Walpole. Between 1780 and 1830 it was leased to General Thomas Garth, principal equerry to King George III. The General adopted King George III's illegitimate grandson by Princess Sophia, and brought him up at the manor. In 1861 the house was acquired by John Brymer and remained in the possession of the Brymer family for the next century. The family built new cottages and a reading room in the village, and a new manor next to the church, which they restored. Governance In the UK national parliament, Puddletown is within the West Dorset parliamentary constituency, which is currently represented by Chris Loder of the Conservative Party. In local government, Puddletown is governed by Dorset Council at the highest tier, and Puddletown Area Parish Council at the lowest tier. In national parliament and district council elections, Dorset is divided into several electoral wards, with Puddletown lying within Puddletown ward. In county council elections, Dorset is divided into 42 electoral divisions, with Puddletown being within Linden Lea Electoral Division. Geography Puddletown civil parish extends between the flood plain and watermeadows of the River Frome in the south to the chalk watershed of Puddletown Down in the north. It covers and is bisected by the River Piddle, which crosses it from west to east. Measured directly, Puddletown village is about northeast of Dorchester, west of Poole and southwest of Blandford Forum. The bedrock geology of the parish comprises rocks formed in the Santonian and Campanian ages of the Cretaceous period and the Eocene age of the Palaeogene period. In places these are overlain by younger Quaternary drift material: river terrace and head deposits, clay-with-flints, and alluvium—the last found only in the valley floors of the larger watercourses. On Puddletown Heath (now mostly covered by Puddletown Forest) are more than 370 solution hollows or sinkholes; these constitute the largest concentration of hollows on the heathlands in the area. The River Frome, which forms the southern boundary of the parish, is designated by Natural England as a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Southwest of the village and almost wholly within the parish is Puddletown Forest, which covers and is managed by Forestry England. The forest is on the edge of the Dorset Heaths Natural Area and some of the forest is being restored to heathland; the heath flora consists of Calluna, Ulex gallii, Ulex minor and bilberry; fauna includes the rare smooth snake and sand