Winterborne Kingston

Icknield Street, a prehistoric route used by the Romans, passes through the village, and Roman artefacts have been found in ploughed fields. Dorset historically had many cottage industries related to the clothing trade. Button-making (buttony) developed in the 1680s in the villages with Blandford the main centre. The 1851 census shows that many of the women in Winterborne Kingston were button makers. Most of the men worked as agricultural labourers. The farms supplied dairy products to the London markets. There were also kilns that produced lime for spreading on the land. Barley was one of the main crops, and was used in the production of malt for brewing beer in Dorsetshire and London.…

Winterborne 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. Still further east is the hamlet of Winterborne Muston. The River Winterborne which flows through the village is a tributary of the Stour. As the name Winterborne implies, the river tends to flow only in winter. Kingston means the King held land here and bourne is an old Dorset word meaning river, thus the name of the village can be translated as "King's Land by the Winter River". Amenities in the village include the Greyhound Inn, the Church of St Nicholas, Dunbury Academy School, the village hall and a recreational ground…