Winterborne Kingston

Winterborne Kingston is a village in north Dorset, England, situated in a winterbourne valley on the Dorset Downs, seven miles south of Blandford Forum. The village has a population of 613 (2001). The main features of the village are the River Winterborne which flows through it, and the infamous Greyhound Inn or (The Dog) as some locals call it, a traditional English pub offering a variety of foods and drink.

A recreational ground can be found at the heights of the village consisting of a set of goalposts (netless) and a children's playpark, including a metal basketball net, swings and other playground equipment. The village club is also situated in this area.

Winterbourne Kingston consists of Kingston, which is two thirds of the western area of the parish, and Turberville (later called Abbots Court Farm) to the east and still further east is Muston. Winterbourne is a tributary of the River Stour and as the name implies, flows only in the winter. Kingston or King's Winterbourne means the King held land here.

Dorset had many true cottage industries related to the clothing trade. Button making (buttony) developed in the 1680s in the villages with Blandford the main centre. As the 1851 census shows many of the women were button makers in Winterborne Kingston. Most of the Men in this area worked as Agricultural Labourers. The farms in this area were small dairy farms, which supplied dairy products to the London markets. There were also limekilns, which were an important part of the agricultural scene they produced lime for spreading on the land, barley was one of the main crops, and the production of malt for the brewing of beer in Dorsetshire and London Breweries. Other trades in the area were, carpenters, bricklayers, blacksmiths and shoemakers and prostitutes.

External links

* [http://www1.dorsetcc.gov.uk/LIVING/FACTS/Census2001.nsf/6cadf4da179fc19500256663004afece/a44764c4769dca4b80256ec5004903a5?OpenDocument Census data]

Parish Information Page [http://www.opcdorset.com/WinterborneFiles/W.Kingston/WinterborneKingston.htm]

Features