[1] On 1 April 2010 the parish was abolished and merged with Turners Puddle to form "Affpuddle & Turnerspuddle".

The village is linear and made of brick, stone and thatched cottages and has a 13th-century church dedicated to St Laurence.

The village was established during or before the Saxon era, and was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Affapidela, having a manor house belonging to the Abbot of Cerne.

The church of St Laurence is noted for its elaborate pews, dated 1545 or 1547, and the finely carved pulpit, undated but in a very similar style.

[4] The earliest records in Dorset of the agricultural practice of flooding fields to form watermeadows refer to Affpuddle in the early 17th century; Edward Lawrence, the lord of the manor at the time, was interested in agricultural improvement and favoured the use of flooding here and in neighbouring Briantspiddle and Pallington, where he also had manors.