OPC Vacancy
In Years Gone By The Village Today
Contiguous Parishes (Our Neighbours)
Alderbury with Clarendon Park – Durnford – Laverstock & Ford – Pitton & Farley – Winterbourne Dauntsey
Places Nearby
Winterbourne Dauntsey, Winterbourne Gunner, Porton, Idmiston, Gomeldon, Laverstock and Ford, Boscombe, Milford, Pitton and Farley are all within 3 miles of Winterbourne Earls. The city of Salisbury is 3½ miles.
Websites of Interest
The Parish Church of St. Michael & All Angels
The church was built in 1867/68 to serve the parishes of Winterbourne Earls and Winterbourne Dauntsey – both their churches being extremely dilapidated at that time. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners deemed it far less costly to build a new church to serve both villages than to repair the two old ones.
The walls of the new church were built entirely of flint stones from the two old churches; old mortar was sifted and used for sand. Other materials – ancient glass, and timbers were incorporated, memorials and windows were relocated. There is a scratch dial, or Mass clock, on the wall to the east of the entrance and another on the south side which were brought from the two old churches. The clocks were a form of sundial, but didn’t tell the time, only the hours of church services. For a detailed description of St. Michael and All Angels, see ‘Consecration of New Church 1868’ below.
The old church at Winterbourne Earls – St. Michael’s – was originally built in the 12th century. When Sir Richard Colt Hoare visited the parish in the 1830’s he described the church as “mean-looking with a wooden turret”. In June 1867, during its demolition, wall paintings were unearthed – four murals, one on a Norman wall, the others painted about c1553.
Thomas a Beckett was Parish Priest here in his early years. He often conducted Mass for Henry II and his Court at the grand medieval Clarendon Palace nr Salisbury.
St. Michael & All Angels is in the Bourne Valley Team Ministry which comprises the parishes of Allington & Boscombe, Cholderton, Newton Tony, Idmiston with Porton & Gomeldon, Winterbourne Gunner & Dauntsey, Old Sarum, Hurdcott and Ford. The Rector is the Reverend Peter Ostli-East. The church is normally open to visitors during daylight hours.
The Reverend John Hockin Cartwright was Perpetual Curate and Rector of Winterbourne Earls and Dauntsey for 31 years from 1844 – 1875.
St. Michael’s Gallery St. Michael’s Interior Gallery St. Michael’s Churchyard Gallery
Church Building
A New Church for Winterbourne 1867 Consecration of New Church 1868
Church Census
Church Interior
Church Supported Charities
Salisbury Infirmary Diocese of Salisbury Parish Donations 1858
Parish Register Transcripts
Marriages
1559-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1837
Registers held at WSHC
Baptisms 1557-1932
Marriages 1559-1982
Burials 1558-1949
Parish History
The Winterbournes were at one time Saxon settlement (nearby Figbury Rings is 400 B.C.). The parish was named by fusing Winterbourne, meaning winter stream, with Earls – from the Earls of Salisbury who owned the parish from at least the 11th century. Along with her neighbouring sister parishes of Winterbourne Dauntsey and Winterbourne Gunner, the village lies 3½ miles north east of Salisbury and encompasses the hamlet of Hurdcott. The Bourne, a tributary of the River Avon, runs through the parish.
The last lady of the manor, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury was executed by Henry VIII for High Treason on 27th May 1541. She was later beatified on the 29th December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII, her feast day being the 28th May.
During the 18th century the wool trade was a very important source of income here – in 1767 one farmer owned 3,000 sheep – the majority of parishioners were employed in agriculture. In the 19th century, the three villages were self-sufficient. There was a post office, public houses and a school, boot and shoe makers, a draper, tailor, carpenter, wheelwright, grocer and baker, blacksmith, dressmakers and laundresses, a thatcher, florist and shopkeepers, a carrier, coal merchant and even a seminary for young ladies.
In 1934, the modern civil parish of ‘Winterbourne’ was created joining together Earls, Dauntsey and Gunner. At the time of the Domesday survey (1087) the combined population of the three villages was about 200-250. In 2001 the combined population was 1,336.
Population and Other Information Map of the Three Winterbournes 1901
Civil Registrations
July 1837 – April 1936 Amesbury Registration District
April 1936 – Present Salisbury Registration district
Newspaper Articles
Newspapers are a treasure trove of information for family history researchers and social historians – you may find your ancestors mentioned in the court columns either as the perpetrator or victim of crime. Primarily, articles shown are those that contain names of parishioners to assist family history researchers but these articles should not be presumed to be the only ones that appear in the in the given years, or that there are no articles in any of the years omitted. 1800-1899
Buildings and Land
There was a 25 bed Isolation Hospital in the village from 1902 – 1913.
Agriculture
County Agriculture Report 1847
Landowners
Crime and Legal Matters
Animal Crime
Cruelty to a Dog 1855 Gross Cruelty to Sheep 1891
Assaults
Crime Reports
Fraud
Widow Tricked by Grandson 1937
Directories
| Post Office 1855 | Post Office 1859 | Kellys 1867 | Kellys 1875 | Kellys 1889 | Kellys 1895 | Kellys 1898 |
| Kellys 1903 | Kellys 1907 | Kellys 1911 | Kellys 1915 | Kellys 1931 | Kellys 1939 |
Education
Emigration and Migration
This section is awaiting information to be compiled
Employment and Business
Agriculture
Communications
British Postal Service Appointments 1737-1969
Community Services
Police
Miscellaneous Documents
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
People and Parish Notables
Celebrations
Census Returns Transcripts
1841 1851 1861 1871 1881 1891 1901 1911
Elections and Polls
Poll Book 1705 Poll of Freeholders 1772 Poll Book 1818 Voters List 1832 Poll Book 1865 MP Nominations 2015 MP Nominations 2017
Funeral Reports
Death of Village Blacksmith 1891-1892
General Items
Suppressing Sexual Irregularities 17th Century Secrets of Farming Book Subscribers 1863 Personal Memories 1875-1895
Inquest Reports
Parish Notables
Thomas a Beckett was Parish Priest here in his early years
Poor Law, Charity and The Workhouse
Guardians
Amesbury Union Guardians Appointed 1835
Overseers
Probate
War, Conflict and Military Matters
War Memorials & Military Gallery
The War Memorial stands in St. Michael & All Angels churchyard. It was unveiled on Sunday 2nd February 1921 and bears the names of 21 men from Earls, Dauntsey and Gunner who gave their lives in WWI, and 6 who fell in WWII.
WWI Casualties WWII Casualties
WWI
War Memorials and Books of Remembrance
Diocese of Salisbury Memorial Book WWI
Hurdcott
History
A house called The Poplars was a brush factory in the 19th century. The Black Horse pub was built in the 18th century. In 1795, Methodists met at the house of George Marshall; in 1843 a Wesleyan Methodist chapel was built which eventually closed in 1967.
Buildings and Land
Public Houses
Black Horse
Dated from the 17th century the building as it is today was originally 3 cottages one of which was a forge.
