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Dorset (or archaically, Dorsetshire), is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the area covered by the non-metropolitan county, which is governed by Dorset County Council, together with the unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. Dorset is an average sized county with an area of ; it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. Around half of Dorset's population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density. Dorset has a long history of human settlement and a rich culture. The county contains 1,500 scheduled ancient monuments, including the iron age hillfort, Maiden Castle; and more than 12,000 listed buildings. It is famed in literature as the birthplace of Thomas Hardy and has been an inspiration to several authors including Enid Blyton who used the local landscape in many of her books. The local people have their own regional dialect which is still spoken in parts; and their own peculiar food, like the Dorset Knob, a hard biscuit, and Dorset Blue Vinney cheese. The county hosts many annual events and fairs including the Great Dorset Steam Fair near Blandford, purported to be the largest outdoor event in Europe; and The Dorset County Show, a celebration of Dorset's relationship with agriculture. ==Performing arts and music== As a largely rural county, Dorset has fewer major cultural institutions than larger or more densely populated areas. Major venues for concerts and theatre include Poole Borough Council's Lighthouse arts centre, Bournemouth's BIC and Pavilion Theatre, Verwood's Hub, Wimborne's Tivoli Theatre, and the Pavilion theatre in Weymouth. Dorset's most famous cultural institution is perhaps the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra, founded in 1893 and now one of the country's most celebrated orchestras.〔(【引用サイトリンク】 url = http://www.bsolive.com/orchestra )〕 Since 1974, Dorset Opera have been running a residential, opera summer school. An annual production at Bryanston School near Blandford has a chorus of 50-80 pupils performing alongside soloists of international repute, a full professional orchestra with an acclaimed conductor and director.〔Hilliam, pp. 94-95〕 In 2011 this turned into Dorset Opera Festival. The Yetties are a folk music group who take their name from the Dorset village of Yetminster which was their childhood home. The Yetties now live in Sherborne (just a few miles from Yetminster) and they draw on their personal experiences of country life for much of their material. Some of the songs they sing recall what life was like when they were kids helping the farmers at harvest time, scrumping when the farmers weren't looking, raiding the countryside for food and eating rabbit for practically every meal. Dorset is the birthplace of musicians John Eliot Gardiner, Greg Lake and Robert Fripp. Dorset's dramatic coastline, countryside, manor houses and gardens have featured in a number films and television productions including, perhaps unsurprisingly, adaptations of ''The Mayor of Casterbridge'', ''Tess of the D'Urbervilles'' and ''Far from the Madding Crowd''. Lyme Regis was the home of author John Fowles and the 1980 film ''The French Lieutenant's Woman'' starring Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons, based on his novel, was filmed there; the 2005 British fantasy film Nanny McPhee used the Isle of Purbeck as its setting; ''From Time to Time'' starring Dame Maggie Smith was filmed at Athelhampton House near Dorchester.〔 Mapperton House and its gardens have been the setting for many period dramas such as the 1996 ''Emma'', starring Gwyneth Paltrow, adapted, from Jane Austen's novel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Culture of Dorset」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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