Winterborne Whitechurch

Winterborne Clenston is a small village and civil parish in Dorset, England, around 3+1⁄2 miles (5.5 kilometres) southwest of Blandford Forum. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 40.The first part of the village name comes from the River Winterborne, which flows from north to south through the village. The river only flows overground during the winter, hence the name. In 1312 the patron of the church was Roger de Clencheston, who most likely had a farm here, after which the second part of the village name derives.To the north of the village is Winterborne Stickland and to the south is Winterborne Whitechurch. The river flows through both these villages as well.The parish church of St Nicholas dates from 1840. It is built in bands of stone and flint and has a spire on top of a narrow tower. It stands alone above the Winterborne on the site of an earlier church.The village manor is a late-15th- to early-16th-century building of Purbeck and Portland stone with courses of flint. It was built in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries and is a Grade I listed building. It has mullioned windows and a gabled staircase turret on the west side. Nearby is a sixteenth-century tithe-barn with a hammerbeam roof, also a listed building but falling into disrepair. In 2008, Historic England funded the erection of scaffolding and temporary repairs to the structure, but by 2016, a permanent repair had not been made.About 100 metres (300 feet) east of the manor house is a field barn which is also a Grade II listed building. It is also built in bands of flint and stone and has a door made of planks and a thatched roof. It forms an important group with the Manor House and the Manor House Barn.

Winterborne Stickland is a village and civil parish in the county of Dorset in southern England. It lies about four miles (six kilometres) west of the town of Blandford Forum. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 520. In the 2011 census the parish, combined with the smaller neighbouring parishes of Winterborne Clenston to the south and Turnworth to the north, recorded a population of 653. For unknown reasons, the 1881 census listed 10 residents of Chorley, Lancashire as having been born in the village. Winterborne Stickland is sited in a winterbourne valley in the Dorset Downs, which gives rise to the first part of its name. The second part "Stickland" is derived from sticol, Old English for "steep".Blandford Forest is a scattered area of woodlands northwest of Blandford Forum that is located within a 10 km radius of Winterborne Stickland.

Winterborne Houghton is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England. It is situated in a winterbourne valley on the Dorset Downs, five miles (eight kilometres) southwest of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the parish had 82 households and a population of 183. In 2001 the population was 195.The name "Winterborne" derives from the River Winterborne, which has its source here. The river only flows overground during the winter, hence the name. To the east is Winterborne Stickland and the river flows on to this village, eventually joining the River Stour. To the southwest is Milton Abbas.Residents of Winterborne Houghton used to be known as "Houghton Owls", in reference to the story of a villager who, when calling for help having got lost in the woods, mistook the calls of owls for answering human voices. In his book Dorset Villages Roland Gant posits the theory that Thomas Hardy used this tale as inspiration for the scene where Joseph Poorgrass gets lost in Yalbury Wood in Far from the Madding Crowd.

Milton Abbas is a village and civil parish in Dorset, England, lying around 5 miles (8 kilometres) southwest of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had a population of 755. This planned community was built after the old Town was demolished in the 1770s, said to be "the largest such project in England at the time".

Combs Ditch is a linear earthwork in Dorset on Charlton Down. It was once at least 6.4 km long but now only 4.4 km is visible. It is sometimes spelt Comb's Ditch or Combe Ditch. The earthwork consists of a bank with a ditch on the north east side. Combs Ditch forms the boundary between several parishes in Dorset. The parishes of Charlton Marshall and Spetisbury lie to the north east of Combs Ditch while Winterborne Whitechurch, Winterborne Kingston and Anderson lie to the south west.Combs Ditch is to the north of the Roman road that ran from Badbury Ring to Dorchester but there is no evidence that it intersected the road. The bank ranges from 5.4 m to 8.5 m wide with a maximum height of 2.2 m. The ditch varies in width from 4.8 to 8.5 m. Excavation found third- or fourth-century Roman pottery lying on the turf line behind the bank probably before its final reconstruction. The limited excavation seems to show an Iron Age boundary ditch being enlarged into a defensive earthwork in the late Roman or post-Roman period. This is similar to the nearby linear earthwork of Bokerley Dyke. It is a scheduled ancient monument.

