Three Legged Cross

Three Legged Cross is an extended village within Verwood civil parish in east Dorset, England. It lies to the south of the town of Verwood and to the north of West Moors. Its population in 2014 was estimated at 2,740.^[1]

Three Legged Cross
Ringwood Road, Three Legged Cross
Three Legged Cross Location within Dorset
Population	2,740 (2014 est.)
OS grid reference	SU079057
Civil parish	Verwood
Unitary authority	Dorset
Ceremonial county	Dorset
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	WIMBORNE
Postcode district	BH21
Dialling code	01202
Police	Dorset
Fire	Dorset and Wiltshire
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	Christchurch
List of places UK England Dorset 50.851°N 1.888°W / 50.851; -1.888

Origins

Various explanations have been put forward for the etymology of 'Three Legged Cross', which is recorded as a toponym from the sixteenth century onwards. One theory is that a type of gibbet known as a 'three-legged mare' once stood here;^[2] another theory is that there may once have been a boundary stone in the area marking the convergence of three great estates: Lord Shaftesbury's to the west, Lord Normanton's to the north and east, and the nineteenth-century banking family, the Rolles-Fryer's, to the south.^[3] The simpler explanation is that the name signifies the zigzagging configuration of the B3072 through this district, whereby the road is effectively divided into three separate stretches, or 'legs'.^[4]

Politics

After 2019 structural changes to local government in England, Three Legged Cross is part of the West Moors and Three Legged Cross ward which elects two members to Dorset Council.^[5] Previously it was part of Vernwood and Three Legged Cross.