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Kington Magna is a parish and village 7 miles west from Shaftesbury in the Blackmore Vale. This area was described by Thomas Hardy as the "vale of little dairies" and even today dairy farming dominates the landscape. The western edge of the parish is part of the border with Somerset, above is the small parish of Buckhorn Weston, to the north east is Gillingham, West Stour is to the South.

The name Kington Magna means 'great King's Town' it derives from cyne- (later cyning) and tūn, Old English for 'royal estate or manor'. The affix magna, Latin for great, was added to distinguish it from Little Kington, a smaller settlement nearby. In 1086 in the Domesday Book these were recorded together in three entries as Chintone, which had 27 households and a total taxable value of 13 geld units, and was in the hundred of Gillingham. In 1243 it was recorded as Magna Kington.

The Church of All Saints is in the Early English style and has a square embattled tower. Parts of the church are Norman, it underwent a restoration in 1862. The registers date from the year 1660. In 1851 a Primitive Methodist chapel was built in the village; it was on Chapel Hill, which runs parallel to Church Hill. A National School was built in 1854 for 100 children.

In the 19th century there was a thriving brick making business here. The soil is loam and clay and is mainly down to pasture. There are 1891 acres and in 1891 the population was 497. Hamlets within the parish are Higher Nyland, Bye, Hartmoor and Bowdere.

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