Radipole stands at the head of, and is named after, the lake, now an RSPB nature reserve, into which the River Wey flows, and which leads into Weymouth Harbour.

There is some evidence of prehistoric occupation, and it is believed that the Romans had a small port or landing stage at the head of the lake.

A Romano-British burial site was found nearby when the upper playing field of Southill Primary School was constructed.

[3] In the last decades, Radipole has experienced suburbanisation and accompanying road-building, as nearby Weymouth has expanded northwards.

The field known as Humpty-Dumpty Field immediately to the south of the churchyard, on the slope leading down to the head of the lake, is supposed once to have covered the site of the lost mediaeval village, and possibly even Roman remains, but any such evidence was destroyed by the action of the then landowner.