IChurch · listed 1952Wimborne MinsterOn the list as The Minster Church of St CuthburgaPhoto: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0
House Adjoining King's Head Hotel · Photo: Ethan Doyle White · CC BY-SA 4.0A−History Grade
History of Wimborne Minster · Historic England
183 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade I
Historic England counts them inside Wimborne Minster’s built-up area, 110 for every 10,000 residents. It also has 4 scheduled monuments. We have photos of 13 of its listed buildings and 2 old views of the town. 14% of its homes were built before 1919. Wimborne Minster grades A− for history: #14 of 30 in Dorset.
Listed buildings
183
110 per 10,000 residents
Grade I
2
exceptional interest
Grade II*
9
more than special interest
Scheduled monuments
4
nationally important sites
Homes built before 1919
14%
typical UK town 15%
In pictures
Wimborne Minster in 15 photos and old views
Nearly every Grade I and II* building, photographed, and the town before 1950. Tap a photo to step through them full screen.
The Minster Church of St CuthburgaGrade I listed
Dean's CourtGrade I listed
Priest's House MuseumGrade II* listed
Richway Welch and LockGrade II listed
Bridge over River AllenGrade II listed+10See all photosPhotos from Wikimedia Commons and Geograph, copied to our own server, each credited to its photographer with its licence; names open the building’s page or its official list entry.
Through time
Wimborne Minster from 1903 to 1903
2 old photos and postcards, in date order. All public domain, made before 1950.
1903
1903Public domain, from Wikimedia Commons, copied to our own server. Each credit opens the image’s page with its full description and history.
The map
Where Wimborne Minster’s history is
Every Grade I and II* building, monument and historic park, over the age of each neighbourhood’s homes.
Grade IGrade II*Scheduled monument
Homes built before 1919, by neighbourhoodunder 10%10–25%25–50%50%+
0 of 11neighbourhoods have mostly pre-1919 homes; in the oldest, 34% were built before 1919.
Hover a dot for its name; tap one with a photo to open it.
183 listed buildings by grade
2 Grade I9 Grade II*172 Grade II
Historic England lists buildings in three grades: Grade I for buildings of exceptional interest (about 2.5% of all listed buildings), Grade II* for particularly important buildings of more than special interest (about 5.8%), and Grade II for buildings of special interest (about 91.7%). Listing protects the whole building, inside and out.
Every entry on the National Heritage List for England whose point lies inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary. One list entry can cover a terrace or a group of buildings. Neighbourhood dots: the population-weighted centre of each Census 2021 output area, coloured by its neighbourhood’s (LSOA’s) share of homes built before 1919 (Valuation Office Agency, March 2025).
Grade I
The 2 Grade I listed buildings in Wimborne Minster
Buildings of exceptional interest, about 2.5% of all listed buildings. Every one is photographed. Each opens its own page, with the official list entry.
IPublic · listed 1952Dean's CourtPhoto: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0
Grade II*
The 9 Grade II* listed buildings in Wimborne Minster
Particularly important buildings of more than special interest. 8 are photographed.
II*Public · listed 1952Museum of East DorsetOn the list as Priest's House MuseumPhoto: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Inns & shops · listed 1952Barclays BankPhoto: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
II*Church · listed 1955Chapel of St Margaret and St AnthonyPhoto: Chris Downer · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Church · listed 1987Church of St Michael and All AngelsPhoto: Stuart Buchan · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*House · listed 1952Old Manor FarmhousePhoto: Mike Searle · CC BY-SA 2.0
II*Walls & gates · listed 1952Walford BridgePhoto: Wulfrunian1 · CC BY-SA 3.0
II*Inns & shops · listed 1952Wimborne Book ShopPhoto: Tilman2007 · CC BY-SA 4.0
II*House · listed 1952The Man in the WallOn the list as Wimborne Conservative ClubPhoto: Basher Eyre · CC BY-SA 2.0
House · listed 195243, West Borough
Historic streets
West Borough has the most listed buildings
Streets by the listed entries with an address on them. One entry can be a whole terrace, so long rows count once.
West Borough23 listed · 1 II*
King Street8 listed
West Street8 listed
East Borough7 listed
East Street6 listed
Cook Row3 listed
Leigh Road3 listed
Poole Road3 listed
Of the 183 entries, 75 are named by a street address; the rest are named buildings such as churches, halls and bridges.
What’s protected
Most of Wimborne Minster’s listed buildings are homes
Every listed building sorted by what its list name says it is.
Houses, terraces & villas141
Inns, shops & warehouses19
Churches, chapels & priories12
Public & civic buildings7
Walls, gates & bridges4
141 entries (77%) are houses, terraces and villas. 12 are churches, chapels and priories, including 1 of the 2 Grade I buildings.
Buildings are sorted by words in each entry’s name (church, gate, inn, memorial…): the list’s open data has no building type. An entry named only by its address counts as a house.
Grade II
172 Grade II listed buildings
Most listed buildings are in this grade, which covers buildings of special interest. Open any building to read its official list entry.
