Bournemouth is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. The 2021 census built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest town in Dorset. Previously an uninhabited and rarely-visited heathland, other than by occasional fishermen and smugglers, a health resort was founded in the area by Lewis Tregonwell in 1810.