Winterborne Muston is a village in Dorset, England. The first name of "Winterborne" comes from the River Winterborne, which flows from west to east through the village. The river only flows overground during the winter, hence the name. To the west is Winterborne Kingston and to the east is Anderson. The river flows through both these villages as well.

Milton Abbey school is an independent school for day and boarding pupils in the village of Milton Abbas, near Blandford Forum in Dorset, in South West England. It has 224 pupils as of September 2023, in five houses: Athelstan, Damer, Hambro, Hodgkinson and Tregonwell. The school was founded in 1954 and is co-educational.The school has a stunning rural campus, with facilities that include a gym, swimming pool, golf course, a 320-seat theatre, art department and design block including fashion suite, an astro turf hockey pitch, an outward bound area, a 15th-century dining hall, an Abbey chapel that can be traced back to the 10th century and grounds designed by Lancelot "Capability" Brown. Recent building developments include a turbo cycling training facility and interactive golf simulator. The main house, which was built by Joseph Damer, 1st Earl of Dorchester from 1780 onwards, houses the administrative hub of the Estate, classrooms, the Staff Common Room, the King's Room, two of the boys' boarding houses (Athelstan and Hambro) and a girls' boarding house (Hodgkinson). Two newer buildings finished in 2013 hold the remaining girls' (Damer) and boys' (Tregonwell) boarding houses.

Blandford Forest is a scattered area of woodland centred to the northwest of the town of Blandford Forum in North Dorset, England.

Anderson Manor is a Grade I listed manor house in the Dorset village of Anderson in England. It was built in 1622 for John Tregonwell. Today it is privately owned, but its gardens are open to the public under the National Gardens Scheme. The gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.

Turnworth is a small village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated on the Dorset Downs five miles (eight kilometres) west of Blandford Forum. It consists of a few cottages and farmhouses scattered around a church and manor house. In 2013 the civil parish had an estimated population of 30.In 1086 in the Domesday Book Turnworth was recorded as Torneworde; it had 19 households, was in Pimperne Hundred and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Alfred of 'Spain'.The church, with the exception of the tower, was rebuilt in the 19th century with assistance from Thomas Hardy, who designed the capitals and possibly also the corbels. Hardy described Turnworth's position as being "stood in a hole, but the hole is full of beauty", and he used Turnworth House as the inspiration for Hintock House in his novel The Woodlanders.Nearby is Ringmoor, an ancient settlement on the top of the scarp face of the downs. The manor house in the area is Turnworth House, which was demolished in 1947.

Winterborne Tomson is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Anderson, in the Dorset, district, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. In 1931 the parish had a population of 35. On 1 April 1933 the parish was abolished and merged with Anderson.

St Andrew's Church in Winterborne Tomson, Dorset, England, was built in the 12th century. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade I listed building, and is a redundant church in the care of the Churches Conservation Trust. It was declared redundant on 1 June 1972, and was vested in the Trust on 26 March 1974.The small flint and stone Norman Anglican Church of St Andrew has an apse at the east end and a barrel vault roof which curves around it. The roof was replaced and windows inserted in the 16th century. The oak door is heavily studded. The interior has limewashed walls, a 15th-century font and flag stone floor, along with early 18th-century oak fittings. The eighteenth century oak pews, the pulpit, screen, communion rails and matching table with barley sugar turned legs, and other woodwork were provided by William Wake, Archbishop of Canterbury, who had been raised in the village of Shapwick and whose family lived locally. The west end has a late medieval gallery with a panelled front which was probably originally a rood screen. The roof is topped by a small weatherboard belfry which resembles a dovecote.By the early 20th century, the church had fallen into disrepair and was being used as an animal shelter by a local farmer. Repairs were paid for by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings who sold a collection of Thomas Hardy’s manuscripts to raise the funding. The work was supervised by A. R. Powys who also oversaw the work at the Old St Cuthbert's Church, Oborne.