Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Wimborne Minster Part 3: Town Context 13 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Wimborne Minster 14 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Wimborne Minster the Old English elements Winn + burna mean- 3.1 The Setting of the Town ing meadow or bright stream (Mills 1991, 362; Hutchins 1874, 178). No town exists in isolation. All towns are shaped and influenced by their surrounding The topography of the region has influenced landscape. Topography and geology have a the layout of the town, albeit through the pre- profound influence on the way a town devel- urban rural landscape. NW-SE aligned roads ops; constraining development, shaping com- and field boundaries, represent the last ves- munication routes, and providing raw materials tiges of a potentially late prehistoric co-axial for building and other economic activity, field system, which formerly existed along the amongst other things. In order to understand Allen Valley. The major routes of the B3073 the character of a town, its surrounding land- (Poole Road) and the B3082 (St Margaret’s Hill scape and natural context need to be under- and Victoria Road) are the most obvious exam- stood. This section of the report briefly sets out ples, although Cowgrove Road, Blind Lane, the wider context of the town and the land- Knobcrook Road and parts of Wimborne Road, scape character of its hinterland. Lewens Lane, Park Lane, Rowlands Hill and Leigh Common are also representative. The Saxon town of Wimborne Minster was built on 3.2 Topography a regular grid plan aligned approximately north- The historic core of Wimborne Minster lies near south and superimposed upon the pre-existing to the south eastern tip of a low ridge of clay rural landscape. between the rivers Stour and Allen (Figure 3). During the nineteenth century however, with the coming of the railway, a new suburb rapidly 3.3 Geology developed on the eastern side of the river Al- The Geology of the Wimborne Minster study len. Topographically, this suburb is dominated area has London Clay as its foundation. This by the gravel terrace of Colehill which rises to represents the earliest surviving Tertiary de- over 60m in the north east corner of the study posits within Dorset, laid down in a coastal en- area. The southern part of the study area com- vironment approximately 60 million years ago. prises the flood plain of the River Stour. The The clay also contains deposits of iron rich meaning of the name Wimborne Minster is sandstone known as Heath Stone (Ensom thought to derive from an early name for the 1998, 70-71). London Clay has traditionally River Allen. The earliest recorded form of the been important in the region for the manufac- name; Winburnan (early 9 th century) comprises ture of earthenware pottery. The Verwood pot- Figure 3: Topographical setting of Wimborne Minster 15 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Wimborne Minster Figure 4: Solid Geology of the Wimborne Minster region teries 5 miles north east of Wimborne Minster 3.4 Landscape Character manufactured large quantities of earthenware until the middle of the 20 th century, which were Several landscape character assessments help distributed across Dorset. London Clay is also place the town into its wider landscape context. excellent material for the manufacture of In the national assessment of countryside char- bricks. Colehill has contained a significant brick acter, Wimborne Minster lies within Joint Char- th making industry since at least the 17 century acter Area 135; Dorset Heaths (Countryside (Reeve 2000, 35) and large brickworks existed Agency 1999). close to Walford at the north end of historic Wimborne Minster during the 19 th and 20 th cen- The key characteristics of Joint Character Area turies (now the site of the Stone Lane Industrial 135 are listed as: Estate). The eastern part of the study area • An exposed, open, broad-scale land- comprises sands and gravels of the Lower scape forming a strong contrast with the Bagshot beds, which overly the London Clay. adjacent character areas These date from the Eocene Epoch (55-34 mil- • Undulating lowland heath with tracts of lion years ago) and cover an extensive area of heather, stunted pines and gorse scrub. East Dorset and the Poole and Bournemouth • Blocks of conifers forming locally- conurbation (Figure 4). They are thought to prominent landmarks. have been laid down as alluvial deposits by the River Solent. Sand and gravel extraction have • Mosaics of heathland, farmland, wood- been important industries in the region with land and scrub. large extraction pits existing along the River • Much is sparsely populated with scat- Stour at Merley and Longham. tered settlements and a few small vil- lages and towns but the extensive con- The nature of the underlying geology has also urbation of Poole-Bournemouth forms a influenced the appearance and built environ- major influence in the south and east. ment of the town. The Bagshot Beds and the London Clay both contain some reddish sand- • Flat-bottomed, open valleys with flood- stone (heath stone) used locally for walling. plain pastures and willows. The local clays have also been used in the • An outer edge of low, rolling hills with an manufacture of brick from at least the 17 th cen- irregular patchwork of pasture, woodland tury and cob walling before that. and dense hedges marking the transition to the chalk. 