The civil parish comprises the town of Verwood together with the extended village of Three Legged Cross, and in 2014 had a population of 15,170 (according to Dorset County Council).

[3] Verwood is recorded as "Fairwod" (1329) and as "Fayrwod" (1436); this name has the meaning "fair wood" and the modern form shows the change of initial "f" to "v" characteristic of many Southwestern English dialects.

The major production was of domestic earthenware although finer and more unusual pieces have been found from earlier times.

Until the end of their useful life, the methods of production had not varied from Roman times, all the processes being carried out with no mechanisation or electrification.

For these reasons the Crossroads Pottery, then the last remaining in the area, attracted national and local newspaper attention in the early to mid-20th century.

The hall has come under threat on a number of occasions, each time public pressure resisting its demolition.

Two plaques on the front of the stone are dedicated to the gallant souls who died in both world wars[7] Verwood's first supermarket opened in the 1980s.

[8] Verwood is a part of the North Dorset constituency[9] represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Simon Hoare, a Conservative.

The market sells locally produced seasonal vegetables and fruit, plants and cut flowers, homemade cakes and jams and craft items.

The Hub houses the 300 seat Merryfield Theatre, a 100-seat hall and a number of other smaller rooms.

As at 2022, Verwood Concert Brass is in the championship section in the West of England Region under the baton of Kevin Smith.

This resulted in two trips to the National Brass Band Finals of Great Britain in Harrogate where they finished 6th and 7th respectively.

It hosts Europe's longest-running Beatles themed radio show ('BeatlesandBeyond') on its regular schedules.

VerwoodToday is an interesting online local source of news [15] Viewpoint Magazine has been established for over thirty-five years and has its roots in Verwood.

In April 2011 the magazine expanded into West Moors, Ashley Heath and St Ives.

Verwood also hosts three large family events: Verwood Carnival traditionally takes place on Spring Bank Holiday Monday, the Rustic Fayre on August Bank Holiday Monday, and Flameburst on the last Saturday in October.

The barrow was excavated by archaeologists in 1828, where human remains dating back to the Iron Age were found.

[25] The Stone is an ancient block of sandstone, placed in a seemingly random location deep in the woods.

Although it is now lying flat, it is thought to have originally stood upright so its height above the ground may have exceeded 10 feet.

The area is once meant to have been open heathland, with the view maybe extending as far as Hengistbury Head on the coast.

In 1993, a prominent sacred site investigator named Peter Knight[26] led a project to rediscover the stone.

[27] Records suggest that many years ago, the local inhabitants regarded the stone with a sort of superstitious reverence and told long tales about the impossibility of removing it.

There was meant to be a golden casket buried underneath the stone, and a belief that "if anyone attempted to remove it, a black bird of dire omen perched upon its top to scare the miscreants."