The first 150 of 172 Grade II listed buildings, A to Z
A W and E W Frowd Avocado Coffee HouseAddis - ChemistsAlbion Hotel and Chandlers Wine ShopAlfa Lighting, And the CoppersmithsAll Hallows HouseAntiqua Tat AntiquesAudio Link ComponentsBeechleasBoundary Wall to No 6Bridge over River AllenCanford Crafts and Williams and FarmerChurch HouseColourcraft (Wimborne)Cowdrays - BakersCurry'sDormersDumbleton F C Douch and SonF C Douch and SonFormer Coach House to BeechleasFormer Queen Elizabeth's Grammar SchoolFulgaines and StillGatepiers to North of North Lodge to Dean's CourtGreenclose FarmhouseGuildcraft Construction Walford MillGulliver HouseGullivers' Bookshop Tweedale and RileyHamilton HouseHartlandsHawthorne, Dyers and CleanersHolmansHoly Cross AbbeyHouse Adjoining King's Head HotelIndustrial Building Adjoining Mill House on EastInternational StoresKing's House Rumsey and RumseyL F KingLeigh HouseLewensLloyds BankLodge and Gateway to CemeteryMerrifield HouseMessrs Dibbens' OfficesMill HouseMinster BoutiqueMinster PressMinster SportsMonuments in Churchyard on South Side of the MinsterNational Westminster BankNo 5, Including Trotters' RestaurantNorth Lodge to Deans CourtOddfellows' ArmsOld Town HouseOutbuilding Adjoining No 1 Poole RoadOutbuildings to the North-East of No 6Percy HousePine Tree CottageQuinney's RestaurantRamsbury HouseRichway Welch and LockSouthern GasSquare RecordsSt Joseph'sSt Margaret'sSt Margaret'sSt Margaret'sSt Margaret'sStable Block at Rear of Green Man InnStable Block to West of Dean's CourtStourfieldSundial South of the West Tower of the MinsterThe Bell HotelThe Brass SkilletThe Coach and HorsesThe Cricketers' ArmsThe Green Man InnThe King's Head HotelThe LeazeThe Oxfam Shop and the Whole Food StoreThe Rising SunThe Square Post Office MartinsThe Three Lions InnThe White Hart InnThe Wimborne ClubThe Yew TreeTrumpetersTurnpike CottageTwo K6 Telephone Kiosks Outside Nos 1 and 5, The SquareVictoriana Wimborne SaddleryWalford FarmhouseWest Row Studio, Banks HouseWilson and SonWimborne AntiquesWimborne Minster War MemorialWimborne United Reform ChurchWoolworthsYe Old Clock House1, Cook Row1, Cornmarket1, Lewens Lane1, Poole Road1, West Borough1-6, East Street10, 10A, 12, 14 and 16, Leigh Road10, East Borough10, King Street10,11,11A, East Street11, King Street11,12,13,14, West Street116, West Borough12, King Street12,14,16, West Borough14 and 16, East Borough15, West Street15,16,17,18, East Street16 Corn Market18 and 20, West Borough18, Leigh Road19, King Street19,21,23, West Borough2 East Borough2 and 4, West Borough2, Cook Row2, Cornmarket2, Lewens Lane20, West Street22, West Borough24, West Borough24, West Street28, West Borough29, West Borough3, Redcotts Lane30 and 32, West Borough30, East Borough30, West Street31, West Street31,33,35, West Borough37, West Borough39 and 41, West Borough400, Colehill Lane414, Merrifield41A,41B,42, East Street431, Long Lane44, West Borough442, Burts Hill, Colehill45, East Street46, East Borough46, East Street46, West Borough47 and 49, Wimborne Road48, West Borough
Conservation areas
3 conservation areas cover 11% of Wimborne Minster
Areas the council protects as a whole: demolition and changes to how buildings look need consent, and trees are protected.
Wimborne Minster 197038 ha
Burts Hill-Merrifield 200621 ha
Rowlands Hill-St John's Hill13 ha
72 hain conservation areas, of 640 ha inside the built-up area.
The first, Wimborne Minster, was designated in 1970; the newest, Burts Hill-Merrifield, in 2006. 164 of the 183 listed buildings stand in one.
Historic England’s conservation areas layer, supplied by councils (incomplete in places, so a page fact, never graded). Hectares are the part of each area inside the built-up area.
How the list grew
87 of Wimborne Minster’s 183 listed buildings were added in 1952
The year each building now on the list was first listed.
1952 · 871983 · 75
19501960197019801990200020102020
The first 87 entries were listed in 1952, 2 of the 2 Grade I buildings among them. Only 0 have been added in the last 15 years.
Monuments & landscapes
Monuments, parks and gardens
Designations that overlap the town by a tenth of their area or half a hectare.
4 scheduled monuments
Nationally important archaeological sites and monuments, protected by law; work on them needs consent from the Secretary of State, advised by Historic England.
History Grade
Wimborne Minster grades A− for history
Protected heritage and the age of the town’s homes, against all UK towns.
