Winkle Street Photo courtesy of IOWCAM Winkle Street's name is officially Barringto Row and this is said to come from the Barrington family who once lived at Swainstone House till 1832 and no official reason can be found to explain the change to Winkle Street, though one version says it came from an Old English word meaning angle or corner or maybe from the old verb 'to winkle' which means to sparkle, Another version has it that the name is in some way linked to  John Winkle who was the rector of Shalfleet from 1339 to 1347.

Rising in Westover Down is the stream called Cal Bourne which gives the village its name, here you can walk into peace and quiet and feel as though you have journeyed back to an idyllic time and stroll down the world famous Winkle Street which is a pretty little lane that is edged with a row of beautiful thatched 18th century stone cottages and a stream on its way to the 17th century mill nearby.

The village has its own green and the ancient church, is more or less as it was more than 700 years ago, and is also one of the islands biggest attractions with its tower that was made taller by the Victorians and on the wall is a tablet inscribe 'I am risen from ye ruins of near 70 year'.

Swainstone is an 18th century house lying on the road to Carisbrooke and here was once a palace that was founded by the Bishops of Winchester 800 years ago and the 13th century hall is still in good condition and Margaret Pole the last of the Plantagenet's  grandfather Warwick the Kingmaker visited here.

The village which stands at a crossroads, and its surroundings are mostly a farming community and it is one of the oldest parishes on the island and once encompassed Brighstone and Newtown which later became parishes in there own rights, though the latter was again united with Calbourne in the 19th century.

Calbourne Mill Photo reproduced by courtesy of Gwynn White

HISTORY OF ALL SAINTS CHURCH