Formerly a separate village and civil parish, Allington and Bridport had grown to be contiguous by the end of the 19th century.

Allington Hill rises to 89 metres (292 ft) above the town; it is managed by the Woodland Trust.

In 1086 in the Domesday Book Allington was recorded as Adelingtone;[3] it had 21 households, 3 ploughlands, 10 acres (4.0 ha) of meadow and one mill.

[4] The parish church at North Allington, dedicated to St Swithun, was designed by Charles Wallis of Dorchester and built in 1826–27, and is a Grade II* listed building.

Over time, much of the built-up area of the Allington neighbourhood, including the area around St Swithun's Church, transferred to Bridport Municipal Borough or later Bridport civil parish, leaving only a suburban fringe and rural hinterland in Allington parish.