The area was a manor called 'Herpere' when it was recorded in the Domesday Book. The modern name for the area (the coppice to the south and a dwelling to the east) is Hurpston, perhaps the name is descended from the 'Herpere Stone'. The stone stands on the bank which divides Harpstone from Hide.
The following is an extract from the third edition of “The History and Antiquities of the County of Dorset” by John HUTCHINS, edited by W. SHIPP & J. W. HODSON, published by J. B. Nichols & Sons, Westminster, 1860-74, transcribed and donated to the Dorset OPC Project by Kim Parker [link to source]:
In the bank which divides Harpstone from Hide is a remarkable stone placed at right angles to its natural bed, and rising 9 ft. above the ground. Its greatest width is 2 ft. 6 in. It retains its natural form, except that it is much honeycombed by the weather, and is probably of great antiquity, though with what object it was placed on this spot it is now impossible to determine. Large stones as well as barrows and springs were often objects of special notice in very early times, and this stone may perhaps have derived its distinctive appellation from its locality. Thus the Herpere stone or Harpine stone may easily, in common parlance, have become Herpestone or Harpestone, and then the name, when once established, may in time have modified the original denomination of the adjacent lands. It seems pretty certain, however, that Harpstone is the Herpere of Domesday.
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