Key facts
OS Grid Reference: SU077411
What3words: ///translated.head.upholding
Postcode: SP3
Post Town: Salisbury
Unitary Authority: Wiltshire
Parliamentary Constituency: Salisbury
Winterbourne Stoke
Winterbourne Stoke is a lovely little village on the River Till on the southern edge of Salisbury Plain, just five miles west of Amesbury and three miles from the prehistoric monument of Stonehenge.
The village sits on both sides of a single-carriageway stretch of the busy A303 trunk road, which makes it ideal for commuting to nearby Salisbury. Salisbury Reds operates a bus service through here.
Winterbourne Stoke has a thriving community, with a children’s play park, The Bell Inn pub on the high street, the local church of St Peters, a community and events group, a telephone box book swap, and the Village Community Pantry – a small stock of essential groceries held in the church for use by anyone who needs it.
The Bell Inn began life in 1756 as a small alehouse which was destroyed when the River Till flooded in 1841. Originally on the east side of the main road through the village, it was rebuilt on its current site in the mid 19th Century. The pub is just two and a half miles from the Stonehenge Visitor Centre, so it makes a great place to stop off for a good home-cooked meal before or after your visit to the World Heritage Site.
History
The parish is rich in archaeological remains, starting in the Neolithic period. The parish includes the Greater and Lesser Cursus earthworks, and several long barrows. The Domesday Book recorded a settlement at ‘Wintreburne’, with 50 households, a church, and a mill on the king’s lad. The flint and limestone chequerboard manor house, in its own grounds south of the main road, dates from the 17th Century, and today the Manor Estate is available to hire for weddings, parties and other celebrations.
St Peter’s Church dates to the 12th Century and has been modified and added to over the centuries. Look carefully round the outside walls and you can see some curious scratch marks and carvings between waist and head height. It is thought that these are scratch-dials or mass dials; very simple sundials created by boring a hole into a stone block on the south side of a church, and then inserting a wooden stick or iron rod. The line of shadows cast by the stick, at dawn, noon and dusk would be scratched into the stone, to give a rudimentary clock; hence the name ‘scratch-dial’.
Walking and cycling
Most of the Parsonage Down national nature reserve is within the parish of Winterbourne Stoke. This ancient downland is rich in wild flowers as well as having scrubby areas where yellowhammers and turtle doves flourish. There are some beautiful walks in and around the village – many taking you to the Stonehenge. Try the Sarson Stone Stonehenge Loop – an easy hike of around three and a half miles.