Silton

{{Short description|Village in Dorset, England}}

{{other uses|Silton (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}

{{Use British English|date=June 2025}}

{{Infobox UK place

|country = England

|official_name = Silton

|static_image_name = Silton, parish church of St. Nicholas - geograph.org.uk - 522899.jpg

|static_image_caption = Parish church of St Nicholas, Silton

|coordinates = {{coord|51.0631|-2.3127|display=inline,title}}

|civil_parish =

|population = 123

|region = South West England

|constituency_westminster = North Dorset

| unitary_england= Dorset

| lieutenancy_england= Dorset

|post_town = Gillingham

|postcode_district = SP8

|postcode_area = SP

|dial_code =

|os_grid_reference = ST783293

}}

Silton is a small village and civil parish in north Dorset, England, situated in the Blackmore Vale {{convert|4|mi|km|abbr=off|0|spell=on}} northwest of Gillingham. In the 2011 census, the civil parish had 57 households and a population of 123.{{cite web |url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=7&b=11128523&c=Silton&d=16&e=62&g=6417974&i=1001x1003x1032x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1433415533092&enc=1 |title= Area: Silton (Parish). Key Figures for 2011 Census: Key Statistics |publisher=Office for National Statistics |work=Neighbourhood Statistics |accessdate=5 February 2015}}

In 1086, Silton was recorded in the Domesday Book as Seltone;{{cite web |url=http://www.domesdaybook.co.uk/dorset3.html#silton |title=Dorset S–Z |publisher=domesdaybook.co.uk |work=The Domesday Book Online |accessdate=5 February 2015}} it had 16 households, 11.5 ploughlands, {{convert|28|acre|ha|abbr=off|0}} of meadow and 4 mills. It was in the hundred of Gillingham and the tenant-in-chief was William of Falaise.{{cite web |url=http://domesdaymap.co.uk/place/ST7829/silton/ |title=Place: Silton |work=Open Domesday |publisher=domesdaymap.co.uk |accessdate=5 February 2015}} This original settlement was near the church, on a low ridge between the River Stour and a minor tributary to the southwest.{{cite web |url=http://www.british-history.ac.uk/rchme/dorset/vol4/pp76-79 |title='Silton', in An Inventory of the Historical Monuments in Dorset, Volume 4, North (London, 1972), pp. 76-79 |work=British History Online |publisher=University of London |date=2014 |accessdate=5 February 2015}}

Silton was for many years the country residence of Sir Hugh Wyndham (1602–1684), whose memorial by the sculptor Jan van Nost is in the parish church of St Nicholas. Wyndham's Oak, an historic tree named after Wyndham, stands nearby.{{cite web |title=English Tree of the Year 2018 - Woodland Trust |url=http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods/tree-of-year-2018/england/ |publisher=Woodland Trust |accessdate=8 October 2018}}

Henry Harris farmed at Manor Farm in Silton, and represented the parish on the Shaftesbury Rural District Council from 1910-13. The Harris family still farms at Manor Farm today.