Winterborne St Martin

Welcome to the Online Parish Clerk (OPC) website for 

Winterborne St Martin (Martinstown)  in Dorset, England.

Winterborne St Martin, more commonly known as Martinstown, is a large rectangularly shaped parish about 2.5miles (4kM) south west of Dorset's county town of Dorchester. It has an area of some 3500 acres on both north and south sides of the South Winterbourne river. 

It lies on chalk with overlying gravels and sands in its higher areas. The southern boundary runs along the South Dorset Ridgeway at over 500 feet (152m) above sea level (known locally as the sea wall), the river drains the valley with higher ground  to the north rising again to 500 feet (m). The former Roman Road (Dorchester - Exeter), now the A35 trunk road, forms the northern parish boundary. 

There were originally three riverside settlements in the parish. Martinstown in the centre, Ashton in the east and Rew (a deserted village) to the west. All three of these settlements had long rectangular blocks of land on both sides of the river, many of their ancient boundaries survive as modern hedgerows.

The Parish has some 118 round barrows - probably the most in any Dorset parish. Maiden Castle, one of the largest pre-historic earthworks / hillforts in the country (dating from the Neolithic to the late Roman period) is just to the east in the parish of Winterborne Monkton.

Parish Location area :  (UK OS mapping)

SY 68 NW,  SY 68 NE,  SY 69 SW, SY 69 SE  (see location map below)

< Please click on the menus and sub menus on the left hand side to navigate this website.

^ You may have to click on the 3 bars in the top left corner if you are viewing on a small device.

Searches can be made using the magnifying symbol in the top right hand corner ^

 The Dorset Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Winterbourne Abbas is since May 2025 : 

   Richard Crumbleholme

            Old Manor Cottage, Winterbourne Steepleton, Dorset DT2 9LG

            e mail : r.crumbleholme (type @ here) gmail.com

Part of the Dorset Online Parish Clerks Network - Links to : Dorset OPC HOME PAGE

This OPC site has nothing to do with the village's Parish Council !

Enquiries, comments and corrections along with new material, photographs and records are most welcome - preferably by email please.

My thanks to the previous OPC's & Transcribers whose researches have been reproduced in this new website :

 Kim Parker, Wanda Garrett, Mari Viertal, John Ridout, & Terry Smith 

(acknowledged with their transcriptions) 

On line Parish Clerks are private volunteers who research the local history of their villages and the families who lived in them. Whilst every effort has been made to transcribe records accurately, researchers should, where possible, always check primary sources. The main local source is the Dorset History Centre in nearby Dorchester (Formerly the County Record Office).                                                                    

All information, data and transcriptions on this site are intended for use in personal and private research only and may NOT be used for any commercial purpose. The writer excepts no responsibility for accuracy or for any comments made.

Website created May 2025  using Google Sites

My other Dorset OPC websites are :

Winterbourne Abbas OPC : https://sites.google.com/view/winterbourne-abbas

Winterbourne Steepleton OPC : https://sites.google.com/site/winterbournesteepletonopc/home

Dorset Windmills (linked from main Dorset OPC) : sites.google.com/site/dorsetwindmills