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Winterborne St Martin

Dorset geography stubsVillages in Dorset
Martinstown church
Martinstown church

Winterborne St Martin, commonly known as Martinstown, is a village and civil parish in southwest Dorset, England, situated 4 miles (6.4 km) southwest of Dorchester, beside Maiden Castle. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 780. In the centre of the village is 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, village hall and post office. Bronze Age barrows including Clandon Barrow surround the village, and Maiden Castle hillfort is nearby. The stream running through the village is a winterbourne though rarely dries out in the summer now. Winterborne St Martin is in the UK Weather Records for the Highest 24-hour total rainfall, which was recorded in the village on 18 July 1955. The total recorded was 279 mm (11 inches) in a 15-hour period. However this record was surpassed by Seathwaite in Cumbria in 2009.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Winterborne St Martin (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Winterborne St Martin
Burnside,

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Latitude Longitude
N 50.6992 ° E -2.5009 °
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Burnside

Burnside
DT2 9JY , Winterborne St. Martin
England, United Kingdom
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Martinstown church
Martinstown church
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Maiden Castle, Dorset
Maiden Castle, Dorset

Maiden Castle is an Iron Age hillfort 1.6 mi (2.6 km) southwest of Dorchester, in the English county of Dorset. Hill forts were fortified hill-top settlements constructed across Britain during the Iron Age. The earliest archaeological evidence of human activity on the site consists of a Neolithic causewayed enclosure and bank barrow. In about 1800 BC, during the Bronze Age, the site was used for growing crops before being abandoned. Maiden Castle itself was built in about 600 BC; the early phase was a simple and unremarkable site, similar to many other hill forts in Britain and covering 6.4 ha (16 acres). Around 450 BC it was greatly expanded and the enclosed area nearly tripled in size to 19 ha (47 acres), making it the largest hill fort in Britain and, by some definitions, the largest in Europe. At the same time, Maiden Castle's defences were made more complex with the addition of further ramparts and ditches. Around 100 BC, habitation at the hill fort went into decline and became concentrated at the eastern end of the site. It was occupied until at least the Roman period, by which time it was in the territory of the Durotriges, a Celtic tribe. After the Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century AD, Maiden Castle appears to have been abandoned, although the Romans may have had a military presence on the site. In the late 4th century AD, a temple and ancillary buildings were constructed. In the 6th century AD the hill top was entirely abandoned and was used only for agriculture during the medieval period. Maiden Castle has provided inspiration for composer John Ireland and authors Thomas Hardy and John Cowper Powys. The study of hill forts was popularised in the 19th century by archaeologist Augustus Pitt Rivers. In the 1930s, archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler and Tessa Verney Wheeler undertook the first archaeological excavations at Maiden Castle, raising its profile among the public. Further excavations were carried out under Niall Sharples, which added to an understanding of the site and repaired damage caused in part by the large number of visitors. Today the site is protected as a Scheduled Monument and is maintained by English Heritage.

Upwey, Dorset
Upwey, Dorset

Upwey is a suburb of Weymouth in south Dorset, England. The suburb is situated on the B3159 road in the Wey valley. The area was formerly a village until it was absorbed into the Weymouth built-up area. It is located four miles north of the town centre in the outer suburbs. During the Census 2001 the combined population of Upwey and neighbouring Broadwey was 4,349. The village has a 13th-century parish church, dedicated to Saint Laurence, and a manor house, Upwey Manor, which was owned by the Gould family. A disc barrow is located above the village on the Ridgeway at map reference SY 663866. The former United Reformed Church was built in 1880–81 and closed in 1992.The River Wey rises at the foot of the chalk ridge of the South Dorset Downs, which rise above Upwey to the north, and flows through the village. The source is known as the Upwey wishing well and was a tourist attraction as far back as the Victorian era. There is now a tea room at the site, complete with mature water gardens. In the 18th century a water mill was built on the river, rebuilt in 1802; it featured in Thomas Hardy's The Trumpet Major; he also wrote a poem "At the Railway Station, Upway", which most likely relates to Upwey station. Another famous name associated with Upwey is that of Lucille Ball the American actress, comedian who was proud of her family and heritage. Her genealogy can be traced back to the earliest settlers in the colonies. One direct ancestor, William Sprague (1609–1675), left England on the ship Lyon's Whelp for Plymouth/Salem, Massachusetts. They were from Upwey, Dorset, England. Along with his two brothers, William helped to found the city of Charlestown, Massachusetts. Other Sprague relatives became soldiers in the US Revolutionary War and two of them became governors of the state of Rhode Island. Upwey features in Edward Chaney's Genius Friend: G.B. Edwards and The Book of Ebenezer le Page as the place in which Chaney got to know Gerald Edwards and encouraged him to complete his novel. Edwards died in the since-demolished 654 Dorchester Road, Upwey, on 29 December 1976.Upwey lends its name to Upwey, Victoria, in Melbourne, near Belgrave, Victoria.