Winterborne Houghton, Dorset
Historical Description
Houghton Winterborne, a parish in Dorsetshire, 4y miles WSW of Blandford station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint railway. It has a post office under Blandford; money order and telegraph office, Milton Abbas. Acreage, 1974; population, 221. The manor belonged to the Despencers, and is now the property of the Pleydell family. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Salisbury; value. £160 with residence. The church was rebuilt in 1862, and has an embattled tower.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
| Ancient County | Dorsetshire | |
| Diocese | Bristol | 1542 - 1836 |
| Diocese | Salisbury | 1836 - |
| Hundred | Pimperne | |
| Poor Law union | Blandford | 1835 - |
| Registration district | Blandford | |
| Registration sub-district | Milton Abbas |
Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.
Church Records
The parish register dates from the year 1558. The original register books are now deposited with the Dorset Archives Service, but have been digitised by Ancestry.co.uk and made available on their site (subscription required).
Churches
Church of England
St. Andrew (parish church)
The parish church of St. Andrew is an edifice of flint and stone in the Early English style, rebuilt and consecrated in 1862, and consisting of chancel, nave of three bays, south aisle, north porch and an embattled western tower containing 3 bells: the church plate includes a chalice and paten dated 1574. There are 227 sittings, 174 being free.
Civil Registration
For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.
Winterborne Houghton was in Blandford Registration District from 1837 to 1956 and Poole Registration District from 1956 to 1974
Land and Property
The Return of Owners of Land in 1873 for Dorset is available to browse.
Maps
Online maps of Winterborne Houghton are available from a number of sites:
- Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- Google Streetview.
- National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
- OpenStreetMap.
- old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
- Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
- A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)
Newspapers and Periodicals
The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the Dorset County Chronicle and the Sherborne Mercury online.
Visitations Heraldic
The Visitation of Dorset, 1623 is available on the Heraldry page.