Protected heritage, for its size and in all (204 points, 123 per 10,000 residents)More than 85% of UK towns
Homes built before 1919 (14%)More than 39% of UK towns
Two measures, each ranked against every UK town of 1,000 or more, with protected heritage counting twice as much as the age of homes. Protected heritage counts each listed building by its grade (Grade I three points, II* two, II one), each scheduled monument and battlefield two, and each registered park or garden by its grade; it is ranked both per 10,000 residents and as a total, so a village with one fine church doesn’t outrank a historic city. The second measure is the share of homes built before 1919, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records. History is a character grade: it describes the town and isn’t part of the overall grade.
Born here
9 notable people born in Wimborne Minster before 1900
Their lives on one timeline, earliest first.
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury
William Cox
Charles Castleman
Clive Phillipps-Wolley
Montague Druitt
Oliver Huyshe
Jack Raymond
Walter Parke
Ernest Elton
16001650170017501800185019001950
Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury1621–1683 · English politician and founder of the Whig party (1621-1683)
Montague Druitt1857–1888 · Suspect in the Jack the Ripper murders, cricketer, barrister and scho…
JR
Jack Raymond1886–1953 · British actor and film director (1886-1953)
Clive Phillipps-Wolley1853–1918 · British-Canadian writer (1853-1918)
OH
Oliver Huyshe1885–1960 · English cricketer (1885-1960)
William Cox1764–1837 · English soldier and early Australian pioneer (1764-1837)
WP
Walter Parke1891–1914 · English cricketer and army officer (1891-1914)
CC
Charles Castleman1807–1876 · English solicitor, railway planner, justice of the peace and prison i…
Everyone born in Wimborne Minster → Birthplaces from Wikidata; portraits from Wikimedia Commons.
Towns its size
Wimborne Minster has the 52nd most Grade I buildings of 517 towns its size
Places of 10,000–27,000 people outside London, by Grade I listed buildings.
Neighbours
Listed buildings in the places around Wimborne Minster
| Town | People | Listed | Grade I | History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wimborne Minster | 16,629 | 183 | 2 | A− |
| Merley | 5,489 | 24 | 4 | C+ |
| Bearwood | 4,134 | 0 | 0 | D− |
| Corfe Mullen | 10,036 | 6 | 0 | D |
| Ferndown | 13,267 | 1 | 0 | D− |
| West Parley | 3,665 | 4 | 0 | C− |
| West Moors | 10,432 | 1 | 0 | D− |
| Sturminster Marshall | 1,504 | 14 | 0 | A− |
In brief
Wimborne Minster in brief
Per resident, Wimborne Minster has more listed heritage than 85% of UK towns. All told, the list holds 183 listed buildings, 2 of them Grade I, including Wimborne Minster. Only 51 of the 517 towns nearest its size have more Grade I buildings. Its older streets lie in 3 conservation areas, the first designated in 1970.
Of the whole list, 77% are houses, terraces and villas. Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621), Montague Druitt (1857) and Jack Raymond (1886) are among the 9 people born here before 1900. Beyond that, it also has 4 scheduled monuments; and 14% of its homes were built before 1919, close to the 15% in the typical UK town.
Questions about Wimborne Minster’s history
How many listed buildings are there in Wimborne Minster?
Historic England lists 183 buildings inside Wimborne Minster’s built-up area: 2 Grade I, 9 Grade II* and 172 Grade II.
What are the Grade I listed buildings in Wimborne Minster?
2, including Dean's Court and The Minster Church of St Cuthburga.
Which street in Wimborne Minster has the most listed buildings?
West Borough (23), King Street (8) and West Street (8) have the most listed entries named by an address. One entry can be a whole terrace.
Are there scheduled monuments in Wimborne Minster?
Yes, 4 scheduled monuments, including A bell barrow and a bowl barrow at St Michael's Middle School 60m west of the school buildings, Bowl barrow 25m north west of Stapehill Village Hall, Bowl barrow 270m south east of Holy Cross Abbey and Bowl barrow 380m west of Holy Cross Abbey.
How many conservation areas are there in Wimborne Minster?
3, covering about 72 hectares of the town. The largest are Wimborne Minster and Burts Hill-Merrifield.
When were Wimborne Minster’s buildings listed?
The first in 1952; the most, 87, in 1952.
Are there old photos of Wimborne Minster?
Yes: 2 public-domain photos and postcards from 1903 to 1903, all on this page.
Who was born in Wimborne Minster?
Among people born before 1900: Anthony Ashley Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury (1621), Montague Druitt (1857), Jack Raymond (1886), Clive Phillipps-Wolley (1853) and Oliver Huyshe (1885).
How old are the homes in Wimborne Minster?
14% of homes were built before 1919 and 20% before 1940, from the Valuation Office Agency’s council tax records (March 2025).
© Historic England 2026. Contains Ordnance Survey data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. The National Heritage List for England is the official, up-to-date register of all nationally protected historic buildings and sites in England; check an entry on Historic England’s website before relying on it.
Sources: Historic England, National Heritage List for England (listed buildings, scheduled monuments, registered parks and gardens, battlefields, World Heritage Sites), October 2026, inside the ONS 2022 built-up-area boundary · Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax: stock of properties by build period (31 March 2025) · TownRatings grades: our own summary of the data, ranked against UK towns only · Historic England conservation areas (supplied by local planning authorities; October 2026). All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.