Winterborne Zelston is a village and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in north

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

, England. It is situated in a winterbourne

valley A valley is an elongated low area often running between Hill, hills or Mountain, mountains, which will typically contain a river or stream running from one end to the other. Most valleys are formed by erosion of the land surface by rivers ...

on the

A31 road The A31 is a major trunk road in southern England that runs from Guildford in Surrey to Bere Regis in Dorset. Route of road The road begins in Guildford at the start of Farnham Road near Guildford Station, coming out of the town and passin ...

south of

Blandford Forum Blandford Forum ( ), commonly Blandford, is a market town in Dorset, England, sited by the River Stour, Dorset, River Stour about northwest of Poole. It was the administrative headquarters of North Dorset District until April 2019, when this ...

and northwest of

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

. The parish had a population of 141 in 2001. In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90. The first name of "Winterborne" comes from the River Winterborne, which flows from west to east through the village. Zelstone is probably from the name of the Zeals family. The river only flows overground during the winter, hence the name. To the west is

Winterborne Tomson Winterborne Tomson is a village in the district of North Dorset, Dorset, England. Overview The first name of "Winterborne" comes from the River Winterborne, which flows from west to east through the village. The river only flows overground dur ...

and to the north-east is

Almer Almer is a village in Dorset, England. Almer is located on the A31 road near Winterborne Zelston, Huish Manor, Sturminster Marshall and opposite the Drax estate. The main features of the village are Almer Manor, Almer Parish church and the old ...

. The river flows through both these villages as well. Winterborne Zelston, notcieboard and flowers - geograph

The church

The parish church is dedicated to

St Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and is a Grade II

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

, being inscribed in the register on 14 July 1955. The tower dates to the fifteenth century but the rest of the building was rebuilt by the architect

Thomas Henry Wyatt Thomas Henry Wyatt (9 May 1807 – 5 August 1880) was an Anglo-Irish architect. He had a prolific and distinguished career, being elected President of the Royal Institute of British Architects 1870–73 and being awarded its Royal Gold Medal for A ...

in 1866, using some materials from an earlier building. Although the main fabric dates from this rebuild, the building has several older features such as a fourteenth century doorway in the south vestry wall, and some of the windows in the chancel, which are thirteenth century. The tower is of rubble stone while the rest of the church is banded with flint and stone and the roofs are slated. The plan consists of nave, chancel, north aisle, south vestry, south porch and west tower. The tower has three stages, the parapet being battlemented and there being a gargoyle on the west wall. Internally, the nave has an arch-braced collar beam roof while the chancel has a wagon roof with plaster panels and moulded ribs.

References

External links

Winterborne Zelston – a brief history
{{authority control Villages in Dorset