Removal companies · Dorset
Removal companies in Dorset, north to the coast
More people live in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole than in the whole of the rest of Dorset. The county is not one place, and a job at each end of it is a different day's work: market towns and vale lanes in the north, where a truck usually reaches the door, and a coastal conurbation in the south east with its own council and its own parking rules. Marley Moves covers eight Dorset towns from one yard in Shaftesbury, SP7, the nearest two miles out and the furthest forty, using our own crew rather than subcontractors. Written quote back within the hour.
Get a written quote within the hour
5.0 ★★★★★ Google rating · Family-run · Insured £2.5m · Or call 01747 637070
Get a written quote within the hour
5.0 ★★★★★ Google rating · Family-run · Insured £2.5m · Or call 01747 637070
Dorset towns we cover
Dorset towns we cover
8 core Dorset towns with their own dedicated coverage page covering distance, postcodes, route notes and town-specific FAQs.
Why us, here
Choosing between Dorset removal companies
Three things separate one Dorset removal company from another once the prices are side by side. The first is which end of the county they actually work. Ours is the north: the yard is in Shaftesbury and the A350 runs south from it, so Blandford, Poole and Bournemouth sit on a scheduled route rather than a special trip, Dorchester and Weymouth go down the A354, and Sherborne is west on the A30. The second is how far they are from your front door. Half our Dorset towns are inside fifteen miles of the yard, which makes getting someone in front of the house cheap for us and quick for you; the coastal towns are further out and get grouped into a run, so we ask for a little more notice down there. The third is how much of the job they can do without bringing anyone else in. House removals are the core of it, and packing, storage, house clearance, piano and specialist handling, man and van work and long distance moves out of the county are all quoted together on one schedule rather than through three separate suppliers.
Local knowledge
North Dorset and the BH coast are two different jobs
North Dorset is the patch we are in every week. Shaftesbury sits on a greensand escarpment above the Blackmore Vale, Gillingham is three miles down the B3081, Blandford Forum thirteen miles south and Sherborne fourteen miles west, so all four are inside a morning. The jobs look alike from town to town: period frontages opening straight onto narrow pavements, market days in Blandford and Sherborne that set the loading window, and villages where the obstacle is a single lane and a gate rather than a parking bay. When a vehicle cannot get close it is usually a wall in the way, not a permit. The BH end is a different trade. Bournemouth and Poole are twenty-eight to thirty-two miles down the A350 and sit under BCP Council rather than Dorset Council, so the parking and dispensation side of the same job goes through a different authority with its own rules. Flats and maisonettes make up 37% of the housing there against 15% across the rest of Dorset, and that one number explains most of the difference: lift dimensions and booking slots decide the running order, and a long carry from the nearest legal kerb is routine rather than unusual. Dorchester and Weymouth sit in between, thirty-one and forty miles out on the A354, one with a pedestrianised centre and the other with a harbour bridge that lifts on a timetable. That is why we price on the property and the access rather than a mileage table. A Poole flat with a lift booking can take longer than a four-bedroom house in the vale twenty-five miles closer to the yard.
Spotlight
The A350, the C13, and the moves that cross Dorset
Dorset has no motorway, so everything crosses it on trunk roads, and this year it is crossing on fewer of them than usual. The C13 through Dinah's Hollow, the direct road between Shaftesbury and Blandford, closed on 5 January 2026 for a year of slope stabilisation. The A350 is carrying the diverted traffic, and the signed southbound lorry route runs the long way round, out on the A30 and back down the A357 through Stalbridge before rejoining the A350 at Durweston. Dorset Council put it plainly when the same road shut before, describing the A350 as the sole practical north to south link through the county. For us that means a Blandford, Dorchester, Weymouth or Poole job leaves the yard earlier than it did last year, and we say so when we quote rather than on the morning. The moves themselves cross the county more often than people expect. Downsizing runs south, out of a family house in the vale and into a flat near the sea, and that is the job most likely to need storage, because the sale and the purchase rarely land on the same day. Family moves run the other way, out of a BH flat into a house with a garden inland, usually with packing added because there is more to shift than there was last time. Probate and end of tenancy clearances turn up at both ends. Long distance work out of Dorset starts exactly like a local job and simply carries on past the county boundary.
