Wimborne Minster

Sturminster Marshall is a village and civil parish in east Dorset in England, situated on the River Stour between Blandford Forum and Poole. The parish had a population of 1,895 at the 2001 census, increasing to 1,969 at the 2011 Census and includes the village of Almer west of Sturminster Marshall, near Winterborne Zelston and the hamlet of Henbury to the south-east of the village. The village is twinned with the French commune Sainte-Mere-Eglise The appropriate electoral ward is called 'Stour'. From Sturminster Marshall the ward goes east to Pamphill, with a total population of 2,582.

The station sits 26m above sea level, and whilst only 8 miles from the coast it is protected by the prevailing south-westerly winds by the Isle of Purbeck, and a low-level ridge between the village and the coast. Situated in the valley of the River Stour can result in cooler winter nights than the surrounding area, and although the instruments have been placed as carefully as possible, the residential location and integrated sensor suite of the Vantage Vue poses siting limitations and minor inaccuracies of data can result from time to time.

For example in 2015 the main station was mounted at 2m for accurate rainfall and temperature measurements, then in 2017 it was moved to 10m to improve the accuracy of wind measurements, but this in turn resulted in under-recording of rainfall measurements in windy conditions and elevated minima on clear winter nights. In 2020 a supplementary Davis Vantage Pro anemometer with wireless transmitter kit was mounted at 10m and the the Vantage Vue repositioned at 2m, so all measurements should now be as accurate as possible.