16 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Wimborne Minster Figure 5: Wimborne Minster in its landscape character setting (East Dorset District Landscape Characterisation). The East Dorset District Draft Landscape Char- fected by modern development acter Assessment provides a detailed record of the features and landscape elements present The key characteristics of the Allen Valley in the wider Wimborne Area (Figure 5).The Character Area are: town itself is considered an urban area and not • Shallow sided valley characterised within the assessment. However, small parts of the Woodlands-Colehill & Hill- • Important chalk stream habitat butts farmland/woodland mosaic, Allen Valley, • Sparsely developed with secluded intimate Lower Stour and Hampreston character areas character extend into the study area (EDDC 2007). • Distinctive, traditional building materials, The key characteristics of the Woodlands- flint, red brick and thatch Colehill & Hillbutts farmland/woodland mosaic • Simple bridges Character Area are: • Undulating landform, punctuated by hilltops The key characteristics of the Lower Stour Val- • Heavily influenced by woods, copses and ley Character Area are: hedgerow trees creating an irregular patch- • Flat wide flood plain work • Meandering river • Absence of major roads • Riverside trees and copses • Irregular road pattern, having an east-west emphasis with short north-south links • Long distance views along the valley • Narrow, winding lanes throughout the area, • Views of the church towers at Shapwick, with high, dense hedgerows Sturminster Marshall and Wimborne Min- • Extensive network of public footpaths and ster woodland and other tracks • Views of Canford school • Farmhouses and other modest rural dwell- • Views of A31 Wimborne By Pass ings, few major historic buildings or churches • Longham Lakes water treatment complex • General absence of archaeological re- • Historic water mill sites e.g. White Mill mains, except for tumuli on hilltops • Overhead power lines (adverse impact) • Heavy concentration of Ancient Woodlands • Quiet, peaceful countryside largely unaf- The key characteristics of the Hampreston 17 Dorset Historic Towns Survey: Wimborne Minster River Terrace Character Area are: the town centre at Furzehill. • Flat landform The Wimborne Minster pyramid area has one • Mosaic of large fields used for arable and secondary school; Queen Elizabeth’s School, pasture fourteen first schools, one primary school, four • Few trees in fields, most trees near river middle schools and one special school (the Beaucroft Foundation School). The retail sector and village comprises 118 shops, mainly local shops, but including national chains such as Boots, The draft Historic Landscape Character map- Somerfield, Superdrug, WH Smith and ping shows Wimborne Minster sitting on a Waitrose. Wimborne Minster also has three ridge between tracts of water meadows associ- industrial estates at Brook Road (8.24ha), ated with the rivers Stour and Allen. The sur- Stone Lane (1.87ha) and Riverside Park rounding land comprises a variety of enclosed fields including planned, other regular, piece- (1.2ha). meal and amorphous enclosures as well as a 31% of the economically active population are variety of settlements including historic vil- employed within the service sector; 26% in lages, housing estates and country houses. manufacturing; 20% in banking, finance and There is also a patchwork of coppice, decidu- insurance; 17% in public administration, educa- ous woodland and plantations. tion and health; less than 5% in transport and communications and 3% in construction. Major employers include Anixter Components, Dorset 3.5 The Present Town County Council, Dorset Healthcare NHS Trust, The town of Wimborne Minster lies at the con- East Dorset District Council, Flight Refuelling fluence of the rivers Stour and Allen, approxi- Ltd, Farrow and Ball, Easton Aerospace, Ma- mately 11 miles upstream from the point where trod Frampton Ltd, WM Morrison PLC, Savills the Stour empties into Christchurch harbour. Ltd, Travis Perkins Trading Co Ltd and Victoria The town, together with its modern suburban Hospital (Dorset County Council, 2008, 88-9). estates, sits 5 miles north of Poole and just beyond the north eastern tip of the wider Poole/ Bournemouth conurbation. The modern urban area covers approximately 320 ha. It lies on the A31 trunk road between Ringwood and Bere Regis, although this road has bypassed the town centre to the south since 1981. Wim- borne Minster also sits at the south eastern end of the B3082, 9 miles from Blandford; the western end of the B3073, 11 miles from Christchurch; and at the southern end of the B3078, 9 miles from Cranborne. Wimborne Minster lies at the southern edge of East Dor- set District.