The River Stour Photo courtesy Jean Harding, Poole

Here in the town that still has the spirit of a village is where William Barnes the Dorset Dialect poet went to school 200 years ago and this is what he wrote 

'We Do'set, though we mid be hwomely,
Be'ntf asheamed to own our pleace;
An we've some women not uncomely;
nor asheamed to show their feace.'

In his day Sturminster Newton was more important as it had button factories, metal forging and candle making and the Square was famed for its drunken brawls and public floggings.

There are some lovely cottages here and the ancient bridge threatens that if you damage it you will be deported! Some of the pavements here ae narrow and tiny shops peer from behind 19th century frontages and it seems some of the houses have been squeezed into spaces that seem hardly big enough for them. There are two Inns here and this seems to be a place where time has stood still.

The town also had its own castle and this was sited on a mount the other side of the bridge overlooking the town Mill which has now been restored to working order and has been opened to the public.

But even though this is a very old but lovely place disaster did strike in 1935 when at Shroton which is a village nearby had a case of Foot and Mouth disease and all animals had to be quarantined in the market and over 2,000 animals were slaughtered an burned,

Sturminster Newton Old and New

The Mill mentioned in the Domesday Survey but it was here before then
The old Chapel built for the workhouse (now a museum) which stands close to the work house
St Mary's Church built by Abbot John Selwood in 1486.		The tree behind St Mary's is a Sequoiadendron Giganteum Wellingtonia in other words a Giant Redwood, it was once measured at 100ft in 1960 so now it is thought to be 112ft and 28ft in girth. It is also thought to be a memorial to the once Revd  Thomas Lane Fox (d 1861) and benefactor who is buried just a few yards from where it stands.
The Lectern In Memory of The Rev WILLIAM BARNES B. D. THE DORSET POET Born 22 Feb 1801 at Rushay Bagber in the Parish of Sturminster Newton
United Methodist Church on Church Street.		The ceiling inside St Mary's once had a false ceiling then in 1910-11 it was removed to find a 15th century wagon roof, this is only a small part of what was revealed.
The White Hart around 1910		Outside the White Hart, the fountain is to the right see trail of water
The Square today with the water fountain by the cars		A hunt seen in 1923The
The Square around World War I
All photos above kindly contributed by Garry Fudge, Leeds, Yorkshire