Winterborne St Martin
| Winterborne St Martin | |
| Dorset | |
|---|---|
 Parish church of St Martin | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SY650890 |
| Location: | 50°41’57"N, 2°30’3"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 780 (2013 est.) |
| Post town: | Dorchester |
| Postcode: | DT2 |
| Dialling code: | 01305 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Dorset |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
West Dorset |
| Website: | martinstown.co.uk |
Winterborne St Martin, commonly known as Martinstown, is a village in south-western Dorset, four miles south-west of the county town, Dorchester, and standing beside Maiden Castle. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 780.
In the centre of the village stands the parish church of St Martin, which dates from the 12th century and has a Norman font. Other amenities in the village include a public house, a village hall and a farm shop. Bronze Age barrows, including Clandon Barrow, ring the village, and Maiden Castle, a vast hill-fort, is nearby. The stream running through the village is a winterbourne; a seasonal stream.
Winterborne St Martin is in the Weather Records for the 'Highest 24-hour total' of rainfall on record, which was recorded in the village on 18 July 1955. The total recorded was 11 inches in a 15-hour period.
History
In 1086 the Domesday Book records Winterborne St Martin as Wintreburne.[1] It had 22 households, 6 ploughlands, 13 acres of meadow and 1 mill. The lord and tenant-in-chief was Hawise, wife of Hugh son of Grip.[2]
In 1268, King Henry II granted a charter to Winterborne St Martin, which allowed the village to hold an annual fair within five days of St Martins Day. The fair, which in times past was a leading horse market and amusement fair, had been revived but the old-time custom of roasting a ram was replaced once during an event in the 1960s with a 'badger roast'. The 80 lb badger was caught in a snare and many villagers thought they were eating goose.
After a hundred years silence, bells in the church rang out in 1947. Five new bells were hung as a village memorial to those who died in the war. An earlier peal had been sold to defray debts.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Winterborne St Martin) |
References
- ↑ Dorset H-R - The Domesday Book Online
- ↑ Place: Martinstown (Open Domesday)
