Winterborne Zelston

{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Dorset, England}}

{{Infobox UK place

|country = England

|static_image_name = St Mary's Church, Winterborne Zelston, Dorset.JPG

|static_image_caption = St Mary's Church, Winterborne Zelston

|coordinates = {{coord|50.7774|-2.146|display=inline,title}}

|map_type = Dorset

|official_name = Winterborne Zelston

|population = 90

| unitary_england= Dorset

| lieutenancy_england= Dorset

|post_town = Blandford Forum

|postcode_area = DT

|postcode_district = DT11

|constituency_westminster = North Dorset

|region = South West England

|os_grid_reference = SY898976

}}

Winterborne Zelston is a village and civil parish in north Dorset, England.{{cite web|title=Winterborne Zelston|url=http://www.seleston.co.uk/wzindex.html|access-date=5 October 2011}} It is situated in a winterbourne valley on the A31 road {{convert|8|mi|km|0|abbr=off|spell=on}} south of Blandford Forum and {{convert|10|mi|km|0|abbr=on}} northwest of Poole. The parish had a population of 141 in 2001.{{cite web|url=http://www1.dorsetcc.gov.uk/LIVING/FACTS/Census2001.nsf/6cadf4da179fc19500256663004afece/4dc79506c4ce1ddb80256ec5004990b5?OpenDocument |title=Winterborne Zelston Parish Profile |publisher=Dorset County Council/Archive.org |work=2001 Census |year=2001 |access-date=5 October 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519130744/http://www1.dorsetcc.gov.uk/LIVING/FACTS/Census2001.nsf/6cadf4da179fc19500256663004afece/4dc79506c4ce1ddb80256ec5004990b5?OpenDocument |archive-date=19 May 2006 }} In 2013 the estimated population of the civil parish was 90.{{cite web |url=https://www.dorsetforyou.com/344882 |title=Parish Population Data |publisher=Dorset County Council |access-date=20 February 2015 |date=20 January 2015}}

The first name of "Winterborne" comes from the River Winterborne, which flows from west to east through the village.{{cite web | url=http://www.dorsetaonb.org.uk/assets/downloads/Winterbournes_Wetlands/Winterborne_Leaflet_final_copy.pdf | title=Walking the River Winterborne | publisher=Dorset AONB Partnership, UK | work=Dorset: Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty |year=2011 | access-date=5 October 2011}} Zelstone is probably from the name of the Zeals family.{{cite book |title=The Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names, 4th edition |last=Ekwall |year=1960 |publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=524–525}}

The river only flows overground during the winter, hence the name. To the west is Winterborne Tomson and to the north-east is Almer. The river flows through both these villages as well.{{cite map|title=Dorchester, Weymouth and surrounding area |work=Landranger 194 |publisher=Ordnance Survey }}

File:Winterborne Zelston, notcieboard and flowers - geograph.org.uk - 975140.jpg

The church

The parish church is dedicated to St Mary and is a Grade II listed building, being inscribed in the register on 14 July 1955. The tower dates to the fifteenth century but the rest of the building was rebuilt by the architect Thomas Henry Wyatt in 1866, using some materials from an earlier building. Although the main fabric dates from this rebuild, the building has several older features such as a fourteenth century doorway in the south vestry wall, and some of the windows in the chancel, which are thirteenth century. The tower is of rubble stone while the rest of the church is banded with flint and stone and the roofs are slated. The plan consists of nave, chancel, north aisle, south vestry, south porch and west tower. The tower has three stages, the parapet being battlemented and there being a gargoyle on the west wall. Internally, the nave has an arch-braced collar beam roof while the chancel has a wagon roof with plaster panels and moulded ribs.{{cite web |url=http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-103615-parish-church-of-st-mary-winterborne-zel#.V8CCr63GD6g |title=Church of St Mary, Winterborne Zelston |publisher=British Listed Buildings |access-date=26 August 2016}}

References

External links

[http://www.seleston.co.uk/zelston.html Winterborne Zelston – a brief history]

Category:Villages in Dorset