Sydling St Nicholas is a village and civil parish in the West Dorset district of Dorset in southwest England. The parish is 5 to 9 miles (8.0 to 14.5 km) northwest of the county town Dorchester and covers most of the valley of the small Sydling Water in the chalk hills of the Dorset Downs. The parish has an area of 2,075 hectares (5,130 acres) and includes the hamlet of Up Sydling in the north.