The Parish of Winterborne Herringston
Winterborne Herringston is a small parish in south Dorset, situated 2 miles south of Dorchester and 5 miles to the north of Weymouth. It is surrounded by the parishes of Dorchester (formerly Fordington parish) to the north, Winterborne Came to the east, Bincombe to the south and Winterborne Monkton to the west. The whole parish is part of the Dorset Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), designated in 1959.A map of parish boundaries can be found here
The parish is perhaps best known for the swathes of snowdrops which appear each spring on either side of Herringston House's driveway. Most of the other houses are, or were formerly, estate cottages.
The village's name changed over the centuries, as follows:
- Wintreburne 1086 (Domesday Book)
- Winterborn Harang 1243
- Wynterburne Heringeston 1288
- Heryngston 1464
The village is named after the Winterborne river flowing through the valley, the Harang family, who owned the manor and 'tun' means 'estate' or 'village' [Mills 1998]. The same family owned Chaldon Herring and Langton Herring. The parish originally had a chapel or church (marked on OS maps as being situated under the front lawn of Herringston House) and later a chapel within the house itself [Good 1987]. Baptisms, marriages and burials of the parishioners are divided between Came and Monkton parish registers.
The Online Parish Clerk (OPC) for Winterborne Came is James Purkiss. You may contact me by e-mail if you have further queries.
Please Note: I am an unpaid volunteer willing to assist others with their genealogical research and should in no way be confused with the Parish Council or Parochial Church Council clerks.
Available Genealogical Data
Parish Registers
There are no parish registers for Herringston; baptisms, marriages and burials took place at either Monkton or Came churches and details can be found on the respective pages for the parishes.
Maps
Civil Registration & Poor Law see section
Census
- 1841 6 June 1841
- 1851 30 March 1851
- 1861 7 April 1861
- 1871 2 April 1871
- 1881 3 April 1881
- 1891 5 April 1891
- 1901 31 March 1901
Postal Directories
I have transcribed one postal directory for the parish so far. More are available courtesy of the University of Leicester
Electoral Roll
The Dorset History Centre holds the electoral roll for the years 1838, 1840 and 1843.