Welcome to the Parish of Winfrith Newburgh and East Knighton in glorious Dorset.
Please note – this website is soon to be superseded by a new one [Sep 2019]. We regret we are unable to keep the Events list going in the interim period. All queries about the new website or events to Pat Yonwin: patricia.yonwin@btinternet.com.
Winfrith Newburgh is a parish located between Dorchester and Wareham on the A352 about 3 miles west of Wool, with a population of 660. It is within a designated Area of Outstanding Beauty and on the edge of the World Heritage Jurassic Coast – a great place to live or visit. Come and see us.
Click here to be taken to a map so you can find us.
Can anyone in Winfrith help ? I recently found a letter that my late mother wrote telling how her family were moved from a farm in Winfrith when the MOD took it over during the First World War. The story of how her life was changed by this makes for very sad reading. Does anyone have any historical documents relating to this, or any information as to where the farm was. I would be happy to pass on more details if contacted
Thank you
LikeLike
Hi Sylvia. That’s interesting – i’ll pass it on to the History Group and see if they know anything.
Lyn
LikeLike
Hi Sylvia
I am a member of the Winfrith History Group, and was very interested to hear of your late mother’s letter. There were moves in the Second World War when the RAF created a dummy airfield on Winfrith Heath to protect nearby RAF Warmwell fighter station, but I haven’t heard of anything similar happening in the First World War. If you could let me have any more details that you such as farm name, mother’s family name, dates etc I will ask around and see if I can come up with anything that might shed some light on this. Best wishes Chris Pullen
LikeLike
Hi Chris
Thank you for your reply. My mothers maiden name was Crocker. She was born in 1915 so we know they were moved from Winfrith in the First World War. I remember her saying the farm was near Lulworth.
LikeLike
Hi Sylvia. Thanks for the further information – we’ll investigate!
Best wishes, Chris
LikeLike
Intrigued by this mention of the dummy airfield. My father manned the RAF Warmwell dummy airfield in WW2 in 1944, and was twice mentioned in despatches. He told me that they had a Nissen hut to rest in during the daytime, and a concrete bomb shelter / control room during night raids. I don’t know exactly where the dummy airfield was located, or if there are any remaining structures there. Can anybody help?
LikeLike
Hi John. I’ll get the experts of the Winfrith History Group onto this…
Lyn
LikeLike
I am interested in contacting Lesley Parkridge (maiden name ) who lived in Winfrith, near the Church.
Long while ago I’m afraid, late 1960s. I live at Crossways near Dorchester. Unlikely perhaps, but worth a try. .many thanks. .
Danny Daniel..
LikeLike
Hi Danny. We’ll email round and ask the History Group; someone will probably know something! We’ll get back to you by email.
Best wishes
Lyn Pullen (Website Editor)
LikeLike
Hi Danny. We haven’t had any response to this query from our various sources, but it will stay on the website, so someone might spot it and know an answer.
Best wishes
Lyn (Website Editor)
LikeLike
Many thanks Lyn, a possible jog to anyone’s memories. Lesley worked as a nanny to two little girls who lived in a detached house next door to the Church .. who were related I think to the Welds or Lulworth castle family. Lesley was memorable as she had waist length bright red hair…..best regards Danny
LikeLike
Hi again David. That has given us a possible lead. The thinking is that she would have been working for the Jaggards at the Old Rectory (now Winfrith Court), but apparently they didn’t have much to do with the village. Someone else tells me that Anthony Jaggard still has an architectural practice in Dorchester, though he has probably retired some years back – his wife was a daughter of Joseph Weld. The practice is at 13-14 Princes St, Dorchester DT1 1TW; 01305 262636.
Best wishes. Lyn
LikeLike
Wonderful Lyn, definitely the same people, I met them on several occasions, even took the girls to Bristol Zoo on one occasion. Perhaps I will drop him an email, he might know something. .thanks again .. Danny
LikeLike
Lesley worked for us at Winfrith Court and married a soldier, Robert Kelly. We kept in touch with her until she sadly died in the late 1990’s and we attended her funeral in Aldershot. She had three daughters all with her beautiful long red hair. My husband is planning to retire this Summer aged 80!
Jane Jaggard
LikeLike
Thank you very much for this information, Jane – I’ll pass it on. It’s lovely to see our history being put together!
Lyn
LikeLike
Hi Lyn and all on this local website. My family history has lead me/us to Winfrith. Gt. Grandmother Elizabeth Julia Grant b. c.1843-45, father Alex and Burden Grant, mother Sarah Burt. She married Frank Burt ( a cousin perhaps?) in Weymouth 9n 1865. By 1871 they had moved to Mitcham Surrey. By 1881, Elizabeth had become a widow at 37, with 3 daughters – one being my grandmother. We wonder why the Hurts moved to Mitcham, was there a mass exodus in the late 1860s? Anyone any ideas. My sister (from USA) and I visited Winfrith last Friday 6/9/16, we saw the church plaques, the gravestones of some names we have researched i.e. Burden, Grant, Orchard, Lock and Burt, but cannot link them in.
LikeLike
Hi Jill. I’ll pass this on to the history group. Wouldn’t it be lovely to be able to talk to one’s ancestors to find out why things happened!
Lyn
LikeLike
My name is Don O’Donnell, I was Foreman Carpenter on the construction of Atomic Energy Station ar Winfreth Heath, in 1956-7, the Groundworks and Deep drainage, work was frequently being interrupted , by underground explosives, and the Bomb Disposal Squad, (BDS), were almost full time on site, can’t remember any serious incidents,
LikeLike
Hi Don. Sounds like the building work was rather more exciting than usual! Thanks for the info – I’ll pass it on to the History Group.
Lyn
LikeLike
Hi Don. Fascinating – you presumably knew that the Atomic Energy Station site was used as a dummy airfield for nearby RAF Warmwell during WW2. My dad, LAC Norman Davies, manned the site, and told me hair-raising stories about how they attracted as many Luftwaffe bombs as possible down onto the site. They swept the site for unexploded bombs after every raid, but obviously didn’t find them all…!
Regards
John
LikeLike
Yes John, I knew it was a dummy airfield to distract raids on RAF Warmwell,
An ex Spitfire pilot who operated out of Warmwell, was one of our Civil Engineers on construction of Winfreth,
We all loved the guy, as he told some fantastic stories,
Don.
LikeLike
Message from Winfrith History Group
If you have any photographs of Winfrith taken during WW11 could you get in touch with Perilla on 01305 852826?
Our next event is on
Saturday 28th April starting 730pm
The title is “Winfrith during the Wars”
a talk by Perilla Kinchin
Winfrith Village Hall
Bar with beer and wine and light refreshments
£3 entrance just pay on the door
Everyone welcome
LikeLike