Wyke once a picturesque hamlet has, due to development found itself partly swallowed up within the boundary settlement borders of Gillingham, the most northerly town in the Blackmore Vale area of Dorset. It straddles the B3081 Wincanton road in the Northwest aspect of the town.

There has been a settlement at Gillingham since 2500 BC. Just a mile to the north west of the town is Longbury Barrow (Slaughtergate, Wyke)- an ancient burial mound dating from the Neolithic period. The Romans also settled here and all sorts of artefacts have been found around the town, particularly at Commonmead Lane, Wyke and Bugley. However, it was the Saxons who really established the town, from which the name is derived meaning "homestead of the followers of Gylla" and there is plenty of evidence of Saxon occupation in the area of Wyke in the form of "place names", the name of the fields (i.e. 'Heronfields' ), layout of the fields and the formation of the lanes formed by the instability of the heavy Saxon plough evident from the inverted "S" shaped contours e.g. Langham Lane. Gillingham's church, St Mary the Virgin's Church, has several Saxon remains including a cross shaft dating from the ninth century.  The town has retained some historic buildings most notably the mid-17th Century Tudor Wyke Hall, which along with the church is the oldest building in the town.  Other buildings in Wyke listed for protection due to their historical importance are;   The Old Brewery,  Brewery House and St. George's Church, Langham.

Mentioned in the Norman, Domesday Book of 1086, Gillingham was also the seat of a Royal Hunting Lodge and Royal Forest in the Middle Ages used by Henry I, II & III and King John, until destroyed by Edward III in 1369 after it fell into disrepair.   The ancient Queen's Farm at Thorngrove was used as a reception place for the Queen when the King came to Gillingham. From 1769 Gillingham developed as a mill town for silk. The town flourished with the coming of the railway in the nineteenth century and a variety of industries have supported the town including glove making, brick making, cheese production and printing.   A large brewing business was established in Wyke by the Mathews family in what is now referred to as the The Old Brewery, adjacent to Brewery House and the Old Coach house where the dray horses were stabled. There was something covering virtually every need of the Victorian Age and from 1890 Wyke even had its own school.

Gillingham is still an excellent link in the rail network with regular trains connecting the town with London and the South East as well as trains onwards to Devon and the South West.