Turnerspuddle church (redundant) SY82999348

These centre of the area containing these villages may be viewed on a map by clicking on multimap.com

The parish is a large parish and extends ino the surrounding countryside over a much larger area than the villages mentioned in the title.