UK Genealogy Archives logo
DISCLOSURE: This page may contain affiliate links, meaning when you click the links and make a purchase, we may receive a commission.

Winterborne Whitechurch, Dorset

Historical Description

Winterborne Whitechurch, a parish, with Winterborne Whatcombe hamlet and Law Lee tithing, in Dorsetshire, 5 miles WSW of Spetisbury station on the Somerset and Dorset Joint railway, and 5½ SW of Blandford. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office under Blandford. Acreage, 2922; population of the civil parish, 414; of the ecclesiastical, 422. Whatcombe Mansion is a handsome building, and belongs to the Mansel-Pleydell family. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Salisbury; net value, £90 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Salisbury. The church is a building of stone and flint in mixed styles of architecture, and has been restored. There are a Wesleyan chapel and a working-men's club.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyDorsetshire 
DioceseBristol1542 - 1836
DioceseSalisbury1836 -
HundredCoombs Ditch 
Poor Law unionBlandford1835 -
Registration districtBlandford 
Registration sub-districtMilton Abbas 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Church Records

The parish register dates from the year 1599. 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. Mary (parish church)

The parish church of St. Mary is an edifice of stone and flint, in mixed styles, consisting of nave, aisles, south transept, south porch and a central embattled tower containing 5 bells: the font bears date 1450, and the beautifully decorated pulpit, brought from the old parish church at Milton, has been restored: there are several tablets to former vicars and residents: the east and west windows are stained, and there are others, two being in memory of Lieut. Tyrwhitt, son of a former vicar: in 1829 the church was restored, at a cost of about £2,000, and in 1870 a new organ was added and further restoration effected, at a cost of £69: there are 400 sittings: the yew trees in the churchyard form a delightful avenue from the east entrance to the church.


Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.

Winterborne Whitechurch 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 Whitechurch are available from a number of sites:


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.

DistrictNorth Dorset
CountyDorset
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtDT11
Post TownBlandford Forum

Advertisement

Advertisement