Winterborne Whitechurch
| Winterborne Whitechurch | |
|---|---|
 Blandford Hill, Winterborne Whitechurch |
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 Winterborne Whitechurch
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| Winterborne Whitechurch shown within Dorset | |
| Population | 757 |
| OS grid reference | ST837002 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Dorset |
| Fire | Dorset and Wiltshire |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
Winterborne Whitechurch, also Winterborne Whitchurch, is a village and civil parish in central Dorset, England, situated in a winterbourne valley on the A354 road on the Dorset Downs 5 miles (8.0 km) south-west of Blandford Forum. In the 2011 census the civil parish had 354 dwellings, 331 households and a population of 757.
Evidence of prehistoric human activity in the parish consists of 7 barrows and a linear dyke known as Combs Ditch. The dyke was probably a boundary in the Iron Age but was subsequently modified until it had a more defensive purpose by the end of the Roman occupation. One of the barrows near the dyke was excavated in 1864; one cremation and four inhumations were found, as well as crude arrowheads within a bucket urn. There used to be at least five other barrows but these have been destroyed by more recent human activity.
In 1086 in the Domesday Book Winterborne Whitechurch was recorded as Wintreborne; it had 3 households, 1.5 ploughlands and 6 acres (2.4 ha) of meadow. It was in the hundred of Combsditch, and the lord and tenant-in-chief was Milton Abbey.
The parish church, dedicated to St Mary, has a chancel dating to around 1200, a 14th-century crossing and 15th-century south chapel and central tower. The nave was rebuilt in 1844 by Benjamin Ferrey, who also added a south porch and north and south aisles. Until 1933 the church and the western part of the village formed part of neighbouring Milton Abbas parish, resulting in Winterborne Whitechurch church standing outside its own parish.
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