Cheriton Care Home in Dorchester is a real home-from-home in the heart of Dorset’s county town.
This beautiful Tudor-clad house features 70 newly refurbished bedrooms, comprising Badbury House and Maumbury House where we offer 24-hour a day high-quality and affordable residential, respite, reablement and dementia care.
We want it to feel like home so we’ve taken care and time to furnish our communal rooms so they’re comfortable and welcoming. We have four lounges and two dining rooms which means there’s plenty of space for group activities, or somewhere to find a quieter spot.
Social activities
We’re lucky to have two activities coordinators – one, who works with you one-to-one, spending time getting to know your likes and dislikes, and another, who organises the group activities. Four-legged and feathered friends are always welcome, at Cheriton. We love it when visitors bring their pets in. Barclay the golden retriever visits every Friday and can always be sure of plenty of cuddles and treats. We welcome all sorts of musical entertainers, including singers, ukulele-players and interactive musicians getting our residents involved with percussion and sing-a-long leaders. We have links with a local Dorchester preschool. Each Wednesday children visit us to play games and sing songs and nursery rhymes.
Dining
At Cheriton Care Home you will be served freshly prepared home-cooked meals by our team of expert chefs. They ensure all our meals are healthy, nutritionally balanced and, most importantly, locally sourced wherever possible. Meals are served in one of our superb dining rooms, but you also have the option for food to be served in your room for a more private dining experience.
Nutrition is an important part of the care we provide. That’s why our catering team take time to get to know your likes and dislikes before putting together a vibrant and varied menu for you to choose from.
Bedrooms
We have 70 bedrooms for people living at Cheriton, with a range of room sizes, including some able to accommodate couples. We have ground floor rooms with direct access to the garden or our courtyard and the first-floor rooms that are fully accessible, by stairs or a lift.
The bedrooms are a blank canvas for you to personalise with your own photos, pictures and furniture to help you feel at home. It also helps our care team understand what’s important to you, help in building a warm relationship.
Gardens
We have two secure enclosed gardens where you can join in outdoor activities or simply enjoy being outside. The garden has level access, a lawn area and a patio. Each bedroom with direct garden access has a patio table, chairs and planters outside their door.

Members of our gardening club discuss and decide on new planting they’d like to see in the garden.

But perhaps our most popular garden resident is Trott the tortoise. Trott belongs to a member of our team and comes to spend the summer at Cheriton. While Trott has the run of the garden, he loves to spend time with Pete the gardener.