OPC Vacancy
In Years Gone By Gallery The Village Today Gallery
Contiguous Parishes (Our Neighbours)
Durnford – Idmiston – Pitton & Farley – Porton – Winterbourne Dauntsey – Winterslow
Websites of Interest
The Parish Church of St. Mary The Virgin
Church Building & History
The church, consisting of a chancel, nave with south porch and a tower, has its origins in the 12th century. It is reputed to have been “much injured” by Cromwellians during the English Civil War. When Sir Richard Colt Hoare visited in the 1830’s, he wrote that the church was “small, and contains nothing of interest”.
There is a well preserved scratch dial, or Mass clock, on the east side of the porch – not its original position because it doesn’t get the sun and is upside down! The clock was a form of sundial, but didn’t tell the time, only the hours of church services.
St. Mary’s is in the Bourne Valley Team Ministry which comprises the parishes of Allington & Boscombe, Cholderton, Newton Tony, Idmiston with Porton & Gomeldon, Winterbourne Earls & Dauntsey, Old Sarum, Hurdcott and Ford. St. Mary’s is normally open to visitors during daylight hours. The Rector is the Reverend Canon V S Perrett.
The Reverend Charles Coleman, who died in 1815, was Rector of this parish for 46 years. His son, the Rev Charles John Coleman, succeeded him.
St. Mary’s Gallery Brief History St. Mary’s Bells
Church Census
Church Fines, Taxes & Tithes
Seizure for Visitation Fees 1866
Church Interior
St. Mary’s Interior Gallery Church Interior Wall Monuments
Church Officials
Curates
Extraordinary Letter from Curate 1887
Rectors
Church Supported Charities
Salisbury Infirmary Diocese of Salisbury Parish Donations 1858
Churchyard
St. Mary’s Churchyard Gallery Churchyard Memorials Inscriptions
Parish Register Transcripts
Extracts from the Parish Register Parsonage Access Rights
Marriages
1560-1599 1600-1699 1700-1799 1800-1837
Burials
Registers held at WSHC
Baptisms 1573-1974
Marriages 1560-1982
Burials 1560-1992
Parish History
Winterbourne Gunner is one of only two parishes in Wiltshire named after women. Winterbourne, meaning winter stream, is fused with Gunner – from Gunnora, wife of Henry de la Mare, who held the manor in the 13th century after her husband’s demise. Sitting cheek by jowl with her sister parishes of Winterbourne Dauntsey and Winterbourne Earls, the village lies 4 miles north east of Salisbury. The Bourne, a tributary of the River Avon, runs through the parish.
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 by joining together Earls, Dauntsey and Gunner. At the time of the Domesday survey (1087) the combined population of the three villages was approximately 200-250. In 2001, the combined population was 1,336. In Days Gone By Gallery The Village Today Gallery
Civil Registration
1837 – 1934 Amesbury Registration District
1935 – 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 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 given years, or that there are no articles in any of the years omitted. 1800-1899
Our Neighbours
Winterbourne Earls, Winterbourne Dauntsey, Porton, Idmiston, Pitton and Farley, Gomeldon, Boscombe, Milford and Allington are all within 3 miles of Winterbourne Gunner. The city of Salisbury is 4 miles.
Population Figures
Buildings and Land
Agriculture
County Agriculture Report 1847
Landowners
Land Surveys
Crime and Legal Matters
Crime Reports
Theft
Directories
| Post Office 1855 | Post Office 1859 | Post Office 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
Employment and Business
Agriculture
Apprentices
Apprentice records published here may not necessarily mean that the apprentice was from the parish but was apprenticed to a master within the parish.
John Bannell 1717 James Blackmnore 1756
Communications
British Postal Services Appointments 1737-1969
Miscellaneous Documents
Non Conformity and Other Places of Worship
The Methodist Chapel
A meeting house certificate was applied for in 1809 when Methodists were meeting at the house of Thomas Tutton. In 1818 a Methodist Chapel and schoolroom was built, the property of Elizabeth Sutton. It remained open for worship until 1968 when dwindling congregations caused it to join with worshippers at neighbouring Idmiston. In 1974 this also closed and the members moved to the chapel at Winterbourne Dauntsey, from when it was known as the Bourne Valley United Methodist Free Church. The chapel building at Winterbourne Gunner is now two houses. (from Wiltshire Community History)
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 2017
General Items
Secrets of Farming Book Subscribers 1863
Inquests
Gentleman Commits Suicide 1901
Obituaries
Poor Law, Charity and The Workhouse
Amesbury Union Guardians Appointed 1835
Overseers
Probate
Estate & Effects Sales
War, Conflict and Military Matters
Soldiers Inquests
The War Memorial stands in St. Michael & All Angels churchyard at Winterbourne Earls. It was unveiled on Sunday 2nd February 1921 and bears the names of 21 men from Earls, Dauntsey and Gunner who died in World War I, and 6 who fell in World War II.
WWI Casualties WWII Casualties
A school of chemical warfare was situated here in 1926. Its modern counterpart today is the MoD CBRN (Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear) School of Training