Free fixed quote
Ready for a Dorset removal quote?
We send every quote back within the hour. It is usually fixed straight away; if a survey is needed, we confirm the fixed price afterwards. Pick whichever bit fits your pace.
Pricing
What does a Dorset house removal cost?
Three things set the figure and distance is the smallest of them: how much there is to move, the access at both ends, and how much of the packing you want us to do. Access is the part people underestimate, because none of it shows up in the particulars. Where a truck can legally stand, how far the carry runs from there, whether there is a lift and whether it can be booked, all of that changes the crew and the hours before it changes the price. Long distance moves out of Dorset are priced as a fixed figure for the route. We look at the property before the number is fixed, so nothing changes on the morning.
All services across Dorset
Dorset removal services in full
Studios to 5-bed homes.
Man & Van →Fixed-price small moves and single-item pickups.
Packing Services →Full or part packing for kitchen, china and art.
Storage →Containerised storage collected and re-delivered by our removals team.
House Clearances →Probate, downsizing, end-of-tenancy.
Long Distance →Anywhere in the UK, one crew.
Specialist Removals →Antiques, fine art and other fragile, heavy or awkward items.
Piano Removals →Upright and grand pianos, moved on their own or as part of a wider move.
Frequent questions
What people ask about moving in Dorset
Which Dorset towns do you cover?
Our Dorset coverage runs from Shaftesbury and Gillingham through Sherborne, Blandford Forum and the county town to Weymouth, Bournemouth and Poole, with North Dorset towns and villages such as Sturminster Newton, Marnhull and Stalbridge also within the area we quote. If your village does not have a page of its own, send us both postcodes and we will confirm availability rather than treating the website list as a boundary.
Are you a Dorset removal company, or a national firm covering Dorset?
Marley Moves is an independent, family-run removals company operating from our SP7 base near Shaftesbury. We do not pretend to have depots in every Dorset town: the same Marley operation covers the county routes shown on this site, with the starting point and travel built into the quote.
Do you cover Bournemouth and Poole as well as North Dorset?
Yes, most weeks. They are twenty-eight to thirty-two miles down the A350 and we run them as a route rather than a one-off, which is what keeps the price sensible from this far north. Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole come under BCP Council rather than Dorset Council, so anything involving parking or a suspended bay is arranged with a different authority, and we sort that out before the day.
How much does a house removal in Dorset cost?
There is no published rate, because the two things that move the price most are volume and access, and neither is visible from a postcode. Two identical three-bedroom houses can price differently on access alone, depending on where the truck can stand and how far the carry runs from there. We put the figure in writing after the survey, so it is settled before you commit to a date.
Can you store our things between two Dorset moves?
Yes. Containerised storage can be quoted alongside a Dorset removal when completion dates do not line up, during downsizing or while renovation work is under way. Marley Moves handles the collection and re-delivery, with storage charges and insurance responsibilities set out before you commit.
How far ahead should we book a Dorset move?
Two to four weeks is comfortable for a move inside the county and gives you a choice of dates. Fridays and month ends go first, and so does anything in the school holidays. Short notice is often still workable in North Dorset because the yard is close enough to shuffle things around; the coastal towns are harder at short notice because those days are routed in advance.
Next step
Get a written fixed quote for your Dorset move
Tell us the origin and destination postcodes, rough size and ideal date and we will send a written quote setting out the agreed scope and relevant cover.
Free fixed quote
Like the sound of us?
We send every quote back within the hour. It is usually fixed straight away; if a survey is needed, we confirm the fixed price afterwards. Pick whichever bit fits your pace.