Place:Winterborne Came, Dorset, England

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NameWinterborne Came
Alt namesWinterborne-Camesource: hypenated
Winterborne Farringdonsource: deserted village in parish
TypeAncient parish, Civil parish
Coordinates50.694°N 2.417°W
Located inDorset, England
See alsoFrampton Liberty, Dorset, Englandancient division to which it belonged
Culliford Tree Hundred, Dorset, Englandhundred in which it was located
Dorchester Rural, Dorset, Englandrural district 1894-1974
West Dorset District, Dorset, Englanddistrict municipality covering the area 1974-2019
the text in this section is based on an article in Wikipedia

Winterborne Came (#30 on map) is a civil parish and a small dispersed settlement in the county of Dorset, England. Situated in the west of the county, it is approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of the county town of Dorchester. Dorset County Council's 2013 mid-year estimate of the parish population was 40.

Winterborne Came derives its name from the seasonal stream ('winterborne') by which it is sited, and from the town of Caen in France, as it was once owned by the Abbey of St. Stephen there. The parish consists of Came House, built in 1754 in the Palladian style, the nearby Perpendicular St. Peter's Church, a couple of farms, and an old rectory on the Dorchester to Wareham road, where for 25 years the Dorset dialect poet William Barnes lived when he was the incumbent rector. Barnes died in the rectory and is buried in the churchyard. About 100 metres west of the church is the site of the deserted village of Winterborne Farringdon, which has been depopulated since at least the 18th century.

Image:Dorchester RD 1900 small.png

Governance

Winterborne Came was originally a parish in the Culliford Tree Hundred, one of the hundreds or early subdivisions of the county of Dorset, and also in another early grouping named the Frampton Liberty. From 1894 until 1974 it was part of the Dorchester Rural District.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, all urban and rural districts across England were abolished and counties were reorganized into metropolitan and non-metropolitan districts. Winterborne Came joined the non-metropolitan West Dorset District.

Under another set of local government reforms adopted on 1 April 2019, West Dorset District was abolished, and the county of Dorset (excluding Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole) became a single unitary authority. The area is now administered by Dorset Council.

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