Lydlinch

At the lower tier of local government, Lydlinch is a civil parish with a parish council of five elected members. At the upper tier, Lydlinch is in the Dorset unitary authority. For elections to Dorset Council is it in the Blackmore Vale electoral ward. Historically, Lydlinch was in Sturminster Rural District from 1894 to 1974, and North Dorset district from 1974 to 2019. For elections to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, Lydlinch is in North Dorset constituency. ==Parish church==

The Church of England parish church of St Thomas Becket has a 12th-century baptismal font, but the rest of the building is Perpendicular Gothic. The nave, chancel and west tower are 15th century. The north aisle and south porch were added in the 16th century. In the 19th century the north aisle was rebuilt and the north vestry added and the building was twice restored, the second time in 1875. The church is a Grade II* listed building. The tower has a ring of five bells. The 19th-century Dorset dialect poet William Barnes (1801–86), who was born just outside the parish in nearby Bagber, wrote of them "Vor Lydlinch bells be good vor sound, And liked by all the neighbours round". Thomas Purdue of Closworth, Somerset cast the second, fourth and tenor bells in 1681. Mears & Stainbank of the Whitechapel Bell Foundry recast the treble and third bells in 1908. The parish is part of the Benefice of Sturminster Newton, Hinton St Mary and Lydlinch. ==References==