Hazelbury Bryan

Coordinates: 50°52′44″N 2°21′48″W / 50.8789°N 2.3632°W / 50.8789; -2.3632

Coordinates: 50°52′44″N 2°21′48″W / 50.8789°N 2.3632°W / 50.8789; -2.3632{{#coordinates:}}: cannot have more than one primary tag per page Hazelbury Bryan is a village in the county of Dorset in southern England. It is situated in the Blackmore Vale in the North Dorset administrative district of the county, five miles southwest of the small town of Sturminster Newton. The parish includes the hamlets of Droop, Kingston, Parkgate, Pidney, Pleck, Wonston and Woodrow. At the 2001 Census the parish had a population of 800.

The name of the village is derived from "haselbere" ("hazel wood") and Sir Guy de Bryan of Woodsford Castle, who gave his name to the village in the 14th century when he married the daughter of the First Earl of Salisbury. The original settlement in the village is the hamlet of Droop, which is the location of the parish church. The church, which is not the first on the site, dates mostly from the 15th century. The other hamlets in the village are believed to have originated as a result of the Black Death twice afflicting the original settlement, and the villagers responding by burning it and rebuilding several smaller settlements on higher ground